Leadership Tomorrow – Geoff's Reflections on Challenge Day 6: Environment

Schemata Workshop is excited to announce that Principal Geoff Anderson has been selected as a participant in the Leadership Tomorrow (LT) class of 2021.

LT is an intensive civic leadership program focused on interconnections between elements of Seattle Foundation’s “Healthy Community” framework. The program helps participants further develop their leadership skills and practices, focusing on the goal of creating a healthy, just, and inclusive Puget Sound region. In particular, the program has been actively evolving its approach to racial equity, supporting participants’ development as antiracist civic leaders.

Several years ago, I decided to explore Seattle’s Duwamish River on my kayak, wanting to take a closer look at this vital part of Seattle’s history, economy, and environment.  The scarcity of safe access points on the river was certainly an indication of the value our society has placed on this key waterway. This experience was at the top of my mind throughout Leadership Tomorrow’s Environment Challenge Day, as we learned about the Duwamish River, its history, the communities who live on and around it, and the impacts of industrial development and climate change.

In my experience, most people who live in and around Seattle don’t know a lot about the Duwamish:  where it begins, its original route, or how it became what it is today.  For the record, the Duwamish River begins at the confluence of the Green River and the Black River (hardly a river anymore) at Fort Dent in Tukwila. Until the early 1900s, it meandered into an estuary leading out to Elliott Bay and Puget Sound. In 1909, the Duwamish was rechanneled and straightened to accommodate industrial and commercial development. As a result of the industrial contamination caused by this development, the lower Duwamish was declared a Super Fund site by the EPA.

The impacts of this pollution most profoundly affect the Duwamish River Valley and the communities on its banks, such as Georgetown and South Park [1]. This community has long been subject to environmental injustices: disproportionately high health issues caused by pollution, and fewer benefits, such as safeguarding traditions on historic Indian lands along the Duwamish.  These communities will also be most directly impacted by rising sea levels caused by global warming.[2]

In fact, the communities along this river, from the native Duwamish to current day residents, including Black, Latino, and Indigenous people, have long had to bear the burden of environmental pollution, harm, and displacement. I’ve personally been a long-time proponent of ”Save the Planet” idealism. However, I am starting to better understand that how this often comes at the expense of the real-life concerns and needs in these communities. I was surprised, for example, that groups such as Front and Centered are opposed to a Cap-and-Trade policy as typically designed because the “trades” can make pollution in these communities even worse, reinforcing environmental racism by concentrating pollution in already overburdened communities.

I believe our region should lead by example and accelerate the push towards an economy based on innovative renewable resources that benefit the communities in the Duwamish Valley. To do this, we must allow the people most impacted by pollution to lead the conversations and decision-making. The passage of the HEAL Act this past legislative session is a powerful statement for this type of action. It will help reinforce efforts like those of the King County’s Climate Action Plan and the work of the Climate Equity Community Task Force (CECTF) Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan to continue and even expand on bringing multi-cultural and multi-racial cross-sector experiences to climate-related community building.

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1. See the WA State Department of Health website for more information (https://fortress.wa.gov/doh/wtn/WTNIBL)

2. Horne, Debra. "Two Seattle Neighborhoods Bracing for the effects from Climat Change" for Kiro News. https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/two-seattle-neighborhoods-bracing-for-effects-from-climate-change/879009084/

Leadership Tomorrow – Geoff's Reflections on Challenge Day 5: Education

Schemata Workshop is excited to announce that Principal Geoff Anderson has been selected as a participant in the Leadership Tomorrow (LT) class of 2021.

LT is an intensive civic leadership program focused on interconnections between elements of Seattle Foundation’s “Healthy Community” framework. The program helps participants further develop their leadership skills and practices, focusing on the goal of creating a healthy, just, and inclusive Puget Sound region. In particular, the program has been actively evolving its approach to racial equity, supporting participants’ development as antiracist civic leaders.

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Geoff’s Reflection on Challenge Day 4: Arts + Culture

One of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of this Leadership Tomorrow (LT) year was to become more mindful of the privileges I am afforded as a white male that others, especially in the BIPOC community are not privy to.

March’s Leadership Tomorrow sessions presented  poignant and personally-challenging experiences at a level that I had not experienced yet in this program The first of these  came on Education Challenge Day.

Education Challenge Day

As a jumping-off point, we began our work on this topic by viewing “I Sued the School System”, a viral video in which the artist criticizes the traditional school system for “killing creativity, individuality, and being intellectually abusive” (more here) ”

This Leadership Tomorrow Challenge Day was eye-opening and challenging. For our prework, we delved into the history of Indian Boarding Schools and other racist education policies. Although heartbreaking, this is a part of our country’s violent history and something everyone should all have a better understanding of. We also studied current racial biases in education, and more about the School to Prison Pipeline (See Challenge Day 3)

Beginning the process of understanding the full extent of the privileges I had growing up in a wealthy, predominantly white suburb was challenging. I understood that my family chose where we lived growing up because of the “good schools” but I was ignorant to what this meant for many of our cohorts who were not afforded this privilege. I appreciated the benefits I had due to this privilege, but it was jarring to realize how utterly rare it is to have the resources and teachers I did. I cannot believe how much I took for granted. I wish that everyone could have the same access to great schools with long-term, dedicated teachers, extra-curricular activities, and even the unique programs that are provided by well-intentioned PTSA Boards at schools in wealthy districts.

