Seeking Solutions

As experienced and professional Architects, we often have clients coming to us seeking solutions to their design problems. Sometimes it is related to functional issues like getting more usable space or create a higher occupancy within a certain confine. Often it is code compliant related where a client is trying to get a specific use from a built structure or even to get something rezoned to accommodate a new end user. There are even those times when a client is seeking a great looking design - pure aesthetics - so we get to work our magic and come up with a new look for an old thought.

However there are times that a client comes to us and asks...HELP! We made a terrible mistake and cannot find a solution. What do we do? That happens when a client has hired an irresponsible architect, designer or builder that has promised them something impossible. This is so irritating to me. I hate when people are taken advantage of, it makes us all look bad in the profession and creates doubt in the consumers mind. I would do anything to help these people find a resolution, after all that is what we do. Unfortunately, fixing a mistake like this usually costs the client more money and in most cases we cannot use anything that was performed previously. A complete waste of time and money. We have to start from scratch. We have to create a confidence that was so ruefully broken by others. We have to create excitement to something that has become an uneasy task now. We have to show them how they should have been treated originally and not used. All of these tasks are not easy and takes extra care and attention to make our new client feel confident once again. Trust once broken is very difficult to rebuild, even if it wasn't your fault to begin with.

Here are a 7 STEPS to take into account before you begin your next project:

1. Research your designer to determine if they have had any experience with your type of project in the past. It isn't necessary for them to have 100 projects of this type, after all you do not want to be just another number to this firm.
2. Determine a clear scope of what work will be required. Have it outlined in the proposal provided to you. Don't use just a handshake, get a signed agreement. AIA contracts are the most detailed and equally balanced between owner and architect.
3. Set up your project to be paid in progress payments. A retainer is expected, but certainly do not provide the entire amount unless the project is completed 100%. Monthly progress payment can be issued should the project be a lengthy one extending over several months.
4. Get an expected time frame from your designer. A clear expectation by both parties should be understood before work begins. Some areas of service may be predetermined due circumstances beyond either's control. Surveys, rezoning, variance hearings, drawing reviews and others may delay the project if not properly planned for or anticipated.
5. Find out if the principal of the firm is going to be involved in the work or is it going to be handed off to an intern. Involvement from a principal is most desired at some level.
6. Don't cut your services short. Many times the owner will limit the services necessary for a designer to properly perform their services. For instance, Contract Administration is a valued service that insures the designer has provided guidance and instruction through the completion of the project's construction. Yes there is a fee, but a VERY important cost that many owner feel, "They can handle it themselves."
7. Does your designer have professional liability insurance, current professional licenses or even if they belong to local professional organizations.

Seeking Solutions is what you are looking for. Don't cut yourself short without properly preparing yourself first. If you would like an opinion, feel free to give us a call, we would be happy to guide you through not only the first steps of your project but walk with you all the way to the end. Customer satisfaction is what we pride ourselves in my friends....even when others don't.

Opportunity

Today's word is OPPORTUNITY. This sounds a bit like Mr. Roger's Neighborhood or Sesame Street. That may not be a bad idea though as many of us have forgotten the basic principles of business and how we can take advantage of those little blessings that come along. Those OPPORTUNITIES!

Webster's Dictionary defines the word:
1. A favorable juncture of circumstances.
2. A good chance for advancement or progress.
Certainly makes it sound very promising when there is an opportunity around. We all know that over the last few years most of us has seen opportunity on the endangered list. They have been a rare bird for many business owners. We, like so many others, found it difficult for the last few years to find work. However we had to take a different look at things in order to stay positive. There was only so much doom and gloom that I could take from the media. We needed to find our own opportunities in areas that didn't exist for us before. These principles have been outlined below that has helped us through the tough times.

