Designer Serves Up Construction As a Main Course

(Photo courtesy of Core Architecture & Design)

By Elaine S. Silver
The author, a freelance writer, lives in the Hudson
River Valley of New York State and reports frequently
for Design•Build and other publications.

Patrons at the new Mie N Yu Restaurant in Washington, D.C., have important choices to make besides what to eat. They also have to decide if they want their dinner in Turkey or perhaps Tibet because each room in the thematic restaurant is decorated to evoke a country or culture located along the ancient Silk Road. Their design is the result of another ancient idea, the master builder concept, making Mie N Yu the crossroads of high design and design-build.

Mie N Yu is just one of many striking projects completed by Washington, D.C.-based CORE. But CORE is more than a 12-year-old design firm. After encountering difficulties trying to service its clients using the traditional design-bid-build method, CORE principals two years ago created eroc (CORE spelled backwards and lower case) as their own construction arm, and they haven’t looked back. "What we were finding was that a lot of the larger contractors who understood our designs were not affordable to the upstart retailers we were dealing with. And the affordable ones were not up to delivering the quality of work, so we had to spend a lot of time educating contractors," says Dale A. Stewart, CORE co-founder and principal.

But the process was frustrating, costly and time-consuming. "It was a logical progression to eroc," says Peter F. Hapstack III, CORE co-founder and principal. "I have a hands-on approach and we saw eroc as an opportunity to touch clients as a master builder. That way, we can control the quality of what we do and our clients benefit."

A crucial element in the eroc mix was finding the right person to head the firm. Hapstack says that Kelly D. Markland, eroc principal, fit the bill with his solid construction background and his belief in design-build. "Kelly complements Dale and me. He has brought a balance to what we do," says Hapstack.

Tradition Perdition

Mile N Yu restaurant had construction surprises. (Photo courtesy of Core Architecture & Design)

Communication is at the heart of the CORE + eroc process. "Each new project begins with a kick-off meeting with everyone–owner, designer and contractor. We give them the full menu of what is available, and most importantly, we get to know the client and the crux of their needs," Markland says. "What happens next depends of the specific parameters of the work."

Some CORE clients choose to have a separate design contract and use eroc as a construction manager, while some want a design-builder under one contract. If the design effort is not significant, then eroc will take the lead and retain CORE. About 75% of CORE’s Washington-area clients choose to work in some way with eroc. Most projects are executed under a guaranteed maximum price contract.

CORE specializes in hospitality, residential and interior design. It is the national design firm for 200 Sprint PSC retail outlets around the country. Stewart says that since CORE does a lot of work in the hospitality industry (40% of its clients) where budgets are tight, one of its biggest selling points is giving the client great design with low-cost solutions.

One way the firm’s design-build clients save money is in bypassing the need for a full set of design documents. Traditionally, the architecture budget goes more to documentation rather than design, says Stewart. In design-bid-build, 30% of the architecture budget is for design, 25% for construction and 45% for documentation, he explains. Design-build changes the equation considerably so that 50 to 55% of client’s money can be allocated for design, he adds. "Sometimes a project does not require a full set of designs," says Markland. "eroc will go forward with a limited set of construction documents. Some clients do not need a 60-page set of CD’s."

Moving straight from design intent to construction reality is the precise remedy for what ails many projects. Jackie’s Restaurant in Silver Spring, Md., is a case in point. Jackies’ owners came to CORE + eroc after becoming frustrated with their architect. "They liked the design, but could not afford it," says Markland. The owners considered taking the drawings and acting as their own contractor. "They began to realize that it wasn’t in their best interest and we told them about eroc and suggested having eroc control the budget," says Stewart. "It gave them the comfort that their design would be affordable and obtainable."

And Jackie’s is not unusual. "These types of businesses, restaurants and retail shops tend to be underfinanced and there is no room for surprises," says Markland. "That is why design-build works so well here." To keep costs low, Markland sits in on all the design meetings. "I’ll see where it’s going and I’ll do two or three conceptual costings along the way to the approved design," he says. "In the meantime, I’m already talking to qualified subs and sometimes they are also sitting at the table."

Super Subs

Stewart

Markland

Markland, Stewart and Hapstack all agree that subcontractors are a great, but little-used resource for creativity. Electricians know light fixtures and how to get a great look for little money. HVAC professionals jump at the chance to do the things they know work best. Bringing subs in early gives them the chance to use their extensive knowledge, and it pays off big time.

At the Fusebox Gallery, Washington, D.C., a modest $65,000 budget did not allow for a custom colored concrete floor. Instead, the concrete sub suggested taking 4-ft by 8-ft composite boards and sealing them to mimic a more expensive original. Markland says, "We executed the finish for about 10% of what we would have paid otherwise."

A mechanical contractor also helped transform Martin Huberman’s 200-sq-ft garage into the video editor’s new office during a $45,000 renovation. The office needed an HVAC system that would heat and cool as well as work on available power, be operable using state-of-the-art controls and have all the ducting installed in a very small space. The engineer not only found the right system, but installed it using clean round defusers. "These are off the shelf items, but you wouldn’t necessarily think of them,"says Markland. "The ducts are circular as opposed to rectangular, so they fit in with the floodlights," says Huberman. "Every fixture and device is perfectly aligned. I now have a wonderful minimalist space that I love bringing clients to."

