Great Plains Ventures is a new construction corporate office building with multiple private offices, two conference rooms, full kitchen and secure server room with a separate lease space on the second floor. My involvement with this project included initial meetings with the clients to determine project needs and goals, design development, space planning, construction documents, finish selection, some specifications writing and the final design presentation to the clients. Great Plains Ventures was the first of my large-scale projects that I got to see completed and I cannot describe how incredibly proud I felt. The project was a success and the clients were beyond pleased with the final product.
The remodel of the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity restrooms was taken on as a pro bono project by my supervisor Jeff Weiford, who was a member of the house while in school at Kansas State University. Because of the time constraints imposed by the impending school schedule, this project literally went from programming to construction administration in a matter of roughly three weeks. I was the sole designer on this project and was told to take it and run with only the guiding hand of my supervisor when needed. I conducted the initial client meeting to discuss project needs and goals as well as the final design presentation alone and completed the entire set of construction documents while dictating my own intermediate goals and deadlines. This project, though small in scale, was my greatest learning experience.
The Kiowa County Courthouse in Greensburg Kansas was one of the only structures to survive the EF5 tornado that devastated the tiny farm town on May 4, 2007. The courthouse sustained only minor damage but the city felt that they should take advantage of this bad situation and restore this iconic structure back to its original beauty. I was involved with this project from the very beginning - I spent multiple hot summer days in August 2007 taking field measurements and all other documentation needed to translate the courthouse from its original hand-drawn blueprints to the AutoCAD documents needed to create a full working set of construction documents. I played a key role in the space planning, and finish selection in this project. I also assisted in client progress meetings and specifications writing. Helping Greensburg Kansas rebuild their town and their lives was a very rewarding experience for me as a designer.
The Greensburg Business Incubator was created to facilitate the rebuilding of Greensburg's economy after an EF5 tornado nearly destroyed the entire town on May 4, 2007. The building contains multiple lease spaces, from basic offices to a restaurant space and also includes a FEMA 361-rated tornado shelter equipped with hurricane-resistant doors. I was involved in the finish selection for this project. The Greensburg Business Incubator recently earned the LEED Platinum certification that it had been designed to achieve.
