TACOMA, WASH. — Brian Phair, S.E., is the new CEO of PCS Structural Solutions, a single discipline structural engineering firm with offices in Seattle and Tacoma. Phair was previously Vice President, and remains the Managing Principal of the Tacoma office. Craig Stauffer, S.E., continues as President of the company and Managing Principal of the Seattle office.
“This has been a deliberate evolution,” notes Dan Putnam, outgoing 20 year CEO who will remain as Chairman, “Brian and Craig have been significant leaders in the company for over a decade. This is about continuity of vision, with fresh energy and new perspective.” Rounding out the executive team, Jim Collins and Don Scott remain in their respective roles as Executive Vice President and Director of Engineering.
“The company has always been passionate about structural engineering for buildings,” notes Phair, “We’re going to deepen that focus through our own definition of how to provide excellent structural engineering.” The firm was an early pioneer in application and development of digital design/construction technology and collaboration tools, particularly their trademarked Integrated Steel DesignTM, first used over ten years ago. Phair explains that the next step for the firm is “leading the charge in a more collaborative future including methods such as Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), LEAN design, and alternative delivery methods to help support creative clients.” Phair notes that PCS is one of a few structural engineering firms nationally to formally contract on an IPD project with a shared risk agreement between architect, owner, and contractor, the $50,000,000 Ambulatory Surgery Center for Children’s Hospital currently under construction in Bellevue. “Children’s was a new client for us, and we were selected against tough competition for our expertise with digital technology and our strong collaborative processes.”
With good sized offices in both Seattle and Tacoma, Craig Stauffer notes that “Our business remains ‘local’ in many ways, and physical proximity to both our architect and owner clients is important, so we can literally walk a few blocks and ‘roll up our sleeves’ together.” Educational projects have long been a specialty of the firm, and current active work includes over forty K12 schools as well as on over a dozen higher education campuses throughout Washington, including multiple projects for the University of Washington and Central Washington University. Health care and historic restorations also remain a strong focus for the firm. PCS recently finished Northwest Construction magazine’s “2009 Best of Healthcare” project, the $120M Saint Anthony Hospital Campus along with the multiple award winning $87,000,000 historic restoration at Seattle’s legendary Garfield High School.
New structural technologies, “new approaches to the ‘brick and mortar’ or more specifically the ‘rebar and concrete’,” notes Phair with a smile, are also underway at PCS. The company has invested significantly in research and university testing, and is currently in the process of obtaining a patent for a new mid- and high-rise technology. “This work continues the philosophy of providing creative structural solutions” explains Phair, “And all of us at PCS are excited about the future.”
