Public Architects Committee

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

WHO:  Career federal architect, last 20+ years at Headquarters, US Army Corps of Engineers.  Currently responsible for portfolio of $300 million of master planning, facilities standards, and military construction validation.

WHY: To keep in touch with trends and concerns within public sector practice.

WHAT: DATA GOVERNANCE and COLLABORATION.  I am working with our R&D labs to create a digital platform for installation master planning, merging multiple facility databases and GIS that will become a single window to make real-time, data driven decisions on installation resilience, climate change, energy and water efficiency, and stationing of troop units between installations.  On collaboration, getting our 12 planning support centers to work in collaboration versus competition. Our clients are national and international in scope, requiring collaboration among all to assure consistency in the quality of projects and products.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

WHO:  Career federal architect, last 20+ years at Headquarters, US Army Corps of Engineers.  Currently responsible for portfolio of $300 million of master planning, facilities standards, and military construction validation.

WHY: To keep in touch with trends and concerns within public sector practice.

WHAT: DATA GOVERNANCE and COLLABORATION.  I am working with our R&D labs to create a digital platform for installation master planning, merging multiple facility databases and GIS that will become a single window to make real-time, data driven decisions on installation resilience, climate change, energy and water efficiency, and stationing of troop units between installations.  On collaboration, getting our 12 planning support centers to work in collaboration versus competition. Our clients are national and international in scope, requiring collaboration among all to assure consistency in the quality of projects and products.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

WHO:  I don't hold a "public architect" position per se but I am the Assistant Planning Director for Oklahoma City, the 20th largest city by population and the second largest by land area.

WHAT:  It seems we are never able to react fast enough to address climate and other environmental concerns, housing, homelessness services, and new technologies like providing EV parking spaces. There are always so many stakeholders to inform and persuade when we tackle any initiative.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

WHO:  I don't hold a "public architect" position per se but I am the Assistant Planning Director for Oklahoma City, the 20th largest city by population and the second largest by land area.

WHAT:  It seems we are never able to react fast enough to address climate and other environmental concerns, housing, homelessness services, and new technologies like providing EV parking spaces. There are always so many stakeholders to inform and persuade when we tackle any initiative.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

WHO:  I don't hold a "public architect" position per se but I am the Assistant Planning Director for Oklahoma City, the 20th largest city by population and the second largest by land area.

WHAT:  It seems we are never able to react fast enough to address climate and other environmental concerns, housing, homelessness services, and new technologies like providing EV parking spaces. There are always so many stakeholders to inform and persuade when we tackle any initiative.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

WHO:  I don't hold a "public architect" position per se but I am the Assistant Planning Director for Oklahoma City, the 20th largest city by population and the second largest by land area.

WHAT:  It seems we are never able to react fast enough to address climate and other environmental concerns, housing, homelessness services, and new technologies like providing EV parking spaces. There are always so many stakeholders to inform and persuade when we tackle any initiative.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

WHO: My primary roles are P.I.C. and subject matter expert in Law Enforcement and 9-1-1 Emergency Communications facility design.  The rest of my time has me working on local projects for municipalities, and parks and recreation districts. For 30+ years, my work has been in public sector architecture. I also provide subject matter expertise in physical security.

WHAT: Public Safety work continues to be in extremely high demand, and I expect that this will continue for the next several years. For law enforcement projects, it is really challenging to keep up with the workload and finding staff who are interested in learning about all of the various specialties involved is very difficult. As I'm getting closer to retirement, I am very concerned about who will take over. My current employer doesn't have a plan in place and that keeps me up at night. Other things that keep me up at night include how do we work with a project team to design resilient and sustainable buildings that will actually work through significant hazardous events (natural disasters, weather events, etc.), out of control construction inflation, supply chain issues, and ever-increasing owner expectations.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

WHO: I am a "Public Architect" in the purest sense from my time in the U.S. Air Force, serving for 20 years and retiring as a Lt. Colonel. For all of that time I did healthcare facility planning, design, and construction and struggled mightily to achieve licensure. In my time since the military I have continued to work on public architecture from the private sector, mainly healthcare facilities for the U.S. military and veterans, ultimately now leading and owning a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business architecture firm named Alesia Architecture in the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area.

