Behind the Brick Presented by GKW
Behind the Brick is the podcast where Kansas City's past meets its future.
Presented by GKW and hosted by J.J. Sanchez, Behind the Brick explores the stories, people, and projects shaping one of America's most dynamic cities. From the rich history behind Kansas City's iconic neighborhoods and landmarks to the commercial developments transforming its skyline, each episode takes listeners behind the scenes of the decisions, vision, and investments driving the city's growth.
Featuring conversations with developers, business leaders, historians, architects, community advocates, and local changemakers, Behind the Brick uncovers how Kansas City's legacy continues to influence its future. Whether you're passionate about local history, real estate, urban development, or simply love Kansas City, this podcast offers a deeper look at the buildings, businesses, and bold ideas that define the Heart of America.
New episodes available regularly.
Behind the Brick Presented by GKW
Behind by Brick: The Making of Kansas City - Episode 2: Inside the Walls of Kansas City History
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Behind the Brick is where Kansas City’s past meets its future.
Presented by GKW and hosted by JJ Sanchez, Behind the Brick tells the stories behind the people, places, and projects shaping Kansas City. From the history built into the city’s iconic neighborhoods and landmarks to the commercial developments redefining its skyline, we go beyond the surface to uncover how Kansas City was built—and where it’s headed next.
Through conversations with developers, entrepreneurs, historians, architects, civic leaders, and local changemakers, JJ explores the vision, decisions, challenges, and opportunities behind the city’s continued evolution.
Whether you’re interested in Kansas City history, commercial real estate, business, development, or the future of the community, Behind the Brick gives you an inside look at the stories behind the buildings—and the people building what’s next.
Kansas City has a story behind every brick. We’re here to tell it.
Presented by GKW. Hosted by JJ Sanchez.
Welcome back to Behind the Brick, the podcast where we explore the people, projects, and stories shaping the built environment of Kane City and beyond. Today's guest is Eric Bosch, former city architect for Kane City, Missouri, and a leader whose impact can be seen throughout our city. During nearly three decades of public service, Eric helped oversee the planning, design, and construction of countless municipal projects, including police and fire stations, public safety facilities, cultural institutions, and historic landmarks. His work has touched some of Kent City's most recognizable places, including the Kent City Museum, the National World War I Museum and Memorial, the Convention Center, and numerous civic projects that continue to serve residents every day. Along the way, he helped champion quality architecture, accessible design, public art, and innovative project delivery methods that have shaped the city we know today. Today we'll talk about how cities get built, the importance of historic preservation, the future of Kansas City, and Eric's latest venture, Studio 613. Eric, thanks for being here. Thank you. Welcome to Behind the Brick. So you spent nearly three decades helping Kansas City built environment. When you look back on that career, what stands out the most?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would say that just be involved with lots of people and a lot of connections. And you know, some cities are planned and some are developed, and I think that Kansas City is kind of on a path now where they're really thinking what they're going to do in the future. You know, some of the work that I was involved in ranged, like you said, over all kinds of different avenues from police, fire, public safety, the museum which we're in right now, the Museum of Kansas City, World War I Museum. Um I got involved in the uh Lowe's Hotel connection to the conference center. So there was just so many things that I was involved in. That was a great time to be the city architect in Kansas City. How did you get involved in architecture? So when I was in high school, I got to take some uh field trips to go to other cities, and then it just gravitated towards the buildings and the architecture, and I kind of brought that back with me. And then I got to go on a trip to DC and really got it just engulfed and saw all the buildings and the museums. And then I ended up going to K-State and graduating architecture school, and then from there I um came back to Kansas City and started working on office buildings and hotels, and I did a lot of work with AMC theaters.
SPEAKER_02So, you know, you talked about taking a lot of field trips and then going to K-State. At that point, did you know you wanted to do work in public service, or was it not until a little bit after?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was after. So I um when I was working well on the AMZ, I really thought that I wanted to work for the government. And I don't know why that was a crazy idea, but I so I applied at federal, state, and local. And you know, the federal one was really enticing to be working in DC, but then the Kansas City came out with a really good offer that had potential, and I could see that the goal was to become the city architect. And so I knew I had to work my way up to get to that.
SPEAKER_02What was uh what was Kansas City like when you first started to work in in 1990?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, on the downtown side, it was dad. It was um empty buildings, parking lots, and they joke about they rolled the streets up at five o'clock, and they did. I mean, there's just nothing downtown at all. And project wise, um, when I first started, we were working on a lot of renovations of City Hall, some buildings, um, there was a health department building, a courthouse building, and then it wasn't really until later we started getting into the public safety, and that was all about the um bond packages and sales tax.
SPEAKER_02What did that transition look like from working on the buildings to more so shaping the future of Kansas City?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, what the advantage I had is um when I became city architect after I'd been there several years, it was to be able to just kind of map my own course. I mean, I really got engaged and back to the whole connection conversation, you know, working with the police department, getting to know them, the fire department, and you know, there's a key element that you have to have money. So figuring out how the city could acquire funds from um, and it was mostly all sales tax money, general fund came from some of it, but that's really where it steps out of the architectural realm, and you have to know the the means around the civic life of Kansas City and who to talk to, and then also just making sure you're making friends inside City Hall.
SPEAKER_02You know, it's funny when you when you look at that uh the chair, the three with the three legs of architecture, engineering, construction uh from a city development or planning standpoint, um how did that look as you started to as you as you transitioned from realizing, you know, it's not just about the drawings, but it's a little bit more about, like you said, like we have to raise funds. Well, if we want to if we want it to look like this, well, we need to go raise funds.
SPEAKER_00Well, and I would say that there were four really categories at City Hall that I was involved in architecture, of course, and then the architect's office was over rural estate and the art program. And then to make all that happen, you really definitely had to get involved in the finance department and understand how we're gonna pay for all this. And I was probably the master at trying to find funds, digging up accounts that no one was using. Um, and then somebody would call and need money for something, and you scrape it all together, and then you have a project.
SPEAKER_02Let's start out with your role as a city architect. For people who aren't familiar, uh, what exactly does that position entail?
