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I N D U S T R Y N E W S
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S P R I N G 2 0 1 6
insider view
featured project
meet the team
industry insights
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/ SPRING 2016
ICONICA_Making Headlines
The National Trust for Historic Preservation awarded the Dental Associates Iron Block Building one of its four prestigious 2015 Driehaus Preservation Awards.
Iconica was honored for outstanding construction work in
restoring this magnificent building at the center of Downtown
Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Jim Pientka, President, accepted the honor on November 4,
on behalf of Iconica at the National Cathedral in Washington
D.C. during the opening plenary ceremony of the 2015
National Preservation Conference.
Ecstatic and thankful, we tip our caps to Mark Demsky,
Architect for Dental Associates, a dental care organization
now headquartered in the newly preserved building. Mark’s
passion, along with that of Dr. Thomas Manos, Owner of
Dental Associates, and Anthony Vastardis, CEO, was the
driving force behind the project.
Iconica worked closely with Mark to complete design details
and construction drawings, and subsequently complete the
construction of the interior renovation. It’s easy to imagine
some of the challenges involved with altering a building
erected before the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. For a
more thorough description, see our previous blog post from
11/11/15 at iconicacreates.com.
In the words of the National Trust for Historic Preservation:
“The National Preservation Awards are bestowed on
distinguished individuals, nonprofit organizations, public
agencies and corporations whose skill and determination
have given new meaning to their communities through
preservation of our architectural and cultural heritage.
Iron Block Building Wins Prestigious Driehaus Preservation Award
MAKING HEADLINES
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ICONICACREATES.COM /
Preservation Award nominees are judged for the success they have achieved in the preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, and interpretation of our architectural and cultural heritage. The Driehaus Preservation Awards recognize and celebrate the country’s best preservation projects—projects that highlight cutting-edge preservation approaches or technologies. These exclusive awards serve to educate and inspire and raise the visibility of the preservation movement. Iron Block Building is Wisconsin’s last standing building with a cast iron facade. Despite its designation as a Milwaukee Landmark and its place on the National Register, the building suffered years of neglect until Dental Associates undertook a complete, meticulous, historically accurate renovation of the site, returning it to its former grandeur.”
ICONICA_Making Headlines
“It was amazing to accept the award
in the National Cathedral, and
meet many other representatives of the Historic Preservation
Project throughout the country.”Jim Pientka,
President, Iconica
“It was probably one of the finest restorations I have seen in the City of Milwaukee!”Robert Baumann, Milwaukee Alderman
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IRON BLOCK_FACT BOXLocation: 205 E. Wisconsin Ave
• With 14ft ceilings, and 11ft windows the building offers some of the best views of Downtown Milwaukee.
• The Iron Block building is actually a pair of connected buildings dating from 1860 and 1899.
• When the Dental Associates bought the building much of the interior detail was gone. There were only a handful of old photographs and clues as to what the interior looked like.
/ SPRING 2016
Providing Wisconsin residents with top-quality assisted living care is both a natural and a learned skill of Patti Martin, owner, operator, and CEO of Ashford Martin Corporation. We at Iconica, love working closely with her to design and build her facilities, making sure both form and function are in line with the Aster goals and brand.
Families of seniors who are already familiar with what Aster Assisted Living senior care facilities offer are not waiting for the completion of this building. They are hurrying to save a spot.
“We’ve had so many calls from people wanting to reserve apartments already. People are very excited to have us here.” Patti reports.
She, too, is excited, but not surprised. There has long been a need in Fort Atkinson and the surrounding area for a quality assisted living facility. Aster Assisted Living has a strong reputation as a preeminent senior care provider, and the anticipation for its arrival has been high.
This 60 unit building is phase one of a two-phase campus consisting of a total of 96 senior living units. Just a few short blocks from US Highway 12 on the Northwest side of Fort Atkinson, the site is within walking distance of nearby stores, restaurants, and medical facilities. In fact, the Dean/St. Mary’s clinic is directly across the street and UW Health is building a new clinic on the property to the north of the Aster community.
