Page 6 » FSB | DefineDesignDeliver

Design-Build? Design-Bid-Build? Construction Manager At Risk?: Choosing the Right Approach to Your Next Project

Before cement mixers pour concrete, engineers configure HVAC systems or architects create renderings, building owners must first determine what type of contractual arrangements they will enter into with their architecture firm and construction company. These legal agreements, called project delivery methods, are every project’s roadmap for the roles, relationships and levels of involvement between owner, architect and contractor.

“Owners who are more experienced in the design and construction process already have an introduction to some of these methods, and they may have developed preferences,” said FSB Senior Principal Fred Schmidt. “Less familiar owners will often need some guidance.”

Schmidt, who’s taught architecture students about project delivery methods as an adjunct professor at the University of Oklahoma, said he was proud of FSB’s ability and belief in walking clients through the different delivery method options and to help them understand how each would apply to their projects. The firm is always available to help make recommendations about which method would be the right fit, taking into account a project’s scope, schedule and budget. They also encourage clients to work with an attorney during this process.

“At FSB, we know how to play each one of those games,” Schmidt said. “One method might be more like soccer, and another more like basketball, and so on. That’s an exaggeration, but as an architect you really need to know how to ‘play’ in each delivery method, to understand the rules and your role, and to help make the most beneficial decision for the owner.”

Take for example Design-Bid-Build, a popular delivery method for owners looking to manage cost through a competitive contractor bidding process. The owner enters into the contract with the architect first. Once the design is finalized, construction companies bid for the work and the job is awarded to the lowest bidder.

Since the construction contractor doesn’t engage in the project until the architectural decisions are finalized, there is a huge importance placed on the architect’s production of highly detailed construction documents.

“For Design-Bid-Build, there is an understanding that as the architect we leave no stone unturned in our construction documents,” Schmidt said. “We have an obligation to the owner to be extremely accurate because the contractors base their bids on these documents. If we miss something, the contractor will say ‘It wasn’t in your drawings, so it wasn’t in my bid.’”
For owners with budget-driven priorities, Design-Bid-Build projects are an attractive option. Civic clients like municipalities and counties often favor this delivery method. The downside, Schmidt said, is that owners don’t evaluate the contractor because the lowest bidder automatically wins.

“If the owner says, ‘I absolutely want the most competitive price possible,’ you’re going to do Design-Bid-Build,” Schmidt said. “Contactors sharpen their pencils and it can be very competitive, particularly in a highly sought-after project.”

Contrast this with the Construction Manager At Risk delivery method, where the contractor joins the project much earlier — during the design phase.

“It can be handy to get a contractor on board earlier to guide construction-related decisions,” Schmidt said. “When the contractor is good, this makes for a smoother construction process because you can fine-tune the plan together before you start building.”

Contractors have expertise in cost-estimating, scheduling and constructability that can be valuable to incorporate into the design. They can suggest modifications that might use materials more economically, or shorten the construction schedule.

“This adds an extra layer of quality assurance from an entirely different perspective,” Schmidt said.

This delivery method also minimizes the need for excessive detail from architects in construction documents. During the design process, contractors can provide feedback about which parts might be difficult to build and help architects prioritize and focus their efforts. Those owners who prioritize a tightly orchestrated construction schedule and an efficient design process might prefer Construction Manager At Risk. Owners hand-pick both contractors and architects by interviewing and considering experience and qualifications, and they hold contracts with each.

For extremely complex projects requiring high-quality construction, owners might opt for a Design-Build delivery method. Here, the owner selects architect-contractor teams and holds only one contract, with the contractor. Architect and contractor are involved from the project’s inception. Ideally, they will work closely with each other and with their subcontractors from defining the project on through the building’s completion. For this reason, Design-Build also lends itself to accommodating challenging schedules.

Far from competing for the most competitive, lowest bid, in Design-Build contractors carefully select skilled subcontractors to deliver the quality of construction the client needs.

