Questions for Mike Strong

1. What makes Swinerton qualified for this project? Has had any experience taking on projects of this magnitude?

Swinerton has ample experience in taking on projects such as this. On a related note, we were responsible for projects such as the seismic upgrade for the old de Young Museum and also acted as a consultant to the Legion of Honor project.

2. What are the major hurdles for the project so far?

        Haha. This project is a conglomeration of "never have been done befores, and never will be done again". As for the specific spaces, the lecture hall, art storage, tower and cladding.

3. How is the project team for Swinerton organized?  How is work distributed?

During the pre-construction phase, the team included estimators, client contact people, project engineers and administration staff. However, during the construction phase, (the current phase) we have more PM's and field site superintendants. Each superintendant is responsible for a specific area. (Skin, tower, structure, MEP and finishing.)

5. How does the communication channel work? At what point does it come to pure delegation?

Decentralized structure. Efficiency is key. Those who know the most about a specific issue deal with it.

6. How often do you communicate with other structural players in the project? Who are they?

Herzog & de Meuron, COFAM, FCA and Swinerton are the key players in the project. On top of that we have a myriad of consultants and sub consultants. There is a formal and informal channel of communication. Formally, we go through RFI's and bulletins for information exchange. However, informally, we hold workout sessions in which we work out what needs to be done and then submit a bulletin afterwards, just for procedure. Also, we also let the other key players talk to our sub-consultants directly if it is deemed more efficient. We share a great deal of information informally.

7. Is the PR policy for this project standard? Or is it just for this project?

Swinerton is quite happy to share what we do with the public with our projects. We have great pride in what we do and we like to do our own PR. However in the de Young Museum project, the owner seems particularly sensitive to leaks to the press in terms of pictures because it may be highly controversial.