While location is important in any real estate project, our main concern is with the building design and construction. In designing any residence catering to the needs of seniors, we pay close attention to mobility and travel. Buildings are purposefully designed with multiple stories to let the elevators do the work and minimize walking distances.
Transitioning from single-family homes to much smaller apartment style living can be both a practical and emotional challenge. Friendly community areas are therefore a critical
design component as they extend the living spaces for all residents. Aster Assisted Living will include a multi-purpose room, library, dining rooms (one private), hair salon, fitness center, activity rooms, pub, computer room, chapel, and an outdoor patio for all to share. In addition to the residents’ own apartments are storage lockers, underground parking and administration offices.
Each apartment includes a full kitchen with wood cabinetry, appliances and granite countertops. Units also include individually controlled heating and air-conditioning, multiple closets—some are walk-ins, large bay windows, and package shelves outside of each apartment.
New residents are often pleasantly surprised at the amenities and luxury available to them. All of these features are the result of paying attention to the needs of seniors, and listening to what they have to say.
A Much Anticipated Addition to Fort Atkinson, Aster Assisted Living, is Coming to Life
FEATURED PROJECT
It was great to see all the stakeholders come together and visualize the construction of a wonderful home option for Fort Atkinson.”
ICONICA_Featured Project
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Todd Conkey, Director of Business Development
Iconica
ICONICACREATES.COM /
Without a doubt, everyone on our team loves one or both: designing and building. The passion shows in how we speak, how we operate, and even in what we have sitting around on our desks.
Some of us have legos, some little models, some have samples of interesting materials, and others keep small building parts. So, it wasn’t a big surprise when we got a tremendous response to the internal email we sent asking everyone about their favorite building toys. In fact, within minutes the topic sent the company abuzz—and trust me—most general questionnaires do not invoke such passionate response in our halls.
The idea to ask the team about their favorite building toys came to me in the midst of this holiday season while watching a news report. The report highlighted a new store in our area that specializes in buying and selling used and discontinued Lego Products. Legos played a big role in many childhoods and we suspected that was true of many on our team. We asked about favorite building toys, past and present, and confirmed we have a very creative group.
Legos, Tinker Toys and Lincoln Logs were perennial favorites—and invoked memories of the big tubs that held them. Also popular were erector sets, Tonka Trucks, and those big cardboard bricks that can be stacked as tall as a child, and knocked down over, and over. Our team built with them as children and then as adults they built with their nieces, nephews and children. And those with advanced ‘experience’ are moving on to building with their grandchildren.
We shared stories of free-form building with found materials—the predecessor of adaptive reuse. The father of one of our engineers was a fitter, so the engineer and his siblings built a lot of things with piping and metal. One of our architects used sand, mud, and scrap 2x4s for his creations. And several mentioned forts out of sticks and branches, blankets over couch cushions, tree forts—anything to create a cozy space just for kids.
The mother of one of our Construction Project Managers taught two-year olds, and was skilled at suggesting crafty projects to keep the kids entertained. The Project Manager recalls making homemade recycled cities. He and his younger brother would toy around with empty paper towel rolls, small cardboard boxes, and other recycled items to make their own small cities on a poster board with scissors and glue. They would spend hours putting together the structures, and coloring small streets between everything for their Hot Wheels, pet hamsters, and more.
The same Project Manager had a sandbox that his dad built and he remembers Tonka Trucks ranging from dump trucks to semi-trailers and front end loaders. They had shovels and molds for the sand and would often search for and find frogs and lizards that could “live” in the creations they made.
A touching story came out from another member of our architectural staff who said that during his childhood, he accumulated a collection that filled a foot locker large enough to contain a grown man (or two depending on flexibility).
INSIDER VIEWWhat is behind the personalities that make your projects sing?