“There are smaller projects where this method would simply be overkill, and not cost-effective,” Schmidt said. “Owners choose Design-Build when they want to hand-pick their architect and engineering team, prioritize quality and carefully manage the timeline. And sometimes they prefer a single point of contact.”

Schmidt said the firm carefully researches and considers a potential contractor before teaming for a Design-Build project. To be competitive, both the contractor and architect must impress the owner. And, the architect relies heavily on its working relationship with the contractor throughout the project.

FSB places a strong emphasis on counseling its clients about how Design-Bid-Build, Construction Manager At Risk, Design-Build and other project delivery methods might fit their priorities. Because the firm has worked countless times under each arrangement, FSB clients have come to expect a high level of expertise and familiarity, no matter which delivery method best suits their project.

The Power of Light – How Lighting Design Can Enhance Your Corporate Environment

“Space is oblivion without light. A building speaks through the silence of perception, orchestrated by light.”

This quote, by renowned architect Steven Holl, is spot-on in its assessment. The illumination inside any building overwhelmingly shapes each user’s experience of that structure, in ways that are both obvious and subtle.

“Lighting impacts two key elements — function and perception. The first objective that light must achieve is functional illumination — obviously, we can’t work in the dark. But the second objective, which is sometimes overlooked, is to impact mood, temperament, emotion and attitude” says John Osborne, licensed architect and FSB Senior Design Project Manager. “Lighting has perhaps the biggest impact on worker productivity and performance; and therefore, must be designed with deliberate intent and specificity of purpose.”

Natural vs. Artificial
Caliber Center Natural and artificial light both serve their purpose in corporate designs, but today people have realized the myriad benefits of natural light over older fluorescent and incandescent fixtures, Osborne said. Not only is natural lighting much more energy efficient and cost effective, multiple studies have proven that it significantly boosts employee energy, productivity, alertness and overall mood. Lighting also plays a critical role in the body’s circadian rhythms — the built in “sensors” that govern our sleep cycles and ability to relax. This trend toward natural light is significant, especially considering that nearly 70% of employees previously have expressed dissatisfaction with the lighting in their offices, according to a study by the American Society of Interior Designers.

Going hand-in-hand with the shift toward natural lighting are the open floor plans now trending in corporate environments, Osborne said. These types of plans represent a challenge for lighting designers, as light fixtures must help define work areas, highlight task areas and direct traffic, while at the same time being unobtrusive. This trend toward open layouts facilitates the increased natural light by reducing the obstructive enclosed offices historically located on exterior walls, which blocked natural light from permeating deeper into the floor space. By moving hard-wall functions to the center of the floor plate and placing open office workstations along the perimeter of office floors where possible, natural light can be enjoyed by significantly more building occupants, Osborne said.

FSB employees collaborating Even when natural light isn’t an option, the use of appropriate lighting in the workplace can still assist productivity and mood in both straightforward and cutting-edge ways. As an example, FSB architects solved a serious issue for energy giant Phillips 66 by designing an innovative lighting feature that greatly improved the performance of employees staffing a pipeline control center. Security concerns required a windowless structure, where employees worked shifts around the clock. FSB’s designers created a unique lighted wall feature, with illumination that mimics the sun’s transition across the sky. This feature, in coordination with other carefully designed direct/indirect lighting, made an enormous difference in the quality of life for the center’s employees, who were better able to control their circadian rhythms and establish normal sleep patterns.

Trends in Technology
Phillips 66 Pipeline Control Center in Bartlesville, OK In many modern corporate structures, traditional fluorescent and incandescent lights have been phased out, replaced by light emitting diodes — more commonly known as LEDs. LEDs require much less power, translating to significant savings in building operating costs.

There is much greater flexibility now that lighting controls no longer have to be hard wired. Technological improvements and computer networked design integration make it possible to add a wave of new lighting control options that save money and are more flexible. For instance, ambient light sensors, which approximate the human eye’s response to light intensity, can now be combined with proximity detectors into a single device that can mounted unobtrusively on a wall or ceiling. These sensory devices can independently per-form such actions as controlling window openings for heat and fresh air control, and window shades for heat control, so that they automatically adjust as the sun moves across a building. This is in addition to energy-saving features such as lights which automatically turn off when a room is unoccupied.

