A/N Many thanks to my magnificent betas, Mandy the O and Musique et Amour. Your assistance and support is priceless.
John Campbell listened to Erik's directive with dismay. Although he was used to his boss' autocratic ways, he was now in a quandary. There was no way he could tell his group of thirty experienced architects that the person whose lead they must follow was a first year intern!
John called Alex and the other project managers into a meeting in the conference room. "We need to look at this project with new eyes," he stated. "I would like each of you to look at all of the site plans, then we'll discuss which of them best captures the feeling of Charleston in the late 19th century."
Chairs were silently pushed back as the project managers rose to look at the drawings. "Don't study them," warned John. "Just look at each one long enough to get a feel for it. We'll examine the plans for specifics later." Looking at his watch, he added, "We'll take 20 minutes for this."
Twenty minutes later, the group reassembled around the conference table. John stood at the dry erase board, where he had drawn a table. The left-hand column listed the various public buildings; the second column was labeled "Yes" and the third column labeled "No." The rest of the 8'x4' board was clean.
John went down the list and recorded the votes. The storefronts, barber shop, a beauty salon, a bar, a pool hall, professional offices, community center, and the library. And the consensus was clear: only the library received all "Yes" votes.
"Now for the hard part," he said. "Why is the library the clear winner? What sets it apart from the other buildings? What changes can we make so that the other buildings look like they belong in Charles Towne Village? Before we go back and study the plans, I want us to brainstorm. We may not need to study the site plans; as a group we may have the answers we already need. So, call out your impressions about the library, and I'll list them."
John wordlessly wrote down the answers the group threw at him. Warm, welcoming, inviting, friendly, "open", secure, stately, classic, just what one would expect when visiting a small town, the columns on the facade.
"OK, so … are the other buildings the opposite of these characteristics?"
"Not entirely," answered Alex. "But, the others seem to fall short, don't they?"
"Alex, since your team designed the library," holding up a hand, he cut the other man's reply off, "... I'd like to meet with you privately for a few minutes." Glancing at the others, he added "The rest of you can take a short break. On second thought, Alex, you and I can meet in my office. The rest of you can continue the discussion, or, if you feel it's necessary, study the site plans."
"Alex, I'm sorry I interrupted you, but I don't think we want to broadcast that the only person on staff who understands the project is a first-year intern. I will never understand why you gave a building of this magnitude to her, but Christine Davies nailed it."
"I know it's highly unusual to give an intern this type of responsibility, and I didn't, at first. Christine took the initiative – she did her homework – when no one else was even remotely interested in the library building. She has good instincts; she will make one helluva architect one day."
"I agree, which is why I don't want it publicly known that she is the one responsible for the library building." Again, he raised his hand to cut off the other man. "Those who need to know, do know. And, eventually, it will be common knowledge. But, you know as well as I do the competitive atmosphere among the staff. If they know that a first-year intern surpassed them all …" he shook his head. "I don't want her career derailed by petty jealousies, Alex."
"Perhaps you would like to repeat this morning's exercise with the rest of the Public Buildings Team, then," Alex suggested. "I feel pretty confident that they will come to the same conclusion the Project Managers did."
"I thought about that while the rest of you were looking over the site plans this morning. But, I'm afraid that will make Christine very vulnerable to attack. It won't be hard for the rest of them to figure out she was the one responsible for the library's site plan. No, I think it will work out the best if the Project Mangers can identify what each building is missing, then have his, or her, team rectify that. No one will need to know that the library is the only building whose site plan not only does not need to be revised, but is actually the gold standard by which the rest of the buildings will be judged."
Both men looked at each other somberly. Alex genuinely liked Christine; both men respected her as a budding architect. Neither one underestimated the precarious position Christine was now in.
"You know," said Alex slowly, "it may not be a bad idea to also "reject" the library's site plan."
"How so?"
"Rejecting it keeps everyone "equal." We don't have to accept the changes Christine makes, but I do think we need to tell her that the library falls short of our expectations. It may hurt her feelings, but she'll get over it. Suffering the animosity of her coworkers would be much harder to handle."
John looked at Alex grimly. "You're probably right. I am glad that you're the one who gets to tell her, though. I don't envy you that."
Returning to the conference room, John announced that the Public Buildings group would be meeting at 2 PM that afternoon. "I suggest everyone eat a hearty lunch. I have a feeling that this is going to be a very long day."
Erik tuned in to the afternoon meeting, and listened with puzzlement as the group was told that none of the public buildings was satisfactory. John listed the characteristics they were going for, without ever mentioning that the library had successfully captured them all. What the devil is he doing? I thought I made it clear to him that the library was exactly what we are looking for! Pacing, he waited until John excused himself from the meeting before telling Maria to get his Project Manager up here, now!
John groaned silently as he answered the summons. Too bad I couldn't have made Alex go in my place, he thought. At Maria's direction, he entered Erik's office.
Although seated at his desk, Erik was turned with his back to the door. He paused, purposely, intending to increase the other man's discomfort a notch or two. After a few moments, he turned and motioned John to take a seat.
"I thought I made it clear to you that the library site plan was the only one which is acceptable," Erik began. "Would you care to tell me why you have "rejected" the library site plan?"
