A Championship Team
21 September 2020
In the past week, Debbie and I have met with our architect and had video calls with interior designers and solar energy contractors. The big meeting was with the architect as pretty much everything else hinges on getting our floor plan finalized. We were not too happy to find out it’ll be a few weeks before we’ll have the first draft of our house plans but the goal is to do this right, not necessarily fast.
Which brings me to the topic of “team.” As I’ve spent my career working in sports I’ve seen a lot of teams and coaching styles. Some great, some not so great. While working for the San Antonio Spurs we went through a number of coaches until Gregg Popovich came to town and the rest is history. I had the honor of working with Pop and his staff for many years. Through that time he’s built a basketball dynasty in San Antonio by developing rosters of role players. Make no mistake, there have been superstars on his teams but the chemistry was the key — blending skill, personality, leadership and coachability across the entire roster. Many players had specific skills designed to complement teammates or overcome opponent strengths. As this is how Pop put together his championship teams I thought doing the same with our home build would ensure best chances of success in our project.
The key I’m seeing is how the architect, smart home consultant, interior designer, landscape designer and others will focus on their specific pieces of the project yet provide a system of checks and balances with each other. Let’s look at the players Debbie and I will be putting on our roster:
Architect — They will develop the initial floor plan based on drawings Debbie and I have done from our research and wants/needs in our home. Her role will also be “clearing house” for edits and updates to the plans throughout the planning portion of the project. These are the plans that the General Contractor will use to build the house. The architect will also be responsible for “as built” drawings after completion. “As builts” are the actual constructed plan as construction projects generally include field decisions made through “change orders” like differently routed wiring or plumbing due to unforeseen circumstances.
Interior Designer — They take the plans from the architect and review for accuracy and practicality. This is also a check on the plan Debbie and I put the architect to work on. Their role is to make sure the rooms are the right size for furniture and placement of doors and windows are best for flow throughout the home. They also recommend finishes, colors, fabrics, furniture and window coverings to get the look we want in our home. They accomplish this through lists we provide and interviewing us. They are generally a good sounding board for ideas as well as a good resource to keep us grounded.
Landscape Designer — They will complement the placement of the home on our lot with driveway, patio and greenspace design. Their work starts once we have the floor plan done and the floor plan set on our lot. Besides smart home technology, this is another area I’m particularly interested in. Debbie and I are outdoors people, we love working together in our yard, entertaining and chasing our grandkids around the backyard. We’ve already reserved some semi-mature trees that will be planted once we get the landscape design done — most likely done this winter during the trees’ dormant season. Tree and plant placement will include considerations for shade, privacy and security. Another benefit of the landscape plan is to best plan the sprinkler system to maximize coverage and efficiency
Smart Home Consultant — I will work with them to overlay technology throughout the home and lot to ensure efficiency, security and comfort. Their role is a check on me and to recommend technologies based on the vision Debbie and I have of our home. If you’ve been following these blog posts you know smart home has been an element in our homes for years. Though I have some definite favorite technologies, they may not be the best choice moving forward and there may be others I haven’t played with yet. There are certainly areas I will need help like security systems, smart sprinklers, smart window shades and smart faucets. The key to an effective smart home plan is the integration of technologies to simplify use and avoid siloed solutions. The smart home consultant will work in parallel with the others on the team once the architect produces the initial floor plan.
Solar Consultant — They will blend in solar power elements to accommodate exterior design and home/lot power infrastructure. This role is the most unknown yet interesting to me. As every introductory conversation with potential solar consultants have resulted in nothing concrete due to no usage history or floor plan its hard to tell whether they make the team or not. As our home will face east, it’s the ideal configuration for maximizing solar exposure on the west facing back roof of our home. And with Texas averaging 20–30 more sunny days than most US states, even better. Except that Debbie hates the look. So Plan B may be a solar roof on a fire pit or outdoor kitchen pergola in the backyard. Initial research says this probably doesn’t produce enough power “to make the juice worth the squeeze.” The jury is still out on this.
General Contractor — Once the floor plan is complete, including input from the other teammates, it’s their turn to go to work. As we haven’t settled on a specific GC yet we may show the floor plan to 2–3 of our favorites and get bids for the project. This is a recent consideration as we’ve found out materials costs have started to rise due to COVID-19 and the fires in the western US. Obviously this is a concern so leveraging competition between contractors only works to our advantage. But there also needs to be good chemistry between the contractor and the team or it could be a painful process for all of us. The GC will also bring their own team to the project — concrete, framers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, roofers and painters. Debbie and I will get to know this team as well as we’ll make regular visits to the job site to make sure work schedule is being maintained and for quality control.
As you can see, a lot of moving parts here so taking the team approach will help us distribute the load and make oversight and direction easier. It’s our job to promote collaboration within the group and develop the chemistry to best blend the skills and talents of each. Our next steps are to discuss lists of wants and needs with each respectively in order to activate their specific roles in the project. As we have time prior to getting the initial floor plan we can answer questions and make sure each has a clear idea of our vision so they will start in the right direction.
So our house build “Dream Team” is coming together. We have most of our superstars and role players in place. Now it’s up to Debbie and I as the coaches to best blend all of this talent to produce a championship outcome. Stay tuned as we start to work more with each of these players.