WHAT: There is no one thing that keeps me up at night. As a business owner I worry about the long arc of the business as opposed to the day to day. There is always stuff to handle day to day, but securing good strong work for the future, feeding the careers of the 20+ staff I serve, providing our clients the facilities they rightly deserve, staying abreast of technology, and providing for employees an optimal work-life-family balance are the main things I worry about. I sincerely try to not sweat the day to day, the small stuff. It happens to all of us, focusing on the short term, but the long view is the goal.

WHO: My primary roles are P.I.C. and subject matter expert in Law Enforcement and 9-1-1 Emergency Communications facility design.  The rest of my time has me working on local projects for municipalities, and parks and recreation districts. For 30+ years, my work has been in public sector architecture. I also provide subject matter expertise in physical security.

WHAT: Public Safety work continues to be in extremely high demand, and I expect that this will continue for the next several years. For law enforcement projects, it is really challenging to keep up with the workload and finding staff who are interested in learning about all of the various specialties involved is very difficult. As I'm getting closer to retirement, I am very concerned about who will take over. My current employer doesn't have a plan in place and that keeps me up at night. Other things that keep me up at night include how do we work with a project team to design resilient and sustainable buildings that will actually work through significant hazardous events (natural disasters, weather events, etc.), out of control construction inflation, supply chain issues, and ever-increasing owner expectations.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

------------------------------
Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham AIA
University of Massachusetts
Amherst MA
------------------------------

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

------------------------------
Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham AIA
University of Massachusetts
Amherst MA
------------------------------

WHO:  I am the Principal Architect overseeing 69 architectural staff for the Bureau of Architecture (BOA), San Francisco Public Works.  My immediate supervisor is Ron Alameida, City Architect & Deputy Director for Public Works.  I have been with the city for 10+ years after 28 years in the private sector.  BOA is an extremely unique architectural organization in that we perform in-house design for our city's assets from Fire Stations & Homeless Shelters to Libraries, but also work heavily with private sector architects to deliver our capital projects.  BOA has been in existence since 1907, formulated not long after the 1906 earthquake in SF.  Some believe we were formed out of a call for more QC/QA and oversight of the design and construction of our Civic Buildings mainly because of the state of the relatively "new" city hall at the time of the earthquake, which was built out of corruption, took 27 years to build, was 400% over budget and the walls were full of sand. With regard to our work with the private sector, our Project Management Bureau oversees the biggest projects which are primarily designed by the private sector architects. Over the last 10 years we have delivered over $2.5B in major projects utilizing private sector architects.  

WHY:  The bigger question is "Why Architects in Government Matter"?  I see this as a 5 Pt. response as to what we bring to the government and profession as a whole:  1.  The City Government & City Architect as a Client:  San Francisco has a $32B Capital Plan and when we build & maintain Civic architecture, it needs to be BUILT TO LAST as some projects are only realized once in a lifetime. 2.  The City Architect is an advocate for Excellence in Civic Architecture: To ensure the highest quality of design and construction.  3.  The City Architect is a catalyst for Public Architecture that benefits the Community:  Our projects are for the people, paid for the people and should serve the people who deserve the best in their projects.  We also build a lot of Community Centers and Homeless shelters.  4.  The City Architect as Teacher, Mentor & Learning Lab: We have a strong internship program and our interns get to work on a variety of building projects AND see them constructed.  5.  The City Architect as a Keeper of Standards of Excellence and a Steward of Archives: We need to set the bar in sustainability (all buildings LEED Gold minimum) & electrification of new buildings and major renovations & QC/QA.  We also have drawings going back 100 years that need to be archived, scanned and preserved for generations to come as well as future renovations.    

WHAT:  What keeps me up at night?  Keeping up our standards of excellence (QC/QA & Design quality), ensuring our staff have enough work, aka I have 69 "families" to consider, not just employees, hiring the right staff, and succession planning.  When I retire, I would like to leave this place not only better than when I joined, but also Built To Last, like our buildings.

------------------------------
Julia Laue, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
Principal Architect & Bureau Manager
Bureau of Architecture, SF Public Works
San Francisco, CA

Original Message:
Sent: 08-03-2023 02:55 PM
From: Ludmilla D. Pavlova-Gillham AIA
Subject: WHO are you as a public architect and WHAT is keeping you up at night?

