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Goodbye to My Building
I did my last job walk this year. I didn’t tell him, but it was also my unofficial handoff to my former intern who now works for the agency.
The building has occupied three and a half years of my career when I joined the project at the start of design development till now. By the time we conduct the 11-month warranty walk in April, it will have run the length of a college degree, a tenth of my career.
After walking together for an hour, my former intern left for another meeting so I spent the last hour walking the site by myself. The semester was over. The only occupants were a few folks holding a potluck in a classroom. The building was otherwise empty.
I reminisced about the quiet Sundays I spent on-site over the past couple of years. I had come to treasure my time alone in the building. It was an opportunity to commune with the structure, a meditative walk of heightened sensitivities scanning for construction issues.
When the pandemic settles down, I’ll pop onto campus mid-semester to check out this building as was it was designed, full of students. Until then, it was a privilege to pass it into the care of my colleague.
It’s now his building.
Coincidentally, I’ve been picking through this year’s job walk photos for my annual holiday card. It was magical to traverse back through time and a nice reminder of how much work happens over the course of a year.
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A Question
Do you have mixed emotions when handing off your building to the users?
Hit reply and let’s chat!
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A Photo
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Thanks for reading the OPM letter! I’d love to have a conversation if you have any feedback. I hope you found some prompts to stretch your craft and relationships as a curious Owner PM. See you next week!
Stay humble, be kind, and keep experimenting!
Justus Pang, RA