LT program participants are given the opportunity to meet and interview area leaders in small team groups. My small team met with Michelle Merriweather, President & CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, to learn about her background and the journey that she took to arrive at this point in her career. Our conversation centered on leadership styles and the work that the Urban League does in the Seattle area. The most impactful moment of the interview, for me at least, occurred as we were winding down our talk, and Michelle was asked how she handles being a black woman in leadership, and the challenges inherent in that specific experience.

Michelle described how she uses ‘code-switching’ in professional situations such as conversations with funders or doing advocacy work. She continued by saying that about eight months ago, amidst BLM protests, she made a deliberate decision to no longer code-switch but has a fear of paying for this decision later – “on the other side,” as she put it. As a white man, I never have had to even consider code-switching, or the repercussions thereof, and this was something that I had never realized was a privilege.

Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing Featured in The Ideal City

We are excited to announce that Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing is featured in The Ideal City, published by Space10 and Gestalten!

The Ideal City: Exploring Urban Futures, was published through a collaboration between Copenhagen-based research and design lab Space10 and renowned international design and art book publisher Gestalten. Through a series of expert essays and profiles on projects from around the world, including Schemata’s very own Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing, The Ideal City explores “the ambitious actions and initiatives being brought to life across the globe to meet tomorrow’s demand in clever, forward-thinking ways.” The book travels to 53 different cities in 30 countries detailing examples of a truly liveable city for the many.

Capitol Hill Urban Cohousing (CHUC) is a five-story intentional community comprised of nine homes over a street level commercial space, located in the dense urban center of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Designed by Schemata Workshop, the project was led by principals Grace Kim and Michael Mariano, who are also founding members and residents of the community. It is a visionary project - setting a model for dense, resilient, and community-oriented urban housing.

We are honored for CHUC to be featured in The Ideal City alongside boundary-pushing projects from around the globe.

To Pre-Order The Ideal City, click here.

Geoff Anderson Nationally Certified as Associate Design-Build Professional

Schemata principal Geoff Anderson has successfully completed the Design-Build Institute of America’s comprehensive education, training, and certification testing program to achieve the designation as a nationally certified Associate Design-Build Professional.

DBIA Certification is the nation’s only measurable standard of an individual’s knowledge of the Design-Build Done Right principles, which are vital to successful project delivery.

I have a long and successful history of working on Design-Build projects. These range from multi million-dollar community recreation projects, to over 500 housing units in Alaska, to smaller scale projects. All of these were completed well before I even considered getting DBIA Certification, but were built using the key touchstone of Design-Build: collaboration. I suppose I was lucky to be a part of these great teams and successful projects even early in my career, and they continue to shape my approach to my work. Going through the certification workshop and materials, it has been fascinating to think back on these personal experiences and compare them to DBIA’s Best Practices.  

The key to a Design-Build project is that the owner holds a single contract with the design and contractor team. The General Contractor, Architect, and Engineers are integrated as a single entity that relies on collaboration and trust for success. There are many benefits to this contracting method. Owners might choose it for the accelerated schedule and innovative design solutions, especially if they are flexible on the specific details and approach. As a best practice, it is recommended that the owner picks a team based on qualifications rather than price. This best value approach considers both quantitative (price) and qualitative (technical) aspects of a Design-Build team’s proposal.

Family Housing Replacement - Siku Basin | Fort Wainwright, AK - photo courtesy of Ken Graham Photography / Osborne Construction Co

As I reflect back on my own experiences, as well as my certification process, I have gathered a few guiding thoughts that I will take with me into future Design-Build projects:  

Clearly Define the Performance Requirements. This is possibly the most challenging but important part of any Design-Build project. These lay out the expectations for the project and should be objective and measurable. I worked on one project where this could have been improved upon: A Progressive Design-Build, where two teams competed beyond the qualifications-based selection phase to prepare a schematic design that met the stated performance requirements. In the end, our team felt like we were able to creatively deliver the on the objectives and stay within budget, although we strayed from one wish list item -- to have a second floor. Although this was not explicitly identified as a Performance Requirement, it worked against us. The project was eventually built by the other team, but we felt justified by the fact that our team was truthful, effective, and adherent to the Performance Requirement.

Creativity and Innovation are Essential. These have been key to the overall success of each of my Design-Build projects. For the housing projects in Alaska, the owner (the Department of Defense) was very prescriptive about many of the project requirements. This prescriptiveness is counter to the creativity that is central to DBIA’s Best Practices. Regardless, our team was able to develop plans and details that allowed us to panelize nearly all the framing for the homes, including the stair elements. This resulted in construction being able to advance year-round in the shop, despite the climate-shortened window when crews were able to work on site. At the peak of production on site, crews were able to fully assemble and “dry-in” six homes per week.

Family Housing Replacement - Denali Village | Fort Wainwright, AK - photo courtesy of Osborne Construction Co

Designing to Price is the Key to Success. In Design-Build, the price is set early in the process, and the Design-Build team needs to design and hold to that price. This means having a team build on close collaboration and trust is essential. For a small community pool project in remote central Washington, the Design-Build teams were asked to tell the city what they could get for their budget. As the team which promised the most, we won the job. We delivered on our proposal by joining forces with a prefabricated pool manufacturer, minimizing the need for specialty trades to travel and work on the rural project site. We were also able to work directly with the manufacturer to ensure our design and technical details were correct through the shop drawings process.

Othello Community Pool | Othello, WA - photo courtesy of: Aquatics International

These lessons learned have been important in my development as an architect, and I look forward to future Design-Build opportunities to apply them along with the knowledge I have gained from my DBIA Best Practices education. I am now proud to be an officially certified Associate Design-Build Professional®.