ICONICA_Insider View
“My favorite part of the job is getting
the chance to see it all come togeth-
er. Computer images are one thing,
but when you actually step into the
work site and see the elements, and
feel the natural stone, it is something
quite different, and truly brings the
project to life.”
— J.S.
MEETTHE TEAM
This month we feature Josh Stanz, our fast rising design star. Josh was born for his role as designer. Raised by architect parents, Josh always was interested in drawing, art, and putting structures together.
Josh’s latest project, River Valley Bank was one that he got the chance to lead on for the first time.
Josh Stanz
continued on page 8»5
/ SPRING 2016
You may have heard the grumblings throughout the construction industry about the difficulty in finding skilled laborers —from design all the way through construction—and the issues that this shortage causes.
Challenges that have dramatically increased following the
recent recession such as missed deadlines, lower quality
workmanship, and increased errors are now forcing us to
reevaluate the approaches that we take in hiring our own
talent, selecting subcontractors, and completing projects
in general.
This is not a new topic. It’s been in the news for many
months and we expect to see its impact for many more.
So, how did we get here — and how do we escape?
The Crash In the early days of the great recession,
thousands and thousands of construction industry employees
lost their jobs. Across the board, architects, engineers,
project managers, field supervisors, and skilled tradesmen
were laid off. As the recovery stalled, many were forced to
find new options and reinvent their lives. For senior skilled
laborers, concerns of “aging out” of the profession, a topic
continually debated, led many to retire. Not knowing how
long it would take for the economy, and more specifically, the
industry, to get back on track, other industry professionals
also retired early, or launched entirely different careers.
Construction company owners took critical, and sometimes
fatal blows to their bottom lines. As work continued to be
scarce, they found themselves faced with additional staff cuts
and critical decisions of whether to lay off highly-salaried
seasoned veterans or lower-paid younger employees with
vast potential. Staffs and processes became necessarily lean.
The Rebound and Resulting Shortage With the improving
economy, construction project numbers and values began
to rise, and the labor force became increasingly stretched.
Senior employees were charged with additional project
work and increased management duties, not to mention
INDUSTRY INSIGHTSConstruction Labor Shortage: Why it’s happening, and how we fix it.
ICONICA_Industry Insights
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ICONICA_Industry Insights
responsibilities for training and mentoring
new staff. Many contractors, attempting
to recoup recent losses, overpromised,
but then missed completion dates,
forcing building owners to accept later
move-in dates. In addition, mistakes from
the overworked and inexperienced led to
costly changes and sometimes injury.
Today, both design and construction
company owners are scrambling
constantly to find qualified staff
while managing both field and office
operations. They know the difficulty
of quality labor, and the risks of
being overextended, but they see an
opportunity to recoup past losses, so
they keep promising while pushing their
workers harder.
The senior and experienced workers
that remain are being overtaxed and
overwhelmed. They are pressured into
working longer hours, including nights
and weekends, usually for the same pay.
The tipping point will come when the
abundance of work is no longer worth
the stress inflicted by supervisors and
owners. Some may choose to walk away.
Solutions Rebuilding qualified design
and construction teams takes time.
Generally speaking, engineers and
architects prefer stability, so after being
forced to find new careers, many stay
put. And while many entry-level and
mid-level construction laborers returned
to the industry once the economy
improved, most seniors did not. Many felt
too wounded, even traumatized, to want
to return when things improved. Gone
with them are the professional skills and
expertise that one can only get from years
of training and on-the-job problem solving.
Throughout the construction industry,
steps are being taken to address this
qualified labor shortage problem.
Companies are investing in on-the-
job training and improved mentoring.
Trade organizations are supporting
technical training programs, job
fairs and other educational programs
to get potential workers interested in
construction careers.
At Iconica, we have developed our own
strategy. Two tenets guide us: Focus on
Relationship-Building, and Investment
in Education.