SPEAKER_00So this is interesting across the United States, there's not that many cities that have a city architect. They might have um departments that are under a public works or maybe a general service, but Kansas City was very fortunate that they started uh the city architect's position. I happen to be the third city architect in the history of Kansas City. And what that really involves is you're shepherding the architecture, the style, um, really helping with departments on shaping what they want. They might say they need a fire station, but they don't know what that means. And then really working with the civic um leaders and neighborhoods to um I I went to a lot of public meetings, had to speak to a lot of people to convince them and gain trust. And probably not only inside City Hall had to get trust, but it was also the citizens of Kansas City. So uh the city architect's position, and it's pretty common across you know the 20 or 30 cities that have one, is really working with architects and planners and really thinking about what you're creating and how you know it's gonna be a lasting facility. Um it's you know, municipalities are different than private sector because it's gonna be around a long time. And most companies they might lease the space or move out. Um, but that was really important to really focus on what the architecture was gonna look like and and really think about the materials we're using and how they can be longevity to them.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely, yeah. I love that. Um, you know, for us at GKW, I think one of the one of the main things that we really point our finger to is the struct the structural integrity, you know, especially with historical buildings. It's like, yeah, you can you can put something on that's gonna be a little bit cheaper, but is it gonna last? You know, and you want to build a city that's or you want you wanna you want to work on uh doing something that's built to last.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02How much of your job would you say was design versus leadership and project management? I know you talked a lot about you know building those relationships and that being huge key focus, but what would you say was kind of the the balance?
SPEAKER_00Definitely started out as design. There was uh a lot of internal design that we did in-house, and then um we had a pretty large staff to be able to accomplish that. And then there was time that you just turn it over to professional. You hire a professional architect, designer, structural engineer, civil engineer, and you know, you want you're using their professional capabilities, so you really want them to be um in charge. But then when I would work with um different, well, we called them clients, but they were department heads, division heads, we would really work with them on what their program was and kind of lay it all out first, and then we'd turn that over to a selection process to hire the architect or engineer. Um but we were really working hand in hand with the architects on shaping the design, shepherding design, you know, really orchestrating all the different teams that were involved in that. So then that was part of the design side, and then it really did roll into that you need to be a leader and a manager, and um, not only to your own staff, but also in the public. Because when you would go out on public, sometimes they didn't want the fire station in their backyard. So you really had to think about when you go to those public meetings, how you're really going to address um the public's questions, you don't know where they're coming from. So it's it's like a balance. It's very much working with people, um, trying to make connections before those public meetings, so you kind of knew. And then you got the city council that, you know, it's just kind of open, open air what they're thinking, and go to public meetings and trying to get approval for a project design or trying to get money. And you really have to have a good relationship, trust to have them vote for your project.
SPEAKER_02When it comes to though that skill set of talking to people and building relationships with people, was that something that you felt you kind of had before you really got into that position, or was that something that kind of picked up a little bit more as you gained confidence?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would say in the non-private sector, yes, because I would have to go meet with um the developers with AMC Theater and some of the um the managers of AMC and the different theater companies and just talk to them, but it was never out there in front of everyone. And when I would speak to council, it's on TV, it's live, and there's no script. So you really had to learn that trait. And I think the very first uh probably council meeting I went to was a little shaky.
SPEAKER_02Okay. It's interesting to always see like the that buildup within people's careers and that skill set. It takes time. Um what's a project or an improvement that most Kansas Citians benefit from, but don't realize uh how many years it took to actually make that project happen?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I say there's several. The the building we're in now is called the MU Museum of Kansas City. It was built as a house in 1910 for um two people and their two daughters, um, Robert A. Long, and he was a lumber baron. And this project was a long time coming. Um when I first started working on it, probably spent 15 years just making sure the house was stable and it was acting museum at that time, but it wasn't what we see today. And you know, replacing the roof, putting in windows, um, air conditioning heating system, just try to maintain the building because back to scraping money, we were just trying to make the place last and try to keep it open to the public. And then other buildings I worked on, I would say the World War I Museum was very positive. It's it's a it's a monument to Kansas City built in 1926, celebrating 100 years this year. And it was just really a monument. They had some artifacts, but majority of them were in boxes that no one ever got to see. So spending two years working on that project and probably four years in the planning stage to make that happen. And of course, funding, we had to work on that system too. So that became what it is today, and it's an amazing museum, and it became a national World War I museum.
SPEAKER_02I think it's always funny that you know, some of these projects that usually take a long, a long time. Um people usually end up passing by them every single day, and like when there's construction going on, you don't really realize you know what's going on until it's completely done. And then you realize, holy cow, I've actually been that thing's been going on for a minute, but it's like, you know, when you pass by it every day, it's just Well, they have no idea that four years before that there was nothing.
SPEAKER_00It was all planning. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um So Kansas City was one of the first cities to embrace um design build, correct? That's correct. Uh what made that approach so such a significant shift?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think a little explanation of what um the trend was, which was design bid build. So municipalities would go and hire an architectural firm, a team, which would be structural engineer, mechanical engineer, electrical, and then they would set out and put a set of drawings together with no input from a general contractor. Most of the time there was no input at all about um buildability, costs related things like that. So pretty much they came in over a budget. And the budget was never probably the right amount to begin with. So the idea was that design build was taking momentum in other states, and so the state of Missouri adopted it, and so then we had to get our attorneys in the city to agree to it. And the only stipulation is that they wanted a drawing. So sometimes people call those bridging documents, but we were able to put a package together and then put it out for a team, which was led always by a general contractor, but then they held held the contract with the architect and all the other um disciplines for mechanical, electrical plumbing, and even civil. So it was a benefit because you hired the whole team on one day and they were accountable to each other. And the project did move faster, and I think it was a lot more methodical put together.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_00So I it was it was definitely better than what we were doing before.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Honestly, um, you know, even from my experience, being able to come onto a project early and understand the drawings or understand what questions the architect might have, especially for a restoration project. Sometimes, you know, the architect um may just wonder what uh the best solution is here before they even you know put it out to design in a vacuum.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And so it was great to have in the same room uh the contractor saying, wait a minute, there's a better way to build that. Or we can make that less expensive, but you're still gonna get the same result.
SPEAKER_02So you've worked on numerous public safety and municipal projects throughout your career. Um what makes a great building?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would say it it multiple things. So that aesthetically pleasing, um, a building that's affordable being built, and then after the fact, too, that you can maintain it. And then some in some cases, I would say the majority, you really want the building to blend with the neighborhood. Sometimes there's no neighborhood, and so you kind of get a little bit more free reign on the design. You can do whatever you want to. And then um I would say that you're making sure the building's functioning for who you're using it for. And and maybe it even has a little bit of twist to it, that it could be repurposed in the future. But making sure that if it's a fire station, it's designed for that fire station. Right. An office building could be something different. Yeah. And it we never really got to work on a museum from ground up, but that would be a different situation too. But I I would say that it just the function's really important. And then it's the taxpayer's money, so you're kind of at their mercy to say we're doing the right thing. We're building something that might look expensive, but it's sustainable and it's gonna last the test of time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and it's for the people.