At the Mie N Yu project, designers looked through 100 catalogues but failed to find the right light fixture for the Moroccan room. The electrician’s foreman combined store-bought components–black cord, small silver-colored housings and light bulbs–to create code-compliant lighting that appears to be suspended in mid-air like stars in the sky. "The design process was a guideline to the finished product," says Stewart.

The entire, eccentric, statue-laden Mie N Yu restaurant is a textbook case for the design-build process. The owners, J.J.C. Georgetown LLC, bought two adjoining buildings built in the mid-1800s and totaling 11,000 sq ft in the Georgetown historic district. They planned to spice up the local restaurant scene but first had to renovate the buildings.

The owner's ideas for crisp design and clean lines came to life in Virginia jewelry store despite tight budget. (Photo courtesy of Core Architecture & Design)

The team’s initial intent was to reuse as many of the existing facilities, surfaces, and finishes as they could. One of the buildings had been a restaurant with pictures screwed into the walls. "With every picture we pulled off the wall, we found another $20,000 in renovation costs," says Mie N Yu general manager Oren Molovinsky. "The drywall and plaster had deteriorated behind the pictures." One of the kitchens was useless and the flooring would not meet the health code. "The deeper we got into it, the more we saw that a lot of the interior could not be salvaged," says Markland. So the team strove to maintain what they call the "beauty of the bones" of the structure. "We had a three-hour onsite meeting every week finding solutions," says Markland. "We would have to spend $150,000 just to get all the changes on paper."

One of most disagreeable surprises bubbled up in the basement. "The owners thought all the building systems worked," says Stewart. "But the sewage tank had corroded and the raw sewage was dumping into the basement. We had to put in a new tank." So CORE + eroc showed the restaurant partners the problem. "It is much easier for an owner to understand that he is not being taken advantage of when everyone is sitting together," says Markland. Molovinsky agrees. "There was a lot of frustration during the initial demolition, but CORE + eroc worked through it pretty well because they had direct lines of communication," he says.

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That team approach proved just as important during the design phase. Stewart says that since the restaurant was going into an existing facility, the design and construction were fluid. "The designers knew the themes–get something that represents the culture but stands out; look for Moroccan and Oriental, and when you see something nutty, think of something nuttier and more eccentric," says Molovinsky. The designers had $50,000 to buy the artifacts around which the design would be created. "When we had the building walls opened, we went on a buying spree in Virginia," says Stewart. "We came back with truckloads of stuff and said ‘Okay, how are we going to use this?’"

In fact, the artifacts sat for a while in three tractor-trailer trucks. "We saw the names of the items, but we couldn’t imagine what they looked like," Molovinsky says. Decorating began about a month before the restaurant opened. "You can only make this work when the architect and contractor are working hand in hand and the owner has faith in both," says Stewart. The $3.3-million project started in June 2002 and the restaurant began serving grad students, members of Congress and other diners in February 2003.

Stewart and Markland are clear that part of their business is building trust with each owner. "Owners like the idea of one-stop shopping," says Stewart. "They realize that if we can define design intent, we do not have to do everything we would do in a bid situation in order to cover ourselves. They know the architect and the contractor will not be pointing fingers at each other." And the design-build process necessarily requires a lot of input from the client. Markland says this is very positive because the client sees the design and construction process unfolding before him. "It does not allow a client to be completely enamored with the design of the project," he says. "So it does not come as a surprise when things have to change."

A $65,000 budget helped owners transform the Fusebox Gallery. One low-cost solution was using composite boards to mimic a more expensive concrete finish. (Photo courtesy of Core Architecture & Design)

But the lines on the design drawings have to be translated into real life situations. And lines are all Michael Beem brought to CORE when he wanted a new Reston, Va., jewelry store. He had a budget of $200,000 to create an elegant shop that also accommodated his linebacker-sized frame. He wanted his store to fit him as well as convey a beautiful streamlined design. "I sat down at about a dozen meetings with the builders and architects. They would throw out ideas and Kelly would say, this will put you over budget or under budget. It was nice to have everyone on the same page," Beem says.

Markland says that his team was able to build the store exactly the way Beem sketched it because the owner was involved in making decisions and everyone understood the priorities of the project. "The ceiling is built the most inexpensive way to accommodate the mechanical systems, but we have custom millwork," he says. "When you have an idea for an architect and then you are open in 110 days, you are not doing too bad and part of the advantage is that you don’t have to draw every line on the page."

Beem is pleased. "I can’t imagine doing it another way. I was able to keep my cost under control and keep the look I wanted–real clean and classic," he says. "I think we were able to move much quicker because I was in touch with the engineer and builder."

This design-build concept now is a hot commodity, leading CORE + eroc to the enviable position of deciding how fast they want to grow. "We need to find the balance of taking on new clients and still giving all our clients the attention we think is necessary to create an excellent product," says Markland.

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