“By boosting and lowering the ambient light, this can also help significantly reduce a building’s overall heating and cooling costs,” Osborne said. “Companies can see the cost benefit from these sensors, and that energy savings can potentially be used for other upgrades.”

Costs aren’t the only factor driving technological innovation, however. “The energy management side has been driving (the industry) for a while, but now we’re starting to look at things from the angle of productivity and mood,” Osborne added. “The introduction of LEDs is allowing the lighting control industry to develop fast, with innovations like wireless switching networks and Power over Ethernet (PoE).”

At the end of the day, “There is no one-size-fits-all solution for lighting in the office or other workplace environment,” Osborne noted. “But today’s building owners and employers know that thoughtful lighting design can significantly enhance productivity, and even contribute to recruitment and retention of employees. Proper lighting design can reduce energy costs, and of course, it can give aesthetic life (or conversely, death) to the interior and exterior architecture.”

AIA HONORS THOSE IMPACTING THE ARCHITECTURAL PROFESSION AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT

Oklahoma City — The lights went out at Will Rogers Theatre on Friday but that didn’t stop the American Institute of Architects, Central Oklahoma Chapter from holding their 2017 AIA Honor Awards Program. AIA holds their awards ceremony to recognize and thank those who work to improve the built environment and the profession of architecture. Storms knocked out power but AIA used cell phones and candles to light the room and honor these very deserving individuals, companies and organizations.

The William Wayne Caudill Award is meant to recognize and honor an individual AIA Central Oklahoma member who has displayed a long-standing commitment to the betterment of the profession and the well-being of architects. Fred Schmidt, FAIA of FSB was presented with this year’s William Wayne Caudill Award.

Within his community, Fred Schmidt recognized that architecture could be a unique tool in teaching citizenry a creative approach to everyday problem-solving while learning about the benefits of a quality architectural environment. He has challenged civic, community, and professional organizations to become aware and involved in the quality of architecture in their respective communities.

Fred’s design philosophy is: “I believe architecture, and therefore every architect, has a responsibility to its communities and to a shrinking environment of the world community. Architecture touches the life of world citizens on a daily basis; they are born it, live in it, learn in it, work in it, and recreate in it. The quality of architecture directly affects the quality of our lives and our communities. As architects, we are stewards of the built environment and must be diligent in creating public awareness of the positive virtues of a quality built environment and of the value of the architect’s role and contribution to that environment.”

Fred has given countless hours over the course of his career to promoting the value of architects and the role they play in building better communities. This along with Fred’s love of the profession of architecture and his commitment to AIA is why the selection committee felt he was so deserving of this honor.

FSB receives Outstanding Project Award and National Recognition for the Heartland Middle School

Cleveland, OH

FSB (Oklahoma City, OK) has received an OUTSTANDING PROJECT Award for excellence in education facility design in the spring 2017 of LEARNING BY DESIGN, the premier source for education design innovation and excellence. The Heartland Middle School (Edmond, OK) has been recognized by Learning By Design magazine for its overall plan, architectural design and for having attributes worthy of imitation.

FSB NAMED 2017 BEST COMMERCIAL ARCHITECTURE FIRM FOR FIFTH TIME

OKC.Biz announced the top honoree in 25 business categories at the Best of Business 2017 awards luncheon March 22. FSB was named Best Commercial Architecture Firm for an unprecedented 5th time.

Since its founding in 1945, FSB has exceeded expectations and contributed iconic structures to the fabric of Oklahoma. As its reputation and client list has grown locally, nationally and internationally, FSB has worked hard to become known as a provider of high-quality architectural and engineering services. Specializing in the distinct markets of Aviation, Civic, Corporate, Education, Federal, Infrastructure/Technology and Native American projects, FSB is known for their ability to exceed client expectations.

