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McGranahan believes in creating an atmosphere of Genuine Collaboration in which open dialogue and intellectual curiosity is encouraged. We create environments that encourage shared learning and teaching and believe practicing these in our office helps to expand possibilities, build understanding, streamlines decision-making and improves the built result. One way McGranahan encourages shared learning and teaching is through site visits for projects that are under construction.

A site visit is the best way to see how the objects we model in BIM (Building Information Modeling) get translated into built environments. It’s also a great way to provide staff with professional development, regardless of experience level or area of interest. Recently McGranahan staff toured two buildings: Olympic Hills Elementary School and Lakewood High School.

At the time of the tour, Olympic Hills Elementary School construction was complete but the District had not moved in yet. Touring a building at this stage allows employees to freely explore the school and have open discussions about what worked well and what could have been done better. It allows us to take the time to reflect on the finished product of a drawn detail in comparison to the desired result.

Lakewood High School was in different stages of construction throughout the building. This is useful because staff can look at the scope and sequence of the different trades required to constructing a building. In one area it is possible to see the bones of a detail and in another area see the finished construction. The importance of consultant coordination becomes obvious to ensure that everything fits in the spaces allotted.

The most important thing about these tours, is that they help to develop the general knowledge of construction and design technologies within the office. Consequently, the entire firm becomes more agile, efficient, and creative. This type of hands-on learning is just one example of how McGranahan implements and applies the teaching strategies we learn from our clients.