Jul 8, 2021
DPR presents Beyond the Drawing Board — Season 2. In this series of podcasts designed for our Design Management Academy, we bring to you conversations with industry thought leaders to take a peek behind the curtain at the design process.
Our guest for this episode is Noel Manerud, Senior Project Manager and Vice-President at Page Southerland Page. Noel attended the University of California Berkeley, where he excelled at science and math and pursued an engineering major. Purely by happenstance, he got a job in construction, and eventually went on to pursue a Master's in Architecture. His career trajectory after that included working with firms such as Van Acker and HKS, where he had his first taste of working with DPR as Project Manager for HKS. Recently, Noel joined Page Southerland Page, where he continues to take on running big programs and projects for big firms.
Noel shares his experiences in the industry, from his time at his first job to working at leading firms in the country. He has valuable insights about the things he has learned through working with different firms with different styles. Noel talks about his working relationship with DPR, his understanding of design management and its impact on his attitudes toward working in a more collaborative environment. Tune in to find out more about Noel’s thoughts on the future, both for his firm and the industry as a whole.
This episode is brought to you by DPR Construction, with our host, Greg Mantz.
Key Takeaways:
[:43] Greg introduces his guest for this episode — Noel Manerud.
[2:21] What is Noel's background? He shares more about his education and early career experiences.
[14:52] Greg highlights some key lessons from Noel's career trajectory.
[16:03] Young designers would do well to get on-site experience.
[17:45] What was Noel's favorite part of his career in his early days?
[23:37] Noel explains the role of Page Southerland Page in San Francisco.
[25:40] Where did Noel go after Van Acker in his career?
[27:39] Noel shares a little more about his working relationship with DPR.
[29:56] What was Noel's reaction to the change in the project to DBC after it had been awarded?
[32:04] How did the change impact Noel's ability to advance his design?
[35:00] Did Noel find any of his designers were reluctant?
[36:56] What were some of Noel's biggest takeaways from these projects?
[41:07] What kind of understanding of design management within DPR does Noel have and what are his thoughts on it?
[48:56] What is Noel's opinion about the fee structures today in the architectural world?
[53:00] What has Noel's experience been working with other contractors?
[56:04] Where does Noel see Page in the long term?
[1:00:49] What does Noel think the future of the industry looks like?
Design Management Academy Yammer Page
"You cannot discount the value of having work experience that allows you to succeed in school." - Greg
"I think I just naturally understood the attractiveness by DPR to a Digital Building Components product and the ability to integrate fabrication components into a design didn't feel foreign to me." - Noel
"One of the very important conversations was what was going to stay site built and what will stay prefabricated and how to discern what those elements are." - Noel
"I think that's where the resistance comes from, is just that it's a foreign concept." - Noel
"I would say from a future perspective, I'd like to see more transparency." - Noel