Relationships are paramount- we
rely heavily on them. We have long
recognized the importance of not just
client relationships, but also those with
our subcontractors. We are not a firm
that blindly accepts the lowest bid. As
a design-build firm, if something goes
wrong, the cost to fix it comes out
of our pocket. Before we invite new
contractors to bid on our projects, we
get to know what their work ethic is like,
where they’re sourcing their labor, and
their capacity in terms of both size and
quantity of projects. When challenges
arise, we collaborate to find a workable
solution.
“We strive for long-term relationships
with our contractors. They understand
our quality and schedule expectations.
They know how we work; we know how
they work; and that allows us to deliver
a top quality project to our clients. We
don’t go out and blindly hire people we
don’t know.” —Jeff Hyland, Construction
Manager; Iconica
Part of maintaining healthy and long
relationships is honesty. Hyland
recommends a dose of reality and
cautions subcontractors not to bite off
more than they can chew:
“If everybody would commit to taking on
only the work that they can perform at a
high level from a quality standpoint, that
would help correct what we’re seeing in
the market. Over time, the younger guys
will gain experience, and we will build
that knowledge base back up.”
—Hyland
Training is a non-negotiable investment—
as an integrated design-build company,
we do things differently. Our process
is circular: Planning, action, feedback,
cooperation, and revision. We all work
together in one office— the designers
and construction folks, side by side,
collaborating together to provide the most
optimum result for the client. So, we must
educate people on our process as well.
The Good News With the economy, and
specifically construction, improving the
last few years, unique and challenging
(therefore fulfilling) projects are
abundant. Students and young workers
are recognizing the value in design and
construction careers and are beginning
to plan accordingly. Our collective
investment in training is paying off and
we are starting to see glimmers of a
stronger labor force. We are emerging
from the darkness. Let’s just remember,
that the road is long, and it is not the
rabbit, but the slow and steady turtle
that wins the race.
We need to reach out to the young talent; the engineers/designers and construction management students that are finishing school or just out of school. Get them on board and teach them the Iconica approach to Integrated Design Build. This would mean stretching the manager role to role of teacher as well, but it would help remedy the situation, and create a workforce that is willing to be more cooperative in the design-build environment.”
— David McKnight,
coo, Iconica
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(608) 664-3500
ICONICA_Insider Viewcontinued from page 5
At the age of 15, his family moved to Santa Cruz, CA but,
regretfully, the treasure chest of Legos could not go. His
parents gave the treasure chest to his three younger cousins
in Middleton. Six years later, he returned from California to
help care for his cousins and took a part time job at the local
restaurant where his uncle
had also worked. Turns out,
the Legos in the buckets
provided for the kids to play
with at the tables, were
100% his collection from so
many years ago, donated to
the restaurant by his uncle.
Over the next 4+ years, he
enjoyed encouraging kids to
build as much as they could
before their dinner arrived,
feeling a sense of pride that
those blocks came from his
own childhood, and inspired
his own career.
Team members added some interesting insights:
Sculpy—amazing creations, also wax
Magnetic kits—Magna tiles or Picasso tiles
Lego kits may not have the creative stimulation that
freestyle building has, but it’s like a puzzle in that it’s still
fun to see how fast it can be put together without the
directions (schedule is important
you know—especially to our
Construction Managers)
K’nex—used by another Project
Manager to win a career class
project in 8th grade, as well as a
physics project in 9th grade
Minecraft (a video game about
placing blocks to build anything you
can imagine)—is SO much easier to
clean up
And finally, a comment that clearly
did not come from a child or a
childhood memory: “Playing with
building toys is calming. No phones ringing, no interruptions,
just quiet time to be creative.”
Our passion is process and detail, creating beautiful,
usable spaces and getting it done right, on time, within
budget. In fact, since 1994, when Tom and Jim Pientka
took over leadership of the company, we’ve completed
nine million square feet on time and within budget. Few
can make such claims.