SPEAKER_00Right. Right.
SPEAKER_02So I know we've we've kind of already touched on this a little bit, but how do you balance budget function and design?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's really difficult. I I I would say that the planning in the beginning has to be the key. I mean, it working with maybe even hiring somebody ahead of time to really think through what we're trying to create. Because usually we didn't have a design and we had to go get money. And so when we would do a sales tax, public safety sales tax, or fire safety sales tax, we would come up with how much we thought it was gonna be. And then it was years later, maybe we got the money. So you really kind of had to add in a little bit more and knowing that the cost increase would happen, you know, just um across the board from design even to construction. So that that was probably key is making sure that you're prepared because we're gonna turn this over to a design team, and we have to lead them in the right direction so they're not overbuilding or over-designing.
SPEAKER_02And then you're then you're working against time to really cut that down and because we were really big on everything's on time and on budget. Um Yeah, I mean that and that that to me, I think does that build trust with then the public?
SPEAKER_00Does that allow you Yeah, and that's what happened on the public safety sales tax, because I went through three generations of that. And if you you build what you promised, then the voters come forward and say, hey, they did what they said they were gonna do, and then they'll vote again. Yeah. And that's probably why star bonds in Kansas work so well in certain cities, because Wichita is a good example of that, and there are sales tax bonds. They did what they said they were gonna do, and so the citizens came forward and said, Yeah, we want to do it again. That's a good point.
SPEAKER_02In in your time of working for the city, as far as architecture influencing um how people feel about public institution, how has that looked in the time that you've worked for the city? Like did you see a rise in trust and then a and then a fall in trust at any point? Or did it always kind of seem like that relationship was pretty steady?
SPEAKER_00Well, there was a lot of different audiences that would um to to gain trust with. If you were working on public safety, that was it seemed like an audience that was really important to them to have well-worked fire stations, well-designed fire stations, and the police stations had to be functional. And you know, there is this part out there that citizens think that um they just need a building, they don't need something special. But it it makes a difference. So on fire stations, especially, we we talked about this a lot that the function of a fire station um and the way that Kansas City operates, they're on 24 hours a day. Firefighters work 24 hours and they're off. And so when they're in that station, there could be anywhere in the station, and the alarm goes off, you want the quickest, most safest functional route to get to that truck so that that cuts down maybe response times when they're on the road. So I I think you explain that to people, they understand it. And then, for instance, like the zoo projects I worked on, um, they were expensive, but there was a purpose behind that. One is really making sure the animal was safe and in a nice environment, and then you want the people even happy when they leave the zoo.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so I guess really, you know, and as an architect, you you uh you know this, but it really just comes down to the specific project and and how to execute that.
SPEAKER_00That's right. I mean it and it look at the range. I mean, from public safety to to um the zoo to museums to maybe a boring project like replacing a roof on a building. Right.
SPEAKER_02Was there ever a project that kept you up at night um or that you knew would would uh be around for a long time that just you felt like it was one of those projects that you you had to everything had to be right?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, this is a real curveball project. But one night the um at the convention center, the Barnall Hall, there's pylons, which on top of that is artwork that's called the Sky Stations. And it got hit by lightning. And we were doing routine inspections probably a month later, and somebody discovered that it was very damaged and it could fall. So what kept me up at night is we brought a helicopter in to take this piece down. And then for six months, Zayner sheet metal worked on it, fixed it all up, and then for and then we brought the helicopter back. So that was pretty scary because we had to close all the downtown off. So and that brought an audience. How long was downtown closed while you guys were well, I would say it took about two hours to actually physically take it down, but probably an hour before and an hour after just to make sure the place was clear. Because you had to clear you had to shut the highway down. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I mean that was probably a very tense project. It had nothing to do with architecture, really.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that comes, yeah, I would say that uh kind of leads a little bit more into like the project management. But uh how how long into your career did uh did you experience that project or did you work on that?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would say that was um early 2000s, early 2010, probably when that happened, maybe. Do you have a favorite municipal project that you've worked on? Yeah, I have a list. So um I would say that back to this project at the Museum of Kansas City, it was really it was it was a a a lot of work that went into this and then a lot of reward afterwards. Um I would say the World War I Museum is another one. Um the I was I got involved in the Performing Arts Center Garage, which is um right next to the course the Kaufman Center Performing Arts, and that um was a great project because you were providing us a parking garage owned by the city to a public building. So that was really a kind of a clever project, too.
SPEAKER_02Do you do you feel most proud when you see people walk in and really appreciate all of the work, or is it more so when you see it on uh like a social media or a you know it being recognized in like a newspaper?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's interesting. I on a lot of office projects we worked on in departments. That had probably hadn't been renovated in City Hall or other buildings for 20 years. And you know, people come to work and there's just the door, you know, the restrooms might not work and the doors are bad and the carpet's torn up. And then the people come to work after it's all finished, they dress better, they act better, they act different. And then that even responds even to the citizens coming in to do work at City Hall. You want them to come to a nice building. You want them to make sure that the amenities when they're there are working. And they might not have the greatest experience in Mississippi Court, but at least it was a nice building.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, especially for people who are new to the city. You know, for anybody coming in from out of town to experience a Kansas City Museum, I think it does really touch on the history of that city and all of the work that it's been through to get to that point.
SPEAKER_00Well, and Starlight Theater is a great example of there's a lot of people that go there that aren't from Kansas City and they're just going to see a Broadway show. And that facility was not accessible for any type of disability, wheelchair or just boots or crutches or things like that. And so going into renovating that whole facility, the probably the biggest advantage that ended up was that people could see a show if you're in a wheelchair. And so we reorganized all the seats so that you could see over in a wheelchair, you could see over people standing. So I mean there's so many benefits that, like you say, about not realizing it until you get there. But um we we made some big improvements on the public facility size from the zoo to parks in a rack, uh convention center, and things like that, that really benefited people that were from out of town.
SPEAKER_02And Kansas City didn't really adapt um a lot of that ADA, um, I guess what would you call it, the ADA structure.
