Masonry Magazine February 2014 Page. 35
Spillman Farmer Completes Lafayette College Arts Plaza
The American Institute of Architects (AIA), Pennsylvania Chapter awarded a 2013 Citation of Merit to the recently completed Lafayette College Arts Plaza in Easton, Pa. Spillman Farmer Architects (SFA) of Bethlehem, Pa., served as the pro�ject's architect. The Citation of Merit rec�ognizes projects that represent excellence through exceptional details or special design aspects. The Arts Plaza was also awarded a Special Mention in the Archi�tecture + Urban Transformation category in the2013Architizer A+ Awards.
The $1.7 million, 7,000-square-foot Arts Plaza is an open-air space for the arts at Lafayette College. The project transformed a former auto-repair facili�ty into an outdoor teaching space that responds to its natural environment and built context.
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Spillman Fam1er's work for the college started when the school began to grow beyond its confines and into Easton's downtown. Biondo began working with the college in early-2000 to design the Williams Visual Arts Building. Following this project and several smaller planning and building stabilization assignments throughout the arts campus, Spillman Farmer and the college focused on the adjacent garage.
At its core, the project is a distillation of the existing structure. The Arts Plaza introduces new materials, such as brick
and steel, in unconventional ways. The plaza's masonry walls are clad with clink�er brick, a cast off of the brickmaking process, whose curvahire and malfonna�tions are accented, rather than mini�mized. The brick's curvature and
Newmasonrymonolithsexpresstheplaza'sstreetfront
andcreatearhythmandscalethatechothe
nelghboringWltliamsVisualArtsBuilding. Photoby
BarryHalkinPhotography, courtesyofSpillman Farm er
Architects
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A D V E R T O R I A
L
All Contractors Must Hav e a Treasur e Chest:
from going out of business. lt is your safety net, your peace of mind, your stress reliever, so you can sleep at night. Yes, it's your guardian angel!
Working summers on a produce farm beginning at 9 years old, I always had money in my pocket at school. Even though dad kept telling me to save part of my money for hard times, I blew every dime on bikes, go-karts, potato chips, pop and Chef Boyardee piz�zas. Man, life was good!
During those times of boyhood excesses, I was invincible. Riding as fast as the wind, I never thought should I break a leg or get injured, with no treasure chest I would go from one of the wealthiest kids in class to the poorest as I would have no ability to continue earning. I got a few scrapes, nothing serious, and I kept on spending.
When I turned 16, like the rest of my friends, I wanted to buy a car. With virtually no sav�ings to purchase what I wanted, I ended up buying a $50 Ford Maverick my friends rightfully dubbed the �sIue Beater.~ At the same time, one of my best friends, Brad Schott, purchased and drove a snazzy Oldsmobile Cutlass supreme. I was envious of Brad, who also had worked through school but, unlike me, saved and had a treasure chest he used to purchase a really nice car. As embarrassing as it was idling at a stoplight next to the Supreme, what a great les�son I learned on saving for the future.
At 19, I started Lang Masonry Contractors. All the while, Dad was still preaching to me to save for hard times. He would say, �Keep one foot on the ground son as hard times are com�ing. You Just don't know it yet."
I started to listen and tucked away much of my earnings throughout the years. With my investments succeeding, all of a sudden, l had over $1 million in savings. When my compa�ny would hit a bad job or two, and one of my managers would voice concern, and I would tell him or her. "It's okay. I have a million-dollar club we can use to club our way out of hard times." The beater Maverick flashing through my mind, l"d nod my head and smile.
The million-dollar club continued to grow as did the size of Lang investments and compa�nies. Then, the Great Recession hit and, soon, that million-dollar dub became a $6 claw ham�mer we used to claw our way out from the verge of collapse of the total empire we had built Had it not been for the "Treasure Chest" or the "Million Dollar Club" being in place. after 25 years of hard work building the companies, they would have crashed. My companies would not have survived the Great Recession.
During the difficult times, I confided in a friend who had been in business for more than 30 years and was going through a similar situation. He asked me if Iknew what real stress was. "What?" Iasked, curious of his slant He said, "Real stress is when you don't have enough sav�ings to pay your bills during a slow period." It's time for me to rebuild my treasure chest to avoid that stress coming near my life again.
Whether you own a business or not, you need a �Treasure Chesr as hard times will even�tually come your way. Many business books will tell you to save 10 percent of your annual earnings solely for hard times. Then, you should maintain 10 percent of your annual sales in your "Treasure Chest." Therefore, if you do $5 million in sales, you should have a minimum of $500,000 in your chest.
Although many of us are battered and bruised by the storms of the Great Recession, it is good to still be standing. It is also a blessing to get another opportunity to do it all again, while being equipped with lessons learned. One thing I know for sure is that more hard times are coming, we Just don't know when yet. When they do, I hope you and I have our "Treasure Chests" in place, so we can get through them.
Damian Lang owns and operates four companies in Ohio. He is the inventor of the
Grout Hog -Grout Delivery System, Mud Hog mortar mixers, Hog Leg wall-bracing
system and several other labor-saving devices used in the masonry industry. He is the
author ofthe book ~RACE-Rewarding And Challenging Employees for Profits in
Masonry. -He writes for Masonry Magazine each month and consults with many of the
leading mason contractors in the country.
All rlttts mem,.
February 2014 � MASONRY 33