Four Point Design is fortunate to be working on interior design projects with Wabash College and Adriann Rhoades. Adriann has served as the college’s Director of Planning, Design and Construction for nearly five years. For this month’s blog, Adriann reflected on her experiences in the industry and shared insightful takeaways.
Let’s start by talking about the work Wabash College is doing with Four Point Design.
Four Point Design is working on the rehabilitation and conversion of a 1912 home that once belonged to a Wabash professor. It had sat empty for a few years, and the college had the opportunity to purchase it and turn it into an academic building. For this project, the interior designer—Four Point Design—was the lead design firm, and Halstead Architects and Kort Builders worked on the project, as well.
My experience with Four Point Design started when I was fresh out of college. I was working in preconstruction for Turner on the IU Health Saxony Hospital, and Jamie Raymond was one of the first people I met. I didn’t know a lot at the time and was eager to learn. Jamie was kind, accommodating, and explained everything well. I noticed she was a problem solver—and she did it all with a smile on her face. When I joined Wabash, we started working with Four Point Design on small interiors projects at fraternities, as well as office spaces at the Wabash Center. I appreciated Four Point Design’s professionalism and reliability, and their documentation and renderings helped our people understand what they were getting. The Four Point Design team works in healthcare as well as higher ed, and I’ve found that firms that operate in healthcare tend to have a high level professionalism and responsiveness.
When the current project came along, I knew Four Point Design would be a good fit. It’s a unique and interesting project that took the house down to studs and introduced student workspaces, conference rooms, a library, and offices. The team worked through many complexities to bring new life to the structure.
Four Point Design is also helping Wabash with a campus-wide furniture assessment. They went into every space and documented the quantity and quality of our furniture, giving us a tool for forecasting its replenishment. The process also facilitated conversations relative to how faculty and staff use their spaces and how we can help them be successful.
Let’s switch gears a bit and talk about you. How did you end up in the construction industry?
I always laugh about this, because when I was younger, construction wasn't something I thought about. Originally, healthcare spoke to me, so I enrolled for the hardest science and math classes at Indiana University. As the first person from my family to go to college, I started to get intimidated by the idea of taking on a lot of debt. My junior year, I transferred to Ball State University, with the architecture program in mind because I still really needed to choose a major. After the first semester of intro courses I wasn’t sure that design was my calling and I told an academic advisor (in the middle of my junior year) that I wanted a major that was a job and that my only requirement was that the IU classes would transfer. He said, “How about construction management? It’s a brand new program.” I ended up loving it and graduating first in my class, and a big reason for that is the people who ran the construction management program. It’s a similar dynamic today, with consultants and vendors—it’s all about the people.
What else do you enjoy about working in the architecture, engineering, and construction industry?
What excites me most about the industry is its breadth and depth and the ability to continue to learn. After I was assigned to my first job, I quickly realized every industry depends upon the AEC industry to create meaningful spaces that contribute to each organization’s mission and purpose.
It also takes many people to make everything come to life. Construction isn’t about one person. Everyone needs to be able to trust each other, show up, and do their job well. If they don’t, the people around them can’t succeed. I love how teams become these high performing machines that get the details right while creating lasting change.
That’s also what drove me to the owners’ side—it takes good owners who understand the process. It’s amazing what you can achieve when you get a smart owner, a smart contractor, and a smart design team together. The possibilities are endless.
What is a typical day like for you?
There really is no typical day. My position didn’t exist before I joined Wabash, so I’ve been given an opportunity to step in and create whatever we need to bring our projects to life. We’re a small institution with lean resources, but we still need to deliver. As a department of one, I depend heavily upon our partners, and we have a great facilities team and administration. I do everything from high level master planning to resource allocation for our capital expenditures, and from working with our board of trustees to managing and coordinating projects details. That makes the job interesting.
What advice do you have for firms who do work or are interested in doing work with Wabash?
Be great and know what you're good at. There are some firms who would like to claim that they can do everything and do it great. We know that’s just not the truth. I appreciate people who say, “These are the things we do, and we do them well.” I also like to know why they do what they do.
In addition, I appreciate firms who get to know the needs of Wabash College and go above and beyond the task at hand. As a small institution, we sometimes have unique requests. The partners who have been successful with us understand that, and they deliver on things that might be atypical. Wabash depends heavily upon our relationships, our people, and our history, so it’s important to have trusted partners who help us carry out that mission.
Four Point Design is among those partners—they’re adept at stepping in, quickly orienting themselves, and gaining a deep understanding of their clients’ needs. That says something about the quality of their people and the work they do.
What else inspires you in your work?
Family is everything to me and has taught me more about patience, leadership, and teamwork than anything else. Both of my sisters are in the AEC industry, as well, so we’re able to understand and support each other on multiple levels. I'm the oldest of five kids and 16 years older than my youngest sibling. My sisters and brothers call me “the momster”—half mom, half sister to everyone—and it's kind of true. Both of my parents worked, so I helped to take care of my younger siblings.
Then, my senior year in college, I became a mom. I was preparing to interview for my first job, and I heard some well-intended advice from a friend: “Whatever you do, don't tell them you have a kid.” I show up to interview and the first question was something like, “What makes you more responsible than the next person?” I said, “Well, I have a kid.” It was one of those moments when you can follow your intuition or accept other people's limitations. And it serves as a reminder to be honest when sharing your story, and you’ll end up in the right place. From a place of gratitude and humility, you don’t want to be where people don't value who you really are.