Over the decades the firm has become a dynamic business and community leader in Oklahoma City, as evidenced by being presented with the Beacon Award for outstanding corporate social responsibility. In 2016, FSB was named a Metro 50 honoree as one of the city’s fastest-growing companies. Even more impressive, FSB is the only practice to be named “Firm of the Year” four times by the AIA’s Central Oklahoma Chapter, an honor given specifically to recognize vision, leadership and quality of work.

Operating under the guiding principles of Character, Teamwork, Excellence and Community, employees like working at FSB. In fact, nearly 30% of the firm’s 150 employees have been with the company more than 10 years. Today, a vibrant new brand, new collaborative work spaces, a growing Fortune 500 client list and a desire to continuously raise the standards of innovation in the design industry continue to attract high-caliber professional staff.

FSB’s reputation for quality and service allows them to win projects, such as the new Terminal Expansion at Will Rogers World Airport, the Interior Renovation of the Oklahoma State Capitol, the new Headquarters for the Choctaw Nation, and a new aviation facility for Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base. Clients can count on familiar faces, the longevity of the firm, quality of work and the firm’s exceptional leadership to know they are hiring the best.

Optimal Solutions in Hangar HVAC Systems

As some aircraft hangars are among the world’s largest structures, heating and cooling these facilities is no small feat. In fact, the sheer size of a hangar is one among many challenges that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) designers and engineers address with each project. For example, depending on the activities taking place, airflow throughout the hangar may need to remove paint fumes or fuel vapor from within the hangar to provide a safe environment and protect adjacent rooms. To accomplish this, HVAC engineers must approach the design with the same care they would use in a laboratory’s HVAC systems, controlling the direction of airflow by maintaining pressure relationships between spaces adjacent to and adjoining the hangar to keep occupants safe, according to Brian Sauer, Principal of FSB’s Aviation Market and a licensed mechanical engineer.

“Sometimes engineers who aren’t familiar with hangars assume their HVAC systems are similar to warehouses. Hangars are not warehouses,” Sauer said. “Designing efficient, maintainable, modern heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for a hangar requires a knowledge of codes, air distribution strategies, and controls that a firm who doesn’t do this all the time would have a difficult time learning on their first job.”

Asking the right questions
Experience is also beneficial in knowing what questions to ask clients, Sauer said. As a full-service architecture and engineering firm with more than 75 years of experience designing hangars for federal, commercial, and private clients, FSB has honed a list of questions to cover before beginning any hangar project, and many of those questions pertain to HVAC.

HVAC engineers must have a thorough understanding of how the client plans to use the hangar.

For example, for a paint hangar, FSB mechanical engineers would incorporate a more sophisticated air distribution system to provide an ideal painting environment. Air filtration systems would be implemented in the design to mitigate the facility’s environmental impact.

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution for hangar HVAC systems,” Sauer said. “Even within a single airline, one station may operate differently from another in how they choose to perform their maintenance.”

Depending on climate, function, and client preference, engineers determine whether a hangar needs to be cooled, or just heated and ventilated. The firm has designed everything from a completely air conditioned and environmentally controlled manufacturing hangar for Airbus in Mobile, Alabama to more standard maintenance hangars for operations in more moderate climates.

Other hangars require the cabins of the aircraft themselves to be air conditioned, either to preserve finishes or to provide a comfortable environment for maintenance employees. To enable users to condition the aircraft within an enclosed hangar, engineers must include pre-conditioned air units (PCAs) that provide dedicated cooling, and sometimes even heating, to the aircraft.

“We’ve used the hybrid DX boost system, a newer PCA technology, to condition aircraft in recent hangar designs for American Airlines in Brazil and for United in Houston, among others,” FSB mechanical engineer Cory Futrell said. “They are much quieter and do not require a dedicated low-temperature glycol chilled water system, which results in less maintenance and improved energy efficiency.”

Empowering clients to lead the industry in energy efficiency
Hangars are notoriously difficult structures to efficiently heat and cool. The space’s volume alone can pose a significant challenge. On top of this, aircraft-sized hangar doors are regularly opened and closed, allowing raw unconditioned air into the facility.

