planning for each phase. At the end of the day, when the teachers and administrators barely notice construction, that’ s when we did a good job.
How do you enable effective collaboration within your studio and on project teams? Can you share some personal examples of stellar teamwork?
Amanda Miranda: I’ ll go from a bigger picture to our specific studio. Within the design team, we have different touchpoints: a kickoff meeting to review scope and responsibilities, and regular meetings for every deliverable or milestone. There’ s also a checklist that we have within P2S. Some people have adaptations within their teams and disciplines to ensure collaboration and meet universal requirements for all projects. Having open communication is huge. We have Teams channels for different projects that include not just the project managers and the engineers, but also involve BIM and everyone on the team. Within our studio, we have resource allocation, and we discuss lessons learned. I think Kent once said that there’ s no 100 % perfect project, and that things are always changing, so sharing lessons learned is crucial. And then, having that open-door policy where we’ re able to communicate with one another is a huge part of solid teamwork.
As for examples, I couldn’ t think of one specific one, but there have been a number of moments across different projects that call for all hands to be on deck. It’ s during those times that I’ ve seen the best display of teamwork. Everyone is expressing their needs, meeting the needs of others, and aligning in their approaches to providing good products. So, in other words, all channels of communication are open. When everyone is working together despite having separate designs or tasks, I think that’ s a great display of teamwork.
Cesar Rodriguez: I think that effective collaboration is key from the word“ go.” We have to break down silos effectively, have those conversations, and document our approach. I think in my studio, the best results come when all the disciplines are involved in early planning conversations and we avoid a reactive state. In successful K-12 projects we’ ve had, it’ s clear that strong teamwork with engineers, architects, and, if available, contractors yields the best results. It allows us to flag concerns early, such as how to temporarily feed other systems, navigate across conditions, establish paths of egress effectively, and more. In other words, if we collaborate early with expertise, we build trust in not just the team but the eventual outcome of the project. project entailed modernizing replacement buildings, the campus, and the fire alarm system, which meant we had to phase it in such a way that we kept other existing buildings operational.
So far, we’ ve been able to plan temporary housing and temporary backfeed for existing buildings, and it’ s going very smoothly.
To wrap up, can you briefly talk about a K-12 project you worked on that you’ re especially proud of and why?
Amanda Miranda: Maybe because it’ s fresh in my head, but it’ s a project that I’ m working on now: the Marquez Charter Elementary School. I’ ll preface and say, I always enjoy working on K-12 projects because I know it’ s for a learning facility for our youth. This one’ s a little different. Marquez is a school that was hit by the Palisades fire. And as I work on it, it really feels like we’ re part of a bigger picture and helping a community recover from a disaster. I think that sits deep with me and motivates me for this specific project. The project has been going fast and has been a real priority because they needed a school ready for the kids in the fall. There’ s been flexibility from all the teams, not just within P2S, but outside as well. And honestly, when I thought about the question of teamwork, I thought about this job too. I’ m pretty stoked about this job.
Cesar Rodriguez: A project that I’ m particularly proud of is Mountainview Middle School here in the heart of the San Diego Unified School District. The project brings in HVAC for a campus that, over the last 10 years, has been part of one of the more underserved communities in San Diego, with historically lower student performance metrics. The fact that we’ ve been able to play a part in improving conditions for the students and helping them more comfortably thrive gives us a lot of satisfaction.
A current project, Jefferson Middle School for Oceanside, is interesting because it’ s a design-build solution, and the contractor has been involved from the very beginning. My role was focused on coordinating our internal solutions— MEPT, fire protection, fire alarm, and fire life safety. Effective collaboration sessions have already taken place with the District, the architect, and other consultants. The