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

------------------------------
Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham AIA
University of Massachusetts
Amherst MA
------------------------------

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

WHO: Deputy Director of Capital Planning and Policy for Cook County (the county of Chicago). Been here 6 years, in public agencies a total of 11 years, been licensed for 34 years, balance a private firms working almost exclusively for public agency clients (local, state, and Federal). I am the senior architect in the Department, which manages approximately 500 capital projects annually on 100 or so buildings totaling around 19m SF. Two hospitals, six clinics, twelve courthouses, three large office buildings, and the 5m SF Cook County Jail. Most of my work is focused on the public safety portfolio. My Director and I manage Department staff and four consultant teams. I also lead our procurement, the development of our annual Capital Improvement Plan, and I am the SME for the County on ADA matters.

WHAT: In addition to the (ahem) challenges with procurement (we've been budgeting a year just to get firms hired...), my main challenge is in the public safety portfolio - the wholesale transformation of our Jail and of our courts system, including the juvenile justice system, is a massive, multi-year planning, political, and technical challenge.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

I'm recently retired after serving as Associated Vice Chancellor for Capital Planning at Maricopa Community College District. At the height of college enrollments, a number of years ago, we were one of the largest community college districts in the country, serving nearly 250,000 students each year at 10 campuses and another dozen or so smaller education centers located throughout the greater Phoenix Arizona area. 

Funding- with a capital F- always was the greatest concern. Capital funding for expansions and remodeling generally could be linked to growth or specific needs. Maintenance funding was an on-going nightmare, trying to keep millions of square feet in operation with only the barest of daily maintenance budgets and next to no preventive/anticipative budgets available.  We finally were able to fund a PM and Facility Condition study to quantify how much, what, and where we needed preventive maintenance work for the next 20 years and convinced our Board to fund bits at a time to chip away at it.  In the meantime, we always had to assure we had enough money to address emergency maintenance as things broke or were damaged.

Next, what kept me up at night was our Governing Board. We operated in a very politically conservative, generally anti-tax community, including our State government, that continuously reduced funding to higher education.  It was an on-going battle with our Board to get approvals for funding capital and maintenance needs, often debating even minor purchases. I never could understand why someone would seek and serve in a public position at a public institution with a leading goal to starve the institution of the financial resources it needed, when the resources could be obtained for just an additional few dollars per household in additional tax support.

Someone also mentioned emergencies, like weather damage. We can't control that, but we can plan for it through disaster recovery exercises.  That is critical for everyone in facilities.  Table top an exercise of what will happen if one of your schools or locations is lost to weather or fire.  In advance, plan where operations, employees, students, patients, prisoners.... will move to, emergency procurement processes, vendors that will be needed for emergency support and products. What would happen if you lost an important facility for short term- water line break, mold scare, and yes for all of us, closure for a crime scene in case of a shooting, for example. Where and how do operations continue for the week or so of closure we'll need?  Can people work at home?  Can they be moved to other locations? Do we have partnerships with local schools, churches, community centers, etc. that might provide some temporary space for us? Make those connections and arrangements now.  Work on it all in advance- what would be needed.  Is your IT department up to the task to make alternate network and system access available in an emergency to people working at home or at other locations, whether your own locations or temporary ones. You will sleep better with a little pre-planning.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

I am so impressed and grateful to everyone who has responded so far - we have so much in common, especially with respect to the need for funding - for good planning - to address long-standing capital maintenance and repair.  PA knowledge community staff and I will assemble a document from this discussion that we can use for planning events for next year that meet your needs - and give a platform for your voices.  

Please keep posting your answers and thank you!  

I'm recently retired after serving as Associated Vice Chancellor for Capital Planning at Maricopa Community College District. At the height of college enrollments, a number of years ago, we were one of the largest community college districts in the country, serving nearly 250,000 students each year at 10 campuses and another dozen or so smaller education centers located throughout the greater Phoenix Arizona area. 

Funding- with a capital F- always was the greatest concern. Capital funding for expansions and remodeling generally could be linked to growth or specific needs. Maintenance funding was an on-going nightmare, trying to keep millions of square feet in operation with only the barest of daily maintenance budgets and next to no preventive/anticipative budgets available.  We finally were able to fund a PM and Facility Condition study to quantify how much, what, and where we needed preventive maintenance work for the next 20 years and convinced our Board to fund bits at a time to chip away at it.  In the meantime, we always had to assure we had enough money to address emergency maintenance as things broke or were damaged.

Next, what kept me up at night was our Governing Board. We operated in a very politically conservative, generally anti-tax community, including our State government, that continuously reduced funding to higher education.  It was an on-going battle with our Board to get approvals for funding capital and maintenance needs, often debating even minor purchases. I never could understand why someone would seek and serve in a public position at a public institution with a leading goal to starve the institution of the financial resources it needed, when the resources could be obtained for just an additional few dollars per household in additional tax support.

