What makes a commercial interiors project successful? A happy and satisfied client!
Completing a project on time and within the budget is a “given” and that is the primary role of a Project Manager. But, what is the icing on the cake? Creating an environment that truly reflects the company’s culture, which is achieved through design, color, art and accesories.
One of the ways to enhance a new space is to add art. A clean, streamlined and pleasing environment matters and art and color are both widely known to change the mood of the viewer. Art can provide the WOW factor, the pizzazz…the icing on the cake.
This is exactly what Michael Rice, Vice President, Project Management, did recently with a half-floor project for a major insurance company. Diane Adams, Art Consultant with ART & Associates, was engaged to create a comprehensive art program that was compatible with the company’s corporate culture and coordinated with the paint colors, furniture and textile selections.
As a team, Michael and Diane, offer these suggestions for successful implementation of an art program:
- Start with the floor plan and identify the walls and offices that need art to bring color to areas.
- Review the company’s current art collection to identify any pieces that can be used in the new space.
- Research various art selections and create a PowerPoint presentation to review with the client and the space designer to insure that the type of art matches the company’s culture, as well as budget expectations.
- Walk the new office space to get a feel for the lighting and amount of art that will be needed.
- Plan art to fit into floor plan, calculate sizes needed and select the frame style.
- Once the art plan is finalized, present to the client a detailed “idea catalog” of the selected art pieces, along with frame samples.
- After the client has approved the “idea catalog”, prepare a full pricing breakdown for client review and final sign-off.
- Begin ordering art and framing material. The typical turnaround time is 3-4 weeks to have art framed and ready for installation.
- Once the art is ready, the Project Manager and Art Consultant will meet at the new location to ascertain the correct placement of each art piece and will work with the installers to insure that the art creates the expected result.
- The final step is a walk-through with the client to make sure that they are happy with the installed art. At this point, any personal pieces that they currently own can be placed.
Diane Adams stated, “The key to a successful project is to collaborate with an experienced Project Manager like Michael Rice, who is both detail-oriented and has the design expertise to understand how to pull together a totally enhanced environment, while still meeting the client’s budget expectations.”
Blog and pictures contributed by Diane Adams, Art Consultant with ART & Associates, and Michael Rice, Vice President, Project Management with Cresa Atlanta.