SPEAKER_00Well, yeah, the the accessibility um came into play probably in 2016 when the Kansas City really focused really hard on it. And you know, it was a law way before that in 2009. And so um what I was really making sure is that when we started a new construction, that you either had to have somebody on your team or you hired someone that was a specialist, an expert in accessibility. And even on contractors, that's kind of where we ran into a little bit of the problems because you can design the perfect building for accessibility, but if you put something up in the wrong place, grab bars, the paper towel dispenser, then that that doesn't work for anybody coming into the place. So that was going forward, we were making sure that our newer buildings met all the requirements, and then we went back and fixed a lot of buildings. City Hall was one of them that we fixed, um, Starlight, the convention center. We really touched first on any project that the public was accessing on you know a daily basis.
SPEAKER_02What sparked the ADA accessibility? Was it things that we were taking from other cities, or was it there a certain situation that kind of happened?
SPEAKER_00A citizen um found out there was something, an issue, and they turned us in the Department of Justice who regulates accessibility for the United States government. So they sued the city and they said if you if you fix everything, we'll drop the lawsuit. And by the way, there's no money. So we put together a task force. One of the first things on the list was to hire somebody that was an expert. So we did that. And then there was like 10 things on the list we had to accomplish first. And so we got with a lot of the departments and explained to them how important this was. And just because you didn't have anybody working in your office, you can't discriminate somebody to hire them, too. So we went through kind of a whole spreadsheet and started working on all the different projects and parks, um, even like soccer fields where the the kids playing there were all able-bodied, but grandma's not. So we want to make sure you can watch the kids play. Yeah. So that kind of just domoed into a lot of projects. Crosswalks in Kansas City are probably one of the best with the curb cuts and then the buttons you push to make sure you can get across the street on a timely matter. It's crazy to think that that was nothing but within the last 10 to 15 years. Yeah, and then think about way before that where buildings all had stairs. And in this part of the climate, stairs are not good for anything, and when it's snowing and icy out. So it's better just to have the building accessible for everyone.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. I um I mean, looking back on a couple months ago when I tore my Achilles and you know, we're walking in an old building. Grant granted, it did have an elevator, but the elevator was down.
SPEAKER_00So, you know, that really kind of made me think about accessibility and how to And it really makes you think when you go out to a restaurant now, yeah, about what they should do. Right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I had to set my crutches somewhere. I'm like, man, if I had wheelchair, I wouldn't like it's that's difficult. That's you know, there's a huge challenge there. A lot of your work is focused on building for the future. Um, but some of your most impactful projects have been uh preserving the past, right? So let's shift into that a little bit. Why should cities invest in historic preservation?
SPEAKER_00Well, every building has a story, and it's really nice to be able to find out why the building was built the way it was, what materials were used, and kind of understand that. And then just what happened in that building. I mean, for instance, the house we're in now, I mean, it's now a museum, but you know what went on in this house in 1910 with four people living here with 40,000 square feet of space, and that's a story just on its own to be told. And then the workers that came, there wouldn't enough workers in town to build this, and so a lot of people came from other countries just to work on this house. And they just stayed here, they became citizens. Um, and then for instance, like City Hall, I think City Hall is an iconic feature downtown, and it really it has lasted the test of time. There's lots of things that need to be done on it, but um, it has served the government very well, and a lot of things have happened in there, laws have changed, and people have got approval to do things. So I think it's really important to think about our past. And there's some buildings that just can't be saved, but not by neglect or by um just to tear them down because they're in the way of something else, but to really think how can it be repurposed. And we've seen that in Kansas City very much on apartments. I mean, I lived in the Power and Light building. It was built in 1938, and you know, and everybody saw that that couldn't be used for anything but an office building. And uh it was fabulous to live there because the walls were you know 10 inches, 12 inches thick.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's amazing when you s when you start to see uh old and new blend with each other and how beautiful it can be.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and another example I would say is what's starting to happen at the Nelson Atkins Museum. I mean, they did a renovation years ago and it worked out very well. They didn't what I call the view shed, when you look at the building and you see what you saw back in the 1930s. So when they do the next renovation, they're they're they're really taking care of what the older building looked like, and they are touching it, but they're not trying to mimic it.
SPEAKER_02When you think about the World War I museum, uh how much of an impact do you think it had on all of the veterans, you know, in Kansas City? Like how how impactful was that when you had those conversations around the planning of it and the design?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think what really came into play on that was that it was a monument and they had collected a lot of artifacts over the years that they no one could see. So I think that was probably the biggest impact that made, and that's probably why it became it got a national recognition. Um, because nowhere can you see all these World War I artifacts anywhere, even in in the Smithsonian in DC. So that was probably one of the biggest selling points. And then, you know, they they built an auditorium inside, you can have presentations, and they have a cafe, and I think the public really embraced that. And you know, when the when it was built, the citizens helped pay for that, and they raised money, and they even had a piggy bank that looked like the World War I Museum to put your coins in and donate them to the project.
SPEAKER_02Oh, no way, okay. I didn't know that. What was the vision behind the project? Essentially, you know, you talked about it being such a huge recognition. Um were some of the people that you met with when you guys were planning and designing that? Um were they did you meet with veterans? Did you know?
SPEAKER_00No, I mean not not too many. I think there were veterans on the board, but our our involvement became when they hired the museum designer, which is a company called Applebaum, and they've done many museums across the United States. Holocaust is probably one of their most famous museums they did in New York City. And so it was it was a balancing act. It was a design build project for part of it. And then the rest of the city held 40-some contracts with, you know, uh the museum designer, the cabinet maker, the lighting company, the acoustics company. I mean, that's kind of why it pretty much turned out to be such a large-scale project. And it did last a while. I mean, we had an office there that I was in for a while, a couple years, and it was um an excavation project first, because underneath there was just a cavern with really nothing in it, and we had to dig dirt out and then build that whole structure three stories down. So that the planning part was a little before um we started any work at all. And then the artifacts then started coming in after the building was built, and so now people can see artifacts. And one thing they do very well at, and I I would say the Kansas City Museum, the Museum of Kansas City and the World War I Museum do a very good job of rotating. So if you go today and see something at either museum, you go back later, it's different. They've rotated the artifacts out. It kind of brings people coming back. Yeah, you want to keep coming back. Yeah, you don't want to be a one. Yeah. You wrote the Ferris Well ones, though. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02How do you balance preserving history uh while also having that modern take? You know, we when we're talking about like, you know, talked about adapting with fire stations, you know, keeping it adaptable for uh long-term use.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, on the historic side, I mean you really have to think about is it really feasible to what you might want to turn this building into, and and then is it accessible? And how we did that at this project, um, we really a goal was everyone would come in this door and in any building. We want the everybody to come in the same door. What whatever disability you might have, you can still come in the front door. So an elevator was added, but a tasteful design was put in place on this building. Uh the museum already had, at the World War I museum already had that. Um at City Hall, we uh made accommodations so that there's grand staircase that we came in, but we put in ramps and made different accommodations, especially the restrooms. We had to do things like that. So I I would say it's if it's accommodating and you can do things to historic buildings on the accessibility side, then you have to start looking at other things. Fire protection and the um integrity of the building itself, is the value of replacing windows and fixing the roof and then going to the mechanical system, because a lot of the buildings I talk about had no air conditioning and they hadn't steam heat. So, I mean, it until City Hall didn't have air conditioning until the 70s. So I can imagine what it was like in there before that. But you have to think about things like that now is like, is there a s a trade-off that you're gonna keep the historic building? Sure, maybe it'll cost a little bit more, but you're saving something that generations to come will get to see. I've been in cities, especially in Miami, and they have plaques that what was there before and no building.