Someone also mentioned emergencies, like weather damage. We can't control that, but we can plan for it through disaster recovery exercises.  That is critical for everyone in facilities.  Table top an exercise of what will happen if one of your schools or locations is lost to weather or fire.  In advance, plan where operations, employees, students, patients, prisoners.... will move to, emergency procurement processes, vendors that will be needed for emergency support and products. What would happen if you lost an important facility for short term- water line break, mold scare, and yes for all of us, closure for a crime scene in case of a shooting, for example. Where and how do operations continue for the week or so of closure we'll need?  Can people work at home?  Can they be moved to other locations? Do we have partnerships with local schools, churches, community centers, etc. that might provide some temporary space for us? Make those connections and arrangements now.  Work on it all in advance- what would be needed.  Is your IT department up to the task to make alternate network and system access available in an emergency to people working at home or at other locations, whether your own locations or temporary ones. You will sleep better with a little pre-planning.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?

I am so impressed and grateful to everyone who has responded so far - we have so much in common, especially with respect to the need for funding - for good planning - to address long-standing capital maintenance and repair.  PA knowledge community staff and I will assemble a document from this discussion that we can use for planning events for next year that meet your needs - and give a platform for your voices.  

Please keep posting your answers and thank you!  

I'm recently retired after serving as Associated Vice Chancellor for Capital Planning at Maricopa Community College District. At the height of college enrollments, a number of years ago, we were one of the largest community college districts in the country, serving nearly 250,000 students each year at 10 campuses and another dozen or so smaller education centers located throughout the greater Phoenix Arizona area. 

Funding- with a capital F- always was the greatest concern. Capital funding for expansions and remodeling generally could be linked to growth or specific needs. Maintenance funding was an on-going nightmare, trying to keep millions of square feet in operation with only the barest of daily maintenance budgets and next to no preventive/anticipative budgets available.  We finally were able to fund a PM and Facility Condition study to quantify how much, what, and where we needed preventive maintenance work for the next 20 years and convinced our Board to fund bits at a time to chip away at it.  In the meantime, we always had to assure we had enough money to address emergency maintenance as things broke or were damaged.

Next, what kept me up at night was our Governing Board. We operated in a very politically conservative, generally anti-tax community, including our State government, that continuously reduced funding to higher education.  It was an on-going battle with our Board to get approvals for funding capital and maintenance needs, often debating even minor purchases. I never could understand why someone would seek and serve in a public position at a public institution with a leading goal to starve the institution of the financial resources it needed, when the resources could be obtained for just an additional few dollars per household in additional tax support.

Someone also mentioned emergencies, like weather damage. We can't control that, but we can plan for it through disaster recovery exercises.  That is critical for everyone in facilities.  Table top an exercise of what will happen if one of your schools or locations is lost to weather or fire.  In advance, plan where operations, employees, students, patients, prisoners.... will move to, emergency procurement processes, vendors that will be needed for emergency support and products. What would happen if you lost an important facility for short term- water line break, mold scare, and yes for all of us, closure for a crime scene in case of a shooting, for example. Where and how do operations continue for the week or so of closure we'll need?  Can people work at home?  Can they be moved to other locations? Do we have partnerships with local schools, churches, community centers, etc. that might provide some temporary space for us? Make those connections and arrangements now.  Work on it all in advance- what would be needed.  Is your IT department up to the task to make alternate network and system access available in an emergency to people working at home or at other locations, whether your own locations or temporary ones. You will sleep better with a little pre-planning.

The Public Architects knowledge community has more than 4,900+ members and I've been wondering about who you are, why you follow this discussion forum, and what are your major challenges today.  So here is my quick answer - I would love to hear yours!

WHO:  I am a public architect in service to a public university (MA) campus of 13.8M GSF.  I've done every kind of work at multiple scales - studies, designs, renovations, new buildings, LEED strategy, master plans, etc..  

WHAT: AIR & EGRESS.  I am working on reconfiguring 8,000 sf of the floor in a historic brutalist library building and trying to compartmentalize an open office space with tight constrains between the vertical core/air, the periphery/air and allow for privacy, egress and accessible restrooms.  And then the SWING SPACE to allow the work to happen.

I'd love to hear from you.  What are you working on?