George & Sam
WORDS MEG BIGNELL
Showdown
Has George’s new hands-on role on the building site gone to his head? He
seems to have taken on the responsibility of bricklayer, labourer, and now – with
architect Sam off-site working on other projects – the architect-in-chief.
In what appears to be a series
of rather spontaneous and rapid
fire decisions, George has moved
the laundry, the shower and the
bathroom door without much
regard for Sam’s considered plans,
and without his consultation.
To make matters worse, George
and Bec agreed that Sam’s spiral
staircase – a perceived safety
concern and less in keeping with
their style than a timber staircase –
has to go.
When, on a routine site visit,
Sam discovered the unplanned
alterations, he was not happy.
But superheroes don’t lose their
cool, and George and Bec didn’t
receive a blast of fury. Instead,
Sam diplomatically sat them down
and lectured them sternly on the
importance of open consultation.
“I’m happy to make changes,”
he told a suitably sheepish Bec
and George.“ But they must be
done with my advice. There are
big-picture things to consider – like
council approvals, budgets and
14
time frames, all which could have
serious implications.”
It was all so civilised, but does
the exchange reflect Sam’s true
feelings? How does he really feel
about clients crossing the line and
disregarding his plans?
“It happens a lot,” Sam reflects.
“It does annoy me, it really
does. But there are degrees of
annoyance; George’s changes
aren’t going to adversely affect the
build too much – at least I hope
they won’t. And they shouldn’t
strain the budget much further. I
would have been totally with him
on what he wanted if he’d just
touched base, absolutely. We could
have talked it through and made it
work. I would probably have tried
to talk him out of it for the sake of
the bathroom aspect, but we could
have reached a good compromise.
There’s a reason why I do what I
do and often when clients change
things it just throws more spanners
in the works. But this wasn’t worth
a fallout, the client relationship is
of utmost importance, and it’s their
house after all.”
And what about the spiral
staircase – wasn’t that Sam’s idea
when the new downstairs living
room plans were presented? Why
is he now saying he is pleased it is
gone? Is this another example of
his diplomacy skills?
“Yeah, I do prefer the spiral
stairs,” he admits. “But again, this
is their house and changing to a
timber staircase is no biggie. It
will work just as well and perhaps
with Archie at foot the spiral could
be a problem. I was happy to
compromise on this, and they did
at least consult me before we were
any further down the track with the
stairs.”
“I really like Bec and George,”
says Sam with a smile. “We get
along well. I’m not going to let
this ruin that rapport. And I think
George has learnt his lesson.”
Consider yourself told, George!