SPEAKER_02You know, it's interesting to really think about too as we transition into the future um with new energy codes and and you know making a building healthier uh while still trying to preserve some of these old um assets of it. That's you know it's gotta be a huge challenge.
SPEAKER_00Well, and you know, a little bit about new versus old, and you know, are were buildings built better before? And sure, they were stronger and and just built faster for some reason, but that's also they didn't have the the knowledge we have on environmental, on um sustainability, and what kind of windows they didn't have windows that were that kind that would, you know, make the building more efficient, and even roofing materials, wall materials, things like that. And this building didn't have insulation at all. The can the Museum of Kansas City didn't have insulation, so we had to put that in. But, you know, there's pros and cons, I guess, about a new building versus old building. But I'd say that majority of buildings today are building very well. I mean, they're they're sure taking a long time to build. So materials are more um laid out, they think about them more. There are stiffer codes in some cases that they have to follow, but there's a purpose behind that, especially on the structural side.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. There's a couple projects right now in Kansas City that uh I know the city might be getting involved in, um, like the Federal Reserve. So it's gonna be interesting to see, you know, the planning and development.
SPEAKER_00Well, and that's one building I think should be saved. Um, and I actually had the opportunity to tour that building when it just closed uh years ago. And so the city had the opportunity to buy that from the federal government, and it was it was there wasn't a need for a building that big. And plus, it was full of asbestos and lead paint, and it was a massive 22-story building, I believe. And so I don't know if you've been to the Soho Club in Chicago, but that's my goal. That's what it should be. Okay. Um, and if you're not familiar with the Soho Club, it's a several locations. Um, I think there's one in Shanghai, there's one in Chicago, New York. Bigger cities have them, and it's a private um club, basically, but it has a hotel and it has uh restaurants and bars and a gym and uh activity. Yeah, and so I think that'd be a perfect fit for that building. Somebody needs to come up with lots of money to do that, though.
SPEAKER_02There you go. There you go. For the new city mayor, whoever's whoever's coming in, that might be a good idea.
SPEAKER_00And you brought that up about saving buildings, and that's kind of what the city is trying to do is that there's uh we'll call them deadbeat landlords, and and that's more of a situation that it failed. The construction process failed to turn it into a hotel or apartments. But there are many buildings in this town that ordinance would address, especially on Main Street, that are abandoned and that the the landlord's just taking a free ride, probably not even paying taxes on it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there's a couple we're looking at right now that I'm I'm interested in seeing what uh how they turn out. Um there's uh what would you say is there any building in Kansas City that has been preserved? Um is there is there any historical building in Kansas City that you think deserves more appreciation than it receives?
SPEAKER_00Oh, City Hall, definitely. Because uh I worked on many studies to to preserve that building. And ongoing, there's just the maintenance. And just recently did a project that's been on the books for 14 years to redo the south entrance and make it accessible, make it cleaner, make the fountains work, and keep the water from dripping into the garage. So that that's a good piece of that. But I did a study that all the windows need to be replaced, they're not energy efficient. The building's clean, it's tired and dirty, and then the mechanical system completely I mean 1970s, some of the equipment's out old. So that's probably one that I think people take for granted. And and you go in there every day trying to get building permits and getting stuff approved, and they want a building that's nice, functional, um, clean restrooms, lighted at night, which that was a project I worked on. So um I think that that's a building that needs safe City Hall.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, uh definitely receives my appreciation. I live right next door to City Hall, so every time I walk my dog, I'm I love to go around that entire block, and then there's the park and you know on the backside of it. So I mean it's you know, it's been it's been really cool to watch just even on that south entrance, you know, them finish up the last little detail.
SPEAKER_00Well, they and it didn't they didn't really change anything that you can tell historically. So that turned out really well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. We were uh we were in a meeting actually at City Hall uh a couple months ago with historic Kansas City and um you know one one of the councilmen and we were talking about you know preserving historical buildings and uh you know it was really cool for all of us to walk out of that meeting and just appreciate the work that had been done um on that South Lawn. So yeah, I think that's definitely uh one building worth getting a little bit more attention to. I think uh, you know, maybe we will uh maybe we'll find a find a good clip or or find find a time to create some content on it. Yeah, that'd be good as well. If funding weren't an issue, which historical building would you love to see?
SPEAKER_00Well, on the private side, it would definitely be the Federal Reserve Bank building. Yeah. And then on that on the public side, um, yeah, I guess that there's probably some work that needs to be done on municipal auditorium. Um and you know, that's a treasure that we have, and it's being used pretty wisely, I think, by the convention center. Um City Hall, I think on on the private side. Um I think that's something that needs more attention. And then um I think that the progress is starting on 18th and mine. There's some historic buildings in the 18th and mine that the city owns, that's the Roberts um automobile building, and Gates Barbecue started down there, and there's a building down there that still needs some work. So I think there's progress being made in some of these, but that's probably the biggest.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, there's a couple I think on uh truce that have gotten brought up recently that I think would be pretty cool to see restored. What's a preservation project that taught you something unexpected about Kansas City?
SPEAKER_00The 1930s, when um there was a bond pass, and that's what brought City Hall, Jackson County Courthouse, all into that government district, and they also built the police headquarters at that time. So when they built those two buildings, police headquarters and city hall, they built a tunnel that was an emergency escape for either, we don't know, either this city manager, the mayor, or the police chief. So you could get at one time, you could get from one building to the other. Are those still there? There's a tunnel still there, but it's full of mechanical pipes and stuff. I mean, you could probably get through it, but it's not functioning as a passageway. And then the very much historical city of Kansas City before the 30s, Kansas City was a mayor form of government. And there was a um a person in town that pretty much controlled everything. And he ran, he pretty much owned the mayor at that point. So the the mayor had a lot of power. And so then when they built the new city hall in 1936, it was very clear they were changing the form of government to a city manager form of government. So if you go to both offices, the mayor's and the city manager, the city manager's office is twice the size of the mayor's. So it was a big hint that any mayor coming in would know that his office is smaller, his or she office is smaller.