1. "Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison. A great quote and so true. I hear of so many that just do not want to WORK for what is currently available out there. Our office took the stance that we would handle anything. Anything to keep us going and keep us fed. No, it may not be glorious work, but it pays the bills....or most of them. We have always taken smaller projects that other firms have passed on or considered beneath them. We always believed that "everyone needs an architect"! One of our earlier clients asked us to do color studies for the outside of a few of their properties.....very small fee. $250 - $500. We took it....and did it very well. Probably went over board but made the best of it. We ended up doing do 40-50 of these projects. Later we did, two libraries, interior office plans, building upgrades and more. All from a few color sketches.
2. "Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind." Bulgarian proverb. If you haven't ever seen a picture of me, let me share. I am bald and have a long goatee. Now what possibly can this mean? I am not from Bulgaria, but I like the saying. Well, I cant pull my hair out....it already is. Goatee is longer now and you can now get a grip on it.....ouch! hurts even thinking about that. How about this? Have you spent time thinking about ...just if.....If we get this project....if we had a little more money....if we had a better job...if...if...if. Remember the TV commercial "Met Life"...In the middle is the word "if". Don't miss out on the LIFE that is passing you by. Make the best of what you have and laugh the rest off. Enjoy the now....not the later. I will share a humbling experience. Things got tight...lost our cars. had to buy a used car. Recently daughter ran into tree. Not enough damage to do anything but make it look ugly. Passenger door for some reason wouldn't open from the outside...sometimes.....sometimes it would. Not sure what was wrong with it but oh well, we will just open it from the inside......Driver's door got the same virus.....what is going on here! A bit silly to have to leave the window down so you can reach in and open the door without looking like a criminal.....or worse yet....having to climb in the back seat, reach over and open the front door so I can get in the car.....how embarrassing.....how humbling. How lucky I am to have a car! I just laugh it off and deal with it. Make jokes about it and i am sure I will never forget the experience. By the way the doors did get fixed...lol. wouldn't pass inspection without!
3. "Turbulence is life force. It is opportunity. Let's love turbulence and use it for change." Ramsay Clark. There certainly has been some rough times. For us, we saw opportunity. Opportunity to reinvent ourselves. Opportunity to make new friends, relationships, business partners. We had to think out of the box even more than we ever did before. Not just about 'design principles' but about 'practice principles'. We launched a new engineering consulting opportunity in the middle of the down turn. Made connections through professional associations. Never turned down a project, time frame or opportunity to help anyone and everyone. We squeezed by to make it past it each and every payday. Oh, don't let me make it sound like it was easy. It wasn't! It was turbulent to say the least. The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis'. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, beware or danger, but recognize opportunity.

Things are changing out there in the work climate. We have been blessed with the opportunity to practice endurance and perseverance. Neither are fun, but both appreciated. Appreciated because we know and acknowledge how wonderful we have it now. May not be perfect, but we are still standing. Let us know how we can help you. How we can encourage you and why we feel IONIC DEZIGN STUDIOS is so different than any other architecture practice in the area.
The best to each and everyone of you during this holiday season. Make sure my friends that you enjoy the journey....not just the destination!

McDonald Architecture

"Can I have an office building to go please?" or "Special Value deal retail complex?" That is what we are hearing these days in the architectural world. Not so much burgers and fries but certainly give a building design and give it to me fast and efficient. Due to the economic environment we have had to do more with less and faster than ever before. The market has started to make its recovery and those that have tried to "get their money" have finally done so after putting their projects on hold for months or even years. The money is more difficult to get, the tenants are harder to sign up and that means they don't need new construction until all of the key ingredients are in place.

So what happens when they are in place? Run! When they ask, "Can you do this for me." Sure, Can I have two weeks for your concept rendering? "No, you can have a week". How quickly can we have the construction documents?.......3 weeks! What are you supposed to say...No thank you, take a number and wait in line? If we want to recover, we need to be responsive to the client in today's climate and right now they are trying to make a move and that means we move with them. We have seen some of the bigger firms baulk at this idea and they still tell their clients, This isn't the way we do things......WHAT? You have to reinvent yourself. If you don't you will be left behind. If you are going to stick around in this business, you have to have the ability to reinvent yourself, either consciously or unconsciously.

McDonald's game plan has pretty much stayed the constant, even through this economy. Now I don't like to even compare our architecture to McDonald's or any fast food for that matter but what I do appreciate is the ability to accomplish a task at a speed that the client is demanding. They are masters of the invention and right now that is what we need to accomplish as well. I would like to think we have a bit of a happy meal inside us as we create our designs and the client finds a surprise in every box. That surprise? Great value, great design, great communication and accomplish all of these things at Great-neck speeds!

Seriously, this is why we have been successful all these years. We understand and listen to our client's needs. As always, the quicker we accomplish the tasks at hand, the quicker the developer begins to make money. That is what we find at the bottom of the golden arch's rainbow. A pot of gold......or at least next week's payroll.

"If you work for money, you will never make it, if you love what you are doing and always put the customer first, success will be yours." Ray Kroc.

Take care my friends and remember to supersize me!

