Chester Inc. is responsible for the design and construction of an almost countless number of buildings that dot the Northern Indiana landscape. From animal hospitals and churches to office buildings and nail salons, business owners and developers in almost every industry trust Chester to work with them through every step of the process to design, build, and finance their dream building.
Core to the design/build process is Chester’s team of in-house architects and architectural designers. From the day a client signs on to work with Chester, the architectural team works hand-in-hand with the business owner to turn their vision for their building into reality.
“We do a lot of listening. We want to understand the ideas and concepts that a client has for their project,” said Joseph DeCenzo, architect at Chester “We’ll ask them to share with us any imagery that evokes what they’re looking for, things that capture their imagination.”
Drawings, pictures, and wordy explanations can only go so far. Oftentimes, understanding the client’s needs means going out to their existing locations and observing how they work within their space.
“I enjoy going out and doing some investigative work,” said Alyssa Szajkovics Peuquet, architectural designer with Chester “I go into a business’s current building, take inventory, and study how they function. However they operate well – that’s what you want to design around.”
Peuquet noted one particularly impactful example – creating back or side exits for privacy at animal hospitals. Peter Brannen, a Chester architect who has designed about 60 animal hospitals, shared a similar example, explaining that veterinarians tend to want a particular look and feel for their locations.
“Veterinarians are very compassionate,” Brannen said. “They don’t typically want an industrial or commercial look to their buildings. They want a more residential look because I think they firmly believe it affects the animals, that it makes them feel like they’re coming into another home.”
Chester’s approach of keeping the entire design and construction process in-house means that everything is streamlined. Communication, between both the clients and individual teams at Chester, is quick and easy.
“If there’s a question, we can work it all out on the spot,” said Rod Forsland, architectural designer at Chester “We get and process information much more quickly than any other way. I’ve worked at other architecture firms, and just getting an information request filled can take a lot of time.”
It also allows for a unified approach, where Chester’s experienced crews lay out a comprehensive plan designed around all of a business’s needs.
“With a design/build process, we can work through design changes, balance aesthetics, cost, size, and functionality early on,” DeCenzo said. “Everybody in-house, from the cost estimators and construction managers to ourselves, is experienced with the way we build. We can present a top-to-bottom plan and work through changes at the front-end.”
Brannen explained that Chester’s approach leads to tighter timelines, fewer unexpected design changes, and a more satisfied client overall. The architects work with the rest of the Chester team to get the design right the first time.
“Virtually every building we design that actually gets past the design stage gets built,” said Brannen. “The traditional approach has architects develop full sets of plans, send them out to bid, and many times they come in way over budget. Then, they need to start trimming – we don’t like to do that here. The only time changes come up for us is if the business owner wants them. When we go in with a design/build proposal, we live and die with it.”
For the architectural team, few things are as satisfying as seeing a business owner move in and get to work at their new location.
“There’s nothing better than turning the key over at the end of a job,” Peuquet said. “It’s something special when you see their face and watch them going in and experiencing that space. Going in and hearing someone say, ‘That building is great!’ or ‘We love the flow! We love the design! We love the aesthetics!’ or anything positive like that from a customer that goes into the building is so nice.”
To learn more about Chester Inc. and to see a portfolio of its architectural team’s work, visit www.chesterinc.com.