SPEAKER_02For the next city, for the next city mayor that's coming in. Um that's awesome, man. You've you spent a lot of time preserving Kansas City, um, Kansas City's buildings, um, but you've also helped shape its future. Um so I'd love to get your perspective on where do you think the city's going. Um you know, you've watched it evolve over, you know, you said the last three decades, three or four decades. Uh what's the biggest change that you've seen in Kansas City?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would say definitely say downtown. I mean that that was a that was the cornerstone to making things happen. And you know, there's there's the T-Mobile Center, which was Sprint, and then the entertainment district. And that would the streetcar would not have happened without those. And then people taking pride in the city and saying I'm from Kansas City and wearing the t-shirt and all that. And people want to bring um their visitors downtown. They want to show off their city. And so that probably was a key factor on what's happening elsewhere. Now, other parts of town would say, Why'd you spend so much money downtown? Well, it only benefits other areas, and it's showing. Um right now, I mean, when I was a city architect, we were constantly doing projects, city government contracts. Now it seems like it's shifted a little bit to the private sector, um, and the government needs to get back in their position, start fixing up buildings and really building new buildings. Um, but I would say in the next five years, you're gonna see more build in Kansas City and the history of Kansas City. There's so much going on, so much planned. Um, and that in you know, the catalyst is the streetcar, but it's also just the way people think. Now, what we really need to work on is attracting these companies that are leaving other states. Um, Morton Salt just moved from Illinois, and they they took over a building in Overland Park, and now they're very community engaged with the um Morton Amphitheater. And so there's other companies out there that are looking, they're shopping. And you know, Kansas City's prime to bring in, and the World Cup helps, I think, showing us off.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you talk about the you know downtown being the core um of you know the city and in our in our uh the development of of its future. Um, you know, we look at just the other day we had you know the Netherland, the Netherlands uh was here with the entire uh orange parade. And so, I mean, it was everywhere. You post, you know, people were posting it everywhere, and and uh, you know, for me it was just a moment of appreciation for you know people who worked on getting it through the hard stages. I had a conversation the other day uh with a lady who had worked um in downtown, you know, 20 years ago, and she was like, she goes, man, when I used to go down there, I, you know, was scared to park my car anywhere. And now it's like, you know, there's plenty of places to park. Um, you know, we're working on, you know, developing a little bit more of that. Um but to be able to have you know the city seen as, you know, on a global level, um and and for for people to appreciate it as as that small and mighty, small and mighty city. You know, we compare it to Dallas, we compare it to, you know, Colorado or San Diego, some of these other really big cities that have already uh done a really good job at developing themselves. Um it's fun to be in Kansas City at this point in time where it's like, man, we're we're in those growth stages, you know.
SPEAKER_00Right. And I think that's what is the attraction to other companies. But we have to have the right people, leadership of Kansas City, civic leaders to go out and find those companies that are looking for a home.
SPEAKER_02Aaron Powell I'll ask you this, and you might have already answered, but uh what project do you believe had the greatest impact on Kansas City's transformation?
SPEAKER_00Would you say that Well yeah, I mean I mean, yeah, and I I would say something that I wasn't involved in because it wasn't a city building, it was Union Station. Union Station was scheduled to be torn down. And it it's a it was an experiment that worked and it probably never happened again, but it was part of a by-state tax. So both states um contributed tax money to restore um what it is today. And that is really a nucleus. Everybody talks about I'll meet you at Union Station, that's where the streetcar is, that's where Amtrak is, post office. I mean it's Chiefs Parade. Yeah, it's a great activity um to go there, the movie theater. I mean, there's all these things that that wouldn't be if that building would have got torn down.
SPEAKER_02Makes me hungry and makes me think about going to Pierponts after this.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I say there's another to add to the waving of wand. So that the um Meadowbrook, which is in Prairie Village, um was a golf course and they turned into a park. And then I would say more organically than planned, which I really like planning more than just developers, but it it brought in a hotel and a restaurant and a great coffee shop and apartments, and then the homes started out very inexpensive, I'll say, for that area, and now they've just blossomed to some ridiculous prices. But if you merge that and you merged uh Woodside Rocket Club together somewhere in the city of Kansas City, because Kansas City doesn't have anything like that. I mean, there's pockets, but at Meadowbrook you can walk to things. There's things to go to. Um, you go to Lewis Park, Gale, you can walk around Lewis Park, but there's nothing there but the park, that's good. But I think that what the city is missing is some gathering of people. And you know, maybe the plaza will come up with something like that, but I think there's a niche out there that is missing that the city needs to capture and building a community center like a woodside that has the prestige um that other cities have that we don't have.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think you know, somewhere maybe where you can spend almost the entire day, get some work done, go to a coffee shop, and then like you said, well, maybe baseball. Yeah. Maybe that's part of that. Yeah, absolutely. That's awesome. That's a good point. Um what's one opportunity Kansas City cannot afford to miss over the next 20 years?
SPEAKER_00Well, I I would say don't get, you know, in front of you, like say get ahead of your skis, but we have so much property in Kansas City, and we I think we have a hard time focusing on where do we put our money into? We've we've put a lot of money into downtown, a lot of money, 18th and 9. The airport was probably the one big solution to any transportation issues we have. Um I would say transportation is still one of those. Um, do we need a rail system to the airport? You know, that's a question to be answered. Do we need to expand the streetcar east and west, south? Yes. And so those things I think we're gonna change the blanket of Kansas City if transportation is the key. Because the streetcar, you know, in the 50s was this valuable thing that everybody used, and then cars came along and changed all that. So that's probably the key, and then bringing people downtown to work. We've got in the situation now that downtown is more alive at night than it is during the day. And you go to other cities and they're populated. So, how do we get downtown to be populated again during the day? Yeah, and you know, building office buildings downtown with people in them instead of data centers might be a better solution.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. Uh I know one of the things that got brought up a while back at a neighborhood meeting was like a by-state corridor. Uh, and one of the main focuses of that by-state corridor was bringing people from you know the area that we're in right now and uh independence and east Kansas City, all the way through downtown into the west bottoms and and potentially up even across state.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, you know, over in over into Kansas. And so, you know, you talked about Union Station and that being a little bit of a shared project between state line. And it's so funny, you know, people from Kansas City, Missouri, you know, get offended when uh, you know, an artist or somebody comes in and they're like, oh, thank you, Kansas. And everybody's like, we're not in Kansas. But when you really think about it, I mean, you talk about the community, you talk about um, you know, the shared uh experience of of the city and and things that we're doing. It's like it really is a shared uh city, you know. I know historically, I think it was fought for as far as like the name of the count town of Kansas and you know where the name of Kansas City kind of really well and and maybe the football moving to Kansas that maybe that'll help.