Rollercoaster

It is pretty amazing the way things have gone in the economy over the last two years. I am not that old so there may be many out there that will say this wasn't that bad....or it has been a REALLY bad one. All I can say is that this recession (or whatever name you choose to call it) has taken my family pretty hard. I don't just mean my family as in wife and kids, if you know anything about Ionic you know that my family members are all of our design team. We don't hire employees, we invite additional family members to our team. Their livelihood matters to us. We have let our home mortgage get way behind just to make sure payroll was met. We pass up on having fancy cars and consider that we are successful if all our design team has better vehicles than us.

So when we say this recession hit our family hard we understand all those small business out there who have suffered and who are still hurting. We continue to pray for you and the recovery just as it seems this crazy roller coaster has started to turn around for us. We are seeing the good fortune of all of our hard work and perseverance pay off. Just passing our 11th anniversary, we didn't think we would even have made it to the 10th. God is good.

We have always tried to do right by all of our clients, contractors, vendors and reps that work with us. things have been slow without doubt, but we see the roller coaster rising up the hill and getting us ready for a great ride. We are curious to see if it all comes about but also patient enough to wait and to be prepared to enjoy the journey instead of worrying about getting to the destination.

The roller coaster: a few years ago we dropped from 11 staff to 4. Now we are back up to 9 and hiring. A few years ago we had so many projects in the the cue we were planning on expanding our office size.....then the bottom out.......they were all gone. Today, we don't plan on expanding the office...just packing in tighter, but we have so much on the drawing boards (yes we still have drawing boards) : (2) medical office buildings, (3) retail complexes, (2) churches, some office buildings, several restaurants, apartment renovations, 200 multi-family/mixed use facility......and oh yeah.....a building with a roller coaster on the top of it. Go figure!

Enjoy the ride my friends......Have a great day!

W.O.W. M.O.B.

It all sounds like a secret agent headquarters but really it is a medical office building located on Will O Wisp Ave. The Ionic DeZign team took on the challenge to create a facility that in no uncertain terms was to be WOW! Wonderful....Oh My....and Wild....A creative venture that takes on an existing 20,000 square foot facility needing a face lift while a new Atrium Core provides the circulation and organization for three additional wings. A total development of over 106,000 square feet located near the Sentera Hospital in Virginia Beach. We look forward to moving forward with the Beach Health Pavilion.

Trick or Treat?

I would have to say that October presented us with lots of treats.....no tricks....at least we hope! Several new clients came on the scene and allowed us to move forward with several nice projects. We completed the first phase of documents for the interior renovation of St. Andrews United Methodist Church. We are currently working on the expansion documents.

We also completed several small interiors for McLean Lending and ReMax First as well as code compliance work for a few restaurants that were expanding.


Progress as been steady on Northampton Crossing Development that will support a Krispy Kreme and Jersey Mike's. A fast track project that should be completed by mid November.



However we have ruly been blessed with the opportunity to help develop the design concepts for the Beach Health Pavilion. Documents are out of marketing and we look forward to moving forward with construction documents within the month of November as well. It all looks busy!


Our oldest project on the boards, 1st Bay Development has now been submitted to the city of Norfolk for rezoning approval. That receive it's approval by the first of the year.


All in all......the end of 2010 has thus far been more of a treat than a trick.

Starting off the week right!

The beginning of a new week pretty much sets the tone for the rest to follow. I must say that we started off nicely with our presentation and review for what we call the WOW medical office complex. Our client was very pleased with our direction and excited about what was to come. We have some great ideas as we wrap up the conceptual design.



The one thing great about Architecture is that we get to learn so much along our path of life. We don't just practice Architecture, we get to practice a small part at being a doctor, chef, dentist, fireman, retailer etc. etc etc. Anything we design, as a good architect, we need to understand our client and how they operate. We need to get into their brains and understand what and how their business is to run. That along with our knowledge of planning and organization hopefully comes lasting architecture that is not only appealing but profitable to the client. Let's face it, if it isn't profitable and functional for our client's it doesn't matter how sweet it is.



I really enjoy the work and people we work with at Ionic DeZign Studios. Great people that lets us explore. Thanks again to all our friends, clients, consultants, suppliers, vendors etc. We appreciate you so much for being there with us these last 11 years. Now lets get working on the next 11! Have a great day my friends.

New Week

This week we have a huge amount of deadlines to accomplish. Kickoff of several projects as they push forward and wrapping up some projects that are concluding. Really working on trying to get several marketing things completed and firmly established so I wont need to address any further other than update. One of them being this blog.

New Blog Started

Starting a new blog post as if I dont have enough to do already! Fourth of July weekend and the new Virginia Orginals & Chesapeake Grill has opened up on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Very exciting! We have been getting lots of compliments on our work. We are excited to see as we complete the final touches. Watch for photos!