“We approach our clients’ facilities with strategies and philosophies for conditioning hangars as efficiently as possible,” Sauer said. “The way we turn equipment on and off as needed, the way we adjust the ventilation rates based on weather conditions and occupancy — we’re not developing these control sequences for how the equipment operates from scratch. We’ve done it. Through our experience, we’ve developed a well-tested system that most engineers do not have readily available.”

It’s helpful to understand your arsenal of options when selecting a heating system, Futrell said. In climates even as moderate as Oklahoma, engineers know to supplement the standard ventilation system with some form of radiant heat system. Instead of using fans to circulate warm air throughout the room, radiant heating systems work like the sun, heating objects and people first, then gradually heating the surrounding air through natural convection. This comes in handy when you want to keep people and objects warm even as giant hangar doors are opened, releasing large volumes of air, he said.

Depending on the climate, radiant heating systems might be gas-fired and suspended overhead, or they might be hydronic systems, embedded in the hangar floor. Projects in any climate where temperatures tend to drop below 10 degrees are strong candidates for in-floor radiant, he said.

“Air distribution design also makes a huge difference,” Sauer said. “We need to make sure we are picking the right devices to throw air as far as 100 feet to the floor, then direct it so that it sweeps across the hangar floor and is either returned or exhausted out the other side of the building, depending on the application.”

Sauer said the firm has encountered — and replaced — hangars with HVAC systems where the conditioned air is delivered directly across the ceiling space and is exhausted without ever entering the occupied area. High-volume, low-speed fans, he said, also help to destratify the space, redistributing warm air back down to the occupied level when heating is needed, or on warmer days working like a ceiling fan, providing air movement for improved comfort and minimal cooling.

In 2012, FSB designed Hangar 7 at Marine Corps Air Station in Miramar, California, the largest hangar to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum status, the highest level of classification for green building design. The firm has also designed a number of LEED Gold and LEED Silver hangars.

Maintenance matters
An important aspect of Sauer and Futrell’s jobs is actually coordinating with the rest of the architectural and structural design team to make sure clients’ HVAC systems are accessible and can be easily maintained.

“We can design the best system in the world, but if the people who work in the hangar can’t maintain it, it’s not going to work for very long,” Sauer said. “Many of these systems are often located up high in the hangar bay, so it’s critical to devise a way to actually get to a fan motor, or change filters. This equipment is not easy to access if you don’t put a lot of thought in on the front end.”

To provide access, well-conceived hangars might include a system of overhead catwalks, as FSB structural engineers devised for their recently completed Helicopter Maintenance Hangar at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego, California. The hangar received the 2014 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award – Outstanding Project from the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations.

By contrast, many hangars have sub-par maintenance access, Sauer said. He said teams who do not work together in the same office are more likely to overlook this.

“Usually in the ceiling space of a hangar you have mechanical equipment, a bridge crane system, the lights, fall protection, and foam generators that are dumping foam in a fire protection event all competing for space,” Sauer said. “The coordination between mechanical, electrical, structural, and architectural is extremely time consuming and intensive in terms of the collaboration effort to get it right. Thankfully, we are all under one roof and able to provide turnkey design services.”

To learn more about how FSB can apply its heating, ventilation and air conditioning design experience to your next aviation project, contact Aviation Market Principal Brian Sauer at [email protected] or (405) 840-2931.

Building Assessments – A Roadmap for Facility Savings Over the Long Haul

The key to successful building management is long-term planning, and no long-term planning can be successful without an accurate baseline of information as a starting point. The best way to obtain that information is via a professional building assessment, a relatively inexpensive tool that’s critical to making the best use of available dollars and accurately predicting facility maintenance and repair costs.

For clients large and small, FSB’s architectural and engineering teams serve as the detectives who discover and summarize vital information about a building’s complex systems, reviewing the mechanical, HVAC, electrical and fire protection systems, along with the structural integrity, overall condition and energy usage. Code compliance, facility access and security issues are also identified during these reviews. The end result is a comprehensive report, or “road map,” containing essential information that helps individuals and companies make key financial planning decisions.