SPEAKER_00Maybe that will we'll just be as one. But yeah, as like a uh a brotherly competition. Yeah, yeah. But you do have to preference it when you're out of town and you say Kansas City, they don't know which state line you're on. Right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they just assume they hear Kansas is like, oh, you're from Kansas. Looking back on a career like yours, it's hard not to think about legacy. Um I'd love to talk about some of the things that you've learned along the way. Uh, you know, within l leadership legacy leadership, um, and all those all of those lessons learned. What leadership lesson do you feel like you learned the most throughout your career working in the city?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I would say it all boils down to connections and then just trust, um, building that relationship inside City Hall, finding the right connections, and then just making sure that it's a fair process, transparent process when you're hiring architectural firms, design firms, the contractor. Um, I think that's probably one of the biggest things I learned to carry on with me to my my own company now, is that I've had relationships that extend now past municipality into what I'm doing today. So I I think that's probably the the biggest key piece to that is you you you need to make sure you know the right people to talk to, yes, but make sure you credit the people. For instance, you go to a project and you have the big ribbon cutting, and where's the finance department, where's public works, where's the person that dug the hole in the ground? I mean, you've got to credit a lot of people that they don't get credit normally. So making sure that everybody on the projects gets some nod that they were involved in it.
SPEAKER_02Would you say that's probably your biggest advice to any young architects, engineers in today's industry?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I would say you spent, you know, mostly professionals or five-year degree, and you know, chase that, work that. Know exactly what you want to do with your career. Because especially an architecture, you have so many avenues of what you can do with your career. And then get involved. Make sure you know the city you're working in. If you're just gonna be there a couple years, that's fine, but know your city, know who's in charge. I always talk to my business development group about dropping them in a city. Where do you go first? Chamber of Commerce. That's where you learn everything that's going on in town. And you know, it's a it's a huge benefit to the companies, that's why people belong to them. But um, young people need to just understand that it's not anything against them if they work at a job for a couple years and move on. They've gained experience, they want something different. So be a shark that's in the open and not a shark that's in the zoo. Because you're in your same circle, you need to get to ovals so you can get out and understand what other people are doing. And that's like I treat my B2B group that I um that we meet once a month, and it's made up of people from all different markets, all different professions. And I think that's that's why it works so well. Yeah, B2B KC, right?
SPEAKER_02B2B KC. I think there's some great things that the younger generation has learned from technology, uh, but there's maybe a little bit that they've lost in the sense of just handshakes and looking people.
SPEAKER_00Right. Well, and the AI piece and architecture is gonna change a lot in the especially the education side, because if AI can draw a section of a wall, then you need to have a different talent. You need to be very, very creative and focus on that. And it AI is not gonna take your job. It's the person that knows AI that's gonna take your job.
SPEAKER_02And that kind of really comes down to like what you're you know, what you explain, the sense of like AI can't build a relationship with somebody better than you can. You know, you have your talents, yeah. You've probably forgotten more about Kansas City's buildings um than most of us will ever know. Is there a project or a story um that we haven't talked about today that um you think Kansas Citians should hear?
SPEAKER_00Well, it touched a little bit about the tunnel. I thought that was kind of interesting. I and I think that just how things work in City Hall. I mean, I always talked about writing a book about the about City Hall and having the front cover be the front door and the back cover be the back door. Because so much happens that no one knows about that deals are made, and you know, they talk about them in the private sector golf courses or where deals are made, deals are made in City Hall. And it could be in a councilperson's office, it could be, you know, the mayor's office, city manager's office, it could be in a bar down the street. But um I I would say there's so much goes into a project that the most people don't even get to hear about. And sometimes I think that story should be told. Um, especially how did the entertainment district get built? How did Union Station get remodeled? Um, how'd the streetcar even come? Whose idea was that and why did it why is it so successful? Um and then um just sharing stories about how long it takes to do missile projects because the private sector seems to move pretty quickly. Um there's a building on the plaza that just went up in no time, and that's probably because they had really good connections in City Hall to make sure they were doing the right things, they had the right kind of drawings, they had the right people involved. Yep, permits passed, that's always the Yeah. I I think it's just great to hear stories about um, well, it didn't happen in two weeks. We've been working on that a year. Yeah, and love that. That's uh so maybe that book will come out eventually.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm I'd I'll be the first one to read it, I'll tell you that much. You've accomplished a tremendous amount in your career. Um, but it's sounds like you know, retirement didn't come that that soon, or that you know, you still had uh a little bit more uh more gas in the tank. So I would love to talk about what you're doing now with Studio 613.
SPEAKER_00Yes, so so while I was at City Hall, I was really um developing businesses. I mean, instead of business development, and so I had the opportunity to bring people that were young architects, young contractors, and we were able to do contracts um without any um there was approval process, but it wouldn't string it, like a request for proposal, things like that. So bringing young companies up into getting them a job so that when somebody says, Hey, you have any fire savings experience, they said, Oh yeah, we did this remodel the other day. So um that kind of led into I think, okay, there's a niche here that companies need help. They need to be able to know the avenues of how to get their next client, introductions. And you can't just cold call anymore, you can't just call somebody and say, Hey, I want to meet with you, and they go, so it's good to have that liaison, which that's what I'm really good at. I can introduce people every day by email or just in person, and I think that benefits that relationship. And deals have been made after, especially the B2B, that's why I keep talking about that, because people come to that and they meet each other and then they end up doing a project together. Yeah, so I think it's part, partially just um on the commercial side, it's definitely about relationship building and then introduction, then helping people with their requests for qualifications, requests for proposals, and then I can definitely coach them on interviews, how to do the right type of interview. Okay. And then on the residential side, it's all about custom homes, it's all about lifestyle. I want my house, not my neighbor's house, and really getting with the owner early on before they've done anything, rabbit hole mistakes where they bought land, they hired the wrong person, and they didn't know the jurisdiction where they were in. And so guiding them through a process: how do you enter your house? How does your neighbor come in your house? How do your friends come in your house? Yeah, where's the nucleus of the house? And put all that on paper before you start drawing anything. So I think some of those things I learned at City Hall kind of help build this company.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. What's what would you say is the main mission of Studio 613?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Uh on the commercial side, it's definitely um building relationships. I always talk about um trying to um engage people and build this enduring, everlasting relationship for business. And so that you know, that's that's probably the biggest mission on the commercial side. And then on the residential side, it it's when they're done and their house is completed, they are happy where they're at. They want to invite people over and it functions. Those homes don't function the way that people live. They adapt them.
