Pros
As a design professional it was a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with many of the disciplines that are responsible for creating a project. Architects, Landscape Architects, MEP Engineers, and Interior Designers all worked together on a daily basis with a high level of collaboration. This was the strength of Solterra.
Cons
Design collaboration is where the innovation ended. Poor decisions about construction strategies, coupled with sophomoric building designs were the eventual downfall of many projects. Design management is inexperienced, incompetent, and lacked clear direction or strategic thinking. The construction staff experienced high turnover due to mismanagement. Estimates for projects were grossly unrealistic or non-existant during critical phases of projects. Ownership (developer) representation was unfortunately absent during most projects with a failure to provide the most basic program information. Decisions by ownership were also inexperienced, ill-advised, and exceptionally late which hindered the progress of both design and construction, costing the company thousands of dollars. Design management failed to meet critical deadlines which taxed the staff and consultants unreasonably. Design management also lacked the experience or necessary construction industry knowledge to properly advise the ownership side on the pitfalls and consequences of their development decisions.