FSB’s assessment teams typically include a combination of architects and engineering specialists, including civil, electrical, mechanical, structural and fire protection, tailored to the client’s specific needs.

Why Building Assessments are Critical
“If you have data on your building that’s missing, inaccurate or out of date, that’s going to lead to bad decisions and bad outcomes. It’s as simple as that,” Principal Brian Sauer says. “We help put the pieces together, so these decisions are informed. For example, if you’re going to buy a building and the price is $5 million, but the assessment shows the building needs $2 million in repairs, you can take that into account when you’re negotiating a final price. The data also can help determine whether it’s more fiscally sound to purchase a new building or to remodel and expand an existing one. We not only find out what the problem is, we also find a solution or options; and then we help the client negotiate all these issues.”

Planning for the Future
Planning for future repairs, maintenance and operational needs is the second critical purpose of facility assessments, both for individual buildings and multi-facility sites such as college campuses. Through relatively inexpensive site assessments, “We are able to give clients comprehensive 10-year cash flow figures on what they can expect to spend on repairs, code compliance, security, utilities and any other anticipated expenses. We also provide building life cycle cost evaluations that can support their planning for up to 20 years. Once their current, mid-term and long-term needs are identified, then we can help them work those anticipated expenses into a long-range timeline to keep their buildings operating smoothly and efficiently,” Sauer says.

Some other ways building assessments help facility owners:

Redesigned interiors and safer buildings boost employee productivity, security and satisfaction.
Buildings that are up to code, properly accessible and in good repair greatly reduce an organization’s legal liability.
FSB’s “Energy Dashboard” report provides ways to lower energy consumption, integrate controls and security, and add green design elements that further reduce costs.
In a crisis situation, FSB’s assessment teams can also address emergency issues with structural integrity, temperature/humidity, fire protection and security systems.

Why FSB is the Way to Go
FSB’s 160+ architects, engineers and interior designers are able to problem-solve, consult and respond quickly to any type of situation, drawing upon their literally hundreds of years of experience with every type of building scenario and assisted by the fact that all staff are located in one central office. “No matter what the situation is, someone in our office has seen it, and the more complex the building, the better a fit we are because of that expertise,” Sauer says. “We’re very hard to stump.”

To learn more about how FSB building assessment services can benefit your company, contact Laure Majors at [email protected] or (405) 840-2931.

The Magic of Engaging Students in the Design Process

Places of learning must be many things to many people. Educators need a teaching environment that will support creativity and engage students. Administrators need a building that will represent the institution well, connect with the community and inspire financial support. When architects set out to design a new school or university building, stakeholder involvement is an important part of the process.

One of the most important constituents, however, is often left out of the design process — students.

FSB Principal Fred Schmidt engages stakeholders in a design workshop.

“Sometimes, if architects aren’t intentional about including them, students can become a forgotten stakeholder,” FSB Principal Fred Schmidt said. “Giving students a voice in the design process can bring them a sense of ownership and pride for the completed project.”

Undergrads dream big, inspire design elements

Schmidt said FSB typically recommends that education clients take student input into account as much as possible. Oklahoma State University’s College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology (CEAT) leadership fully supported this idea when the college enlisted FSB’s services to design its new undergraduate labs.

Working with administrators, FSB identified a student leadership group within the college. During the early stage of the design process, the firm attended one of the group’s meetings in order to learn from the students about priorities and hopes for their college’s future undergraduate lab. Schmidt said FSB led the students in an empathy exercise, asking them to imagine what other people will see, say, hear, think and feel when they step into the completed building. Students wrote their answers on sticky notes — people will see teams collaborating, people will think OSU engineering is on the rise, people will feel that the building is a home away from home.

“It was an interesting exercise,” Schmidt said. “Asking students to imagine others experiencing the completed project is a good way to flesh out what they hope the building will be.”