SPEAKER_02You know, I think it's interesting too when you look at the tie between the commercial side and the residential side, at the end of the day, it's it's connection, right? You you're you're reaching for the connection, whether it's people coming over and you guys watching the game or you know, having dinner, um, or whether it's on the commercial side, whether, you know, where you're sitting down and and talking about a certain business deal, or just simply how you guys might be able to help each other out.
SPEAKER_00I mean, how many times have we been together and we just talk about I know that person, I'll I'll hook you up. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Absolutely. Especially Kansas City. Kansas City's the fact that Kansas City is so small, um, and yet there's still always people to meet. There's, you know, it's you never know every you know, you never know everybody. Um Jason Osborne, Casey Downtowners, he always he always says, you know, at the very uh end of of any of the of our presentations and our luncheons, you know, raise your hand if you know everybody in this room.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, and hardly ever, and sometimes I just want to joke around and like throw my hand up. Um, but it's true, you know, you could be in one room and still it's like, man, I don't know everybody in this room.
SPEAKER_00Well, and that's that's when I kind of stepped into the residential. I I'd go to a meeting, there's no one there. I knew no one. And and now, years later, I know half the room. And I didn't that was a whole nother world to me of the residential side.
SPEAKER_02I know uh when we first met, it was what almost about a year ago now, I would say. Um I think you had already started kind of working on a couple projects with you know this new venture. Uh how is that how has that developed over the last year? And and are there any cool projects or anything?
SPEAKER_00There's a project coming up, it'll be called Skyfall, and it's just residence, but it's kind of more than that. Uh it's an education tool. So as the project is being built, there'll be educational sessions that the manufacturer of a window, flooring, mechanical system, roofing, they can bring, you know, a few people out, where caps are all that on video, and then they can use it for several things. They can use it for training. If they're putting up a stone wall and the mason group says, hey, we want to show this to our team, but if that an owner's um trying to contemplate whether they're going to use this stone or not, then they can meet with the manufacturer. Then it rolls into once the project's open, there'll be events where people can come to and the manufacturer will bring people and saying, This is what I built, here's how it works. You'll go through the house like a true open house that I've never seen before, where there's people everywhere talking about what they did. Somebody be in the kitchen cooking, somebody downstairs in the mechanical room showing all that works, the um stereo system, the A V system, all that will be demonstrated. And I've never seen that in an open house before. I have either.
SPEAKER_02It would be interesting to also see that with um a workforce development group, you know, with like we talked about like the youth, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, apprentice could come in and and learn the trade. And then once it does open, then I've talked to charity and non-for-profits about using it as a backdrop. They want to gather maybe 10 to 15 people. They can come into the the house and they can show a video of their or give a presentation in the classroom, and then they um can have a small dinner with a you know group of 10 to 15 people.
SPEAKER_02Maybe we'll have to shoot one of the next podcast podcast episodes there. Yeah. Um, are there any opportunities that you've been helping clients navigate today that you think other people should um be paying more attention to? Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I think and I'll probably just touch on the residual side for that, because I think there's this real um stereotype out there about I'm gonna build a custom home and and all the the horror stories and the nightmares and all this stuff. And I think if it's planned out right, then I think it works really well. If you wait too long to select materials and hire the right team, and you might back up a little bit, I would almost say that you hire the same the team on one day. So everybody's there in the room, and everybody knows stay in your own lane. Because don't design something somebody else is already designing, and make sure the contractor knows what you're doing. So, you know, I it's guidance, it's making demystifying, I guess I'll call that we really need to focus on the what the what the owner wants. It's not what the designer wants to put in a magazine someday and win an award on, or the general contractor wants to make money on. It's something that the owner wants, and they should really pay more attention to the owner.
SPEAKER_02Are you seeing any shift in um the want for smart homes?
SPEAKER_00Um Well, so Kansas City kind of took a back step on what they had planned. They put the 2022 energy code in place and and the Skyfall project and other projects, most custom builders already have followed that, and it's really about energy efficiency. How much insulation is in your house, how thick are the walls, the mechanical system, and how that operates. And I would say that most custom homes are built above the code because they want energy efficiency for the owners.
SPEAKER_02I geek out on building envelopes all day long, and I geek out on how much air is coming in and out. Um but it's been exciting to hear how you've continued to uh make an impact through Studio 613 and looking back on everything that you've accomplished. Um it's been a pleasure to to meet you and and to continue in building our relationship, um, you know, from public projects to preservation and all the efforts that you've done and you've put into the city, into helping Kansas City continue to grow. So we really appreciate you being here today. Oh thank you. You've helped if you've helped uh you've helped me, you know, shape my understanding of of the city and its growth and and just where we're headed. And so I hope that you know guests are able to listen to this and understand a little bit more about you know what it what it really takes to um, you know, like you said, connect, connect with people and the importance of that. Yeah, thank you. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Before I let you go, let's do a quick lightning. Okay. Favorite building in Kansas City.
SPEAKER_00Oh, private side? Private side. Private side would be the Kaufman Center Performing Arts. Okay. Private side, City Hall. Or public side?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, public side. Um most underestimated, or sorry, most underrated building in Kansas City. City Hall. Yeah. Uh favorite Kansas City neighborhood. Uh downtown. Downtown? Um, best example of historic preservation in Kansas City. Union Station. Okay. Uh Favorite piece of public art.
SPEAKER_00Sky Station's on top of Borough Hall.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Um, most impactful public project you've seen. Union Station.
SPEAKER_00Union Station.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Union Station with four tallies, three four tallies. Um, one building you've one building you'd save if you really if you could only save one.
SPEAKER_00Um the reserve bank.
SPEAKER_02Yep. One building or uh architect or mentor, mentor who influenced you the most?
SPEAKER_00Frank Gary.
SPEAKER_02Frank Gary. Um Joe's Gates, Arthur Bryant's, Jack Stack, Q39, or somewhere else.
SPEAKER_00Joe's filling station. Let's go.
SPEAKER_02Uh, one word that describes Kansas City Connection. Connection. That's a lightning round for you. Let's go.