"I am thinking only of Ms. Davies reputation and her working relationships here at RS&A. Professional jealousy can be a terrible thing … I don't wish to subject her to the ire of the rest of her team. We don't have to accept any of the changes she suggests, of course, since her concept was right on target."
"And you think it wise to cause her to doubt herself?" Erik inquired softly. "You think … professional jealousy … is a bigger obstacle to overcome than one's low opinion of oneself? Than being told that your best work isn't good enough? Than being told, in spite of what you know is true, that you've missed the mark?" He paused, waiting to see if the other man would answer.
John shifted uncomfortably in his chair, but did not speak.
Erik moved a couple of papers on his desk, and John suddenly feared he was going to be fired. Looking up, Erik correctly interpreted the look of horror on his face, and he smiled grimly. "You are an excellent architect, and a trusted colleague," Erik said. "I am not so unreasonable as to fire a man for making a mistake that can be easily corrected. The only question is, how will we correct your error, John?"
John closed his eyes and swallowed. A public announcement? Call Christine in privately and apologize?
"An error that is compounded due to the fact that the others do not know that the library building meets the standard. Letting the architects know that the library building has the look and feel we are after should help them in refining their own plans. But, you didn't do that. In your misguided attempt to protect Ms. Davies, you have compromised the entire project." Erik realized with a dawning horror that his opinion of Christine had taken a radical turn. I can't think about that now!
John was too deep in his own thoughts to notice that anything was amiss. "I will call each group in, and repeat the exercise I did with the Project Managers this morning. But, first, I will call Alex and Christine in, and let them know that the library's site plan has been approved."
Hazarding a glance at Erik, John noticed the raised brow.
With a deep sigh, he amended, "I will tell them that not only has the library's site plan been approved, it is the only one that captured the look and feel of Charles Towne Landing,"
Satisfied with that, Erik rose and crossed the room to the other man.
John stood as he approached and was stunned when the other man patted his shoulder. "I am pleased that my confidence in you has been justified."
Leaving, John wondered how it could be that words that would be comforting from anyone else chilled him to the soul when uttered by Erik.
True to his word, John summoned Alex and Christine to his office. "I'm afraid there has been a misunderstanding," he began. "Christine, the library site plan has been approved. It is the only one to have been, and I'm sorry that I did not make that clear at the earlier meeting. I am going to call the rest of the team in, and tell them that, also."
Christine could hardly contain her surprised delight. She knew the library site plan was good, but she couldn't believe her ears. Why only the library site plan? Who was responsible for approving them? and other unasked and unanswered questions flooded her mind.
"Alex, I think we should repeat the exercise from this morning, but for the entire group this time. Christine, you will attend also; perhaps you can help us to identify what Charlestonian elements should be incorporated into the other public buildings.
The public buildings groups reassembled in the conference room. John asked them to look at the various site plans and identify the buildings they felt captured the feel of 19th century Charleston. Reconvening, he again utilized a table to record their votes about the various buildings. Again, the library was clearly a success. Unfortunately, so were the remaining buildings. Suddenly realizing what was wrong, John abruptly ended the meeting, but asked the project leaders to remain behind.
"It amazes me, now that I realize what is going on, that only one of our interns has been able to capture the feel of Charleston that we are after," he said by way of preamble.
"What is going on?"
"We are located in North Charleston, and most of the architects employed by RS&A live near here. How many of them … how many of you, for that matter … visit downtown Charleston on a regular basis? And how often do any of go sightseeing in Charleston? We take it for granted. We proudly call ourselves Charlestonians, but really, when was the last time any of us were in Charleston? Other than driving through to the beach?"
The project leaders all shook their heads. John was right. They rarely visited Charleston, and when they did, it was to go to a specific destination.
"OK, so this is what we're going to do. We are going to have a refresher course in Charleston architecture by visiting downtown Charleston. We are going to be tourists, in our own town. Then, the groups should be able to look at each building and identify what element is missing. Charleston has a variety of architectural styles, and Charles Towne Village needs to, also. It is not going to be a village consisting only of Greek Revival structures!"
The project leaders slowly nodded their agreement to John's plan. It seemed extreme, but they were all disturbed and disgruntled by the afternoon's meeting.
The next morning, two luxury buses pulled up to the RS&A building, and thirty architects, project leaders, interns, and the project manager boarded for the ten mile trip to downtown Charleston. Broken up into four groups, they each took a walking and a carriage tour, and visited both the Charleston Historical Museum and the Charleston Visitor Reception and Transportation Center. Once the four activities were completed, they boarded the buses and returned to the RS&A building.
The next morning, the group met in the conference room once again. This time, they understood, and were able to refine each facade so that the buildings appeared to have been lifted from historic Charleston and set down in Charles Towne Village.
By Friday evening, all of the public building site plans were ready for presentation to the developer, and Christine returned to the house on the Battery, more exhausted than she could remember being in a very long time.
Erik was pleased at John's resourcefulness and in the site plans that were finalized that week. Under Meg's watchful eye, Christine's voice lessons were continuing and she was progressing nicely. He was the last person to leave the RS&A building on Friday, and he wondered why he felt almost … abandoned.