Reflections on Penn State – One Year Later

Steve Emer By: Steve Emer

PennStateRenderingFor over 40 years, we’ve been shaping the vision of institutions whose primary mission is to educate students. Penn State is one such institution with proud traditions… a culture that instills its students and graduates with a deep love of alma mater. Awarded to our team a little over one year ago, this project has given us, with the university, an opportunity to enhance and transform the East Halls experience. We understand that such fundamental transformations are not achieved by a solitary “heroic” figure, and have embraced the challenges of such a major undertaking by thriving on the team spirit that’s required to accomplish superior results.

One important measure of a happy and successful project environment is the chemistry that exists among the people on the team that is doing the work… the Designers, Builders and Owner. Our relationship with Clayco has been forged through numerous experiences in the trenches over the years. Together, we operate as a seamless enterprise. Well before our team was hired, we invested the time in understanding the unique challenges associated with the East Halls project, and in the process established a fast bond with associate architect DLA+ and all of our fellow teammates. For over a year, we have operated in a culture of mutual respect and continually challenge one another to avoid the expedience of defaulting to any tried and true answers to issues or problems that may arise. This behavior has been given a name – High Performance Teamwork, or HPT. Through a continued commitment to HPT, we’ve made huge strides keeping this project, and client, in an excellent place. While there is still much work to be done, it seems fitting to recognize this team for creating exciting and relevant solutions for the transformation of East Halls at Penn State.