defining roles
‘Although my business now focuses on design and consulting,’ declared Brian Van Bower near the top of his Aqua Culture column of June 2003, ‘I spent enough years as a contractor to be able to evaluate what goes on between contractor and clients.’ ‘In fact,’ he added, ‘in my role as designer, clients often turn to me with comments about their contractors – and they’re not shy about complaining or in telling me about what makes them happy. And it works the other way, too, because contractors, knowing that I have experience as a contractor myself, will often turn to me as someone who can
All of us who started our own businesses decided at some point what our companies would be: We chose a focus, set guiding philosophies, developed credos, defined a company culture, settled into a working style and pursued success. One of the most important calls each of us made along the way had to do with how large or small our organizations would be. In fact, this decision has a lot to say about how any business runs and appears to the outside world: It influences the volume of business that can be accommodated, dictates management style, narrows or broadens the organizational structure and ultimately
All of us who started our own businesses decided at some point what our companies would be: We chose a focus, set guiding philosophies, developed credos, defined a company culture, settled into a working style and pursued success. One of the most important calls each of us made along the way had to do with how large or small our organizations would be. In fact, this decision has a lot to say about how any business runs and appears to the outside world: It influences the volume of business that can be accommodated, dictates management style, narrows or broadens the organizational structure and ultimately
When we first began collaborating on projects with top-flight architects, landscape architects and landscape designers several years ago, for the most part our role in terms of design was fairly limited: We'd receive requests for bids and proposals based on plans of varying detail, and our role was that of faithful installers of the design. On occasions, of course, we'd also refer our own prospective clients to those same designers, who would generate plans that we would in turn estimate and very often install. We still work that way, but as we've built our ties to these accomplished artists, we've become aware that our role in their projects has been growing, even to the point where we are now being asked in many situations to offer our own design ideas. We're also seeing that, when on-site decisions must be made, these designers are
When I think about all the people I know from the mainstream pool and spa industry, one of the things that characterizes many of them is a strong, independent spirit. That's a positive, I think, but there's a possible downside in the fact that many of them are also convinced that theirs is the best (or only) way - and they certainly don't cotton to the idea of working closely with people from outside their own organizations. I can appreciate that sort of independent mindset in many ways, but from where I sit, it's clear to me that this concept of the lone-wolf pool builder is losing ground fast. As I've stated in these pages before, the nature of modern watershaping is making ours a more collaborative business, and I for one believe that those of us who embrace the idea of teamwork are
Even though I've been on the leading edge of a movement for several years now, it still feels strange to put this thought on paper: A growing number of professionals like me are now finding work as consultants in the design and construction of watershapes. Who would ever have thought it possible? Just a few short years ago, the idea that anyone could make a living by charging for designs or construction oversight was outlandish and the subject of skepticism, shock and derision among architects, landscape architects and pool contractors. To that point, after all, "pool design" was generally a service that existed almost exclusively to support the sales efforts of contractors. These folks, who were accustomed to
Even though I've been on the leading edge of a movement for several years now, it still feels strange to put this thought on paper: A growing number of professionals like me are now finding work as consultants in the design and construction of watershapes. Who would ever have thought it possible? Just a few short years ago, the idea that anyone could make a living by charging for designs or construction oversight was outlandish and the subject of skepticism, shock and derision among architects, landscape architects and pool contractors. To that point, after all, "pool design" was generally a service that existed almost exclusively to support the sales efforts of contractors. These folks, who were accustomed to
If there's one thought that permeates every page, every word and every photograph in this publication, it is this: The creation of something outstanding, something that stirs an emotional response, something that establishes an ongoing, extraordinary experience for clients and anyone else who sees our work all starts with the passion we have in our hearts for art and its intimate relationship to what we do as watershapers. That's a big concept. Really big. And I believe that unless you appreciate and (on some level) understand the raw power of artistic creation, then what you generate will seldom be
I was all set to write a column about the virtues of small jobs compared to big jobs, but I've had an experience that leads me to share something more important with you this time. Most of us have had these moments in our lives in which we are suddenly jarred into evaluating our existence for one reason or another - episodes that give us reason to pause and reflect on who we are and what we're doing and why we're doing it. As I write this, I'm dealing with an illness in my family that has quite literally knocked the legs out from under me. As I've spent time these past few days talking with friends and relatives, I've found myself quite often laying on the living-room couch and staring out the window into my backyard - and finding
Through the past few months, I've run across several representatives of the pool and spa industry who have expressed concern that some of us in the business of educating watershapers are encouraging landscape architects to move in the direction of the pool industry's traditional market. I can understand the anxiety. After all, landscape architects are degreed professionals in a closely related exterior-design field and have been academically trained in principles of design, while most of us in the mainstream pool and spa industry have no such background or relevant certification. It probably isn't paranoia to regard these design-oriented professionals as having something of an edge. There's also the simple fact that