After a successful session with the CEAT student leadership group, FSB opened up the empathy exercise to every student in the college by hosting an event and offering pizza in exchange for input.

“We take the key ideas, the overarching themes, and we’ll look at incorporating those into the design and flow of the spaces, or the relationships of the spaces,” Schmidt said.

“Some of the feedback is looser, for example, ‘We want it to be exciting.’ Sometimes we’ll solicit some more discussion with the students, like, ‘What would an exciting classroom mean to you?’ Exciting is a feeling, so it’s our job to translate that feeling into a design statement.”

FSB also worked with the college to set up a blog about the progress of the undergraduate lab’s design and construction in order to maximize the learning opportunity for students and extend the dialogue through later stages of design and construction.

Construction is expected to be complete by 2018. Schmidt said he looks forward to the day when students can go to learn in a building with a design they or their peers helped to influence and shape.

Architects go back to school for a modern student perspective
Heartland Middle School’s first group of students began their school year in Fall 2016. When they enlisted FSB’s design services, Edmond Public Schools expressed its hope for Heartland to set the standard for the next generation of middle schools in the district, so FSB intentionally incorporated a modern student perspective into their design.

Typically, on a new school, the architect and even the district does not know who the students are yet, Schmidt said. However, FSB placed a high value on student input, and Edmond Public Schools embraced the priority. Early in the design process FSB arranged peer institution tours and used them as an opportunity to learn from middle schoolers at existing, recently constructed middle schools. Schmidt said principals at peer institutions were typically very accommodating of FSB and Edmond Public Schools, assigning student ambassadors to guide the group though their new school.

“During our tours, we had the opportunity to ask students some general questions, like, ‘How do you like your new school?’” Schmidt said. “Then we asked them about some specific places, for example ‘How does the lunchroom work?’ or ‘How do you like the media center?’ You get a whole different perspective with those students. They see stuff that we don’t see, that their teachers don’t see and that principals don’t see.”

Schmidt said information gathered during the tours led by student ambassadors helped Edmond Public Schools stakeholders to understand and communicate their priorities for the project, and influenced Heartland’s design. The finished product includes some of best aspects from other modern middle schools, combined and expanded upon to meet the needs and aspirations laid out by Edmond Public Schools educators and administrators.

The tours were at times a two-way learning experience, with FSB architects and engineers learning from students about their experience and school building, and middle school students witnessing part of the design process firsthand.

“They’re thinking about their space, maybe in a way they haven’t thought about before, and maybe even getting inspired,” Schmidt said. “They’re thinking about how buildings come together.”

To learn more about how FSB is working with student stakeholders on innovative educational design, contact Laure Majors at [email protected] or (405) 840-2931.

Metropolitan Area Projects (MAPS)

FSB was proud to play a key role in the renaissance of Oklahoma City by serving as the owner’s representative for the Metropolitan Area Projects (known as MAPS). These taxpayer-funded initiatives have transformed the state’s capitol into a go-to destination, resulting in multiple new downtown entertainment venues and a complete revitalization of the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds.

As the owner’s representative for the initial MAPS I project, FSB served as a liaison between Oklahoma City leaders, the project design team and the contractor. Our team provided constant oversight of the construction quality, ensuring compliance with contract documents, and reviewing pricing of materials. Through our efforts to ensure the highest-quality end product, we enabled city leaders to serve as better stewards of the public money.

Chickasaw Nation Cultural Center and Museum

Over the past decade, the Chickasaw Nation and FSB have teamed together to create literally a dozen highly successful facilities that celebrate the tribe’s heritage, help its members and provide wonderful tourism opportunities for the state of Oklahoma.

This partnership began with FSB’s service as the owner’s representative for the tribe’s first project – the Chickasaw Nation Cultural Center and Museum in Sulphur, Oklahoma. FSB assisted the Nation in keeping the one-of-a-kind facility on track and on budget through oversight of construction documents, reviewing compliance on the job site, obtaining needed permits from the town of Sulphur, and serving as a general liaison between the tribe, the design team and the contractor.