Building Community, the old fashioned way

Q&A With Sean Leonard
Ventana Monthly Magazine 8/08

With the advancing impact of web-based social networks, the idea of ‘community building’ resonates like no time in history. Yet in the most elementary sense, community building has always begun with the brick-and-mortar endeavor: buildings rise through the labors of the driven, and community moves in to inhabit the result.

Sean Leonard knows how communities are built, both inside and out. Highly educated and a seasoned contractor in his own right, he has overseen some of the highest profile projects on this or any coast – including the Disney Concert Hall, L.A.’s Gas Company Tower, the Wishire Courtyard, the Third Street Promenade, and many more. Most recently, with his firm S.L. Leonard & Associates he taken the reins to oversee both Ventura’s WAV Project and the expansion of the Museum of Ventura County.

Despite the high-profile resume, his firm – which was twice decorated by the American Institute of Architects as “Building Team of the Year” – is actually a local establishment, headquartered in Camarillo. Leonard recently took time out from his busy slate to field a few queries from Ventana:

Is it unusual to be working on two high profile projects in a single community; especially in a small community like Ventura?

It’s actually somewhat by design; I opened the business here about six years ago, specifically focused on Ventura County. We’ve had some success up here, but much of our reputation and our expertise comes from larger, more complex projects. Compared to L.A. and Orange County there simply aren’t that many projects like that to be found. So when two nice projects come up in Ventura, well, we have a keen interest to be involved.

When all’s said and done with these projects, you’ll have had a rather profound impact on the face of Ventura and the manner in which some people perceive it. That’s a pretty heady responsibility, brokering a bit of the transition from yesterday to tomorrow.

That’s the great thing about our industry; I’ve been working in Southern California for a long time and been involved in a lot of prominent projects in L.A. – some of the high rises, and the Disney Concert Hall. I can drive down there with my kids and tell them “Hey, I worked on that project.” We did a project called Wilshire Courtyard about twenty-three years ago, and I tell my son, “When you were born I was working on this project, and when I took you home from the hospital, we stopped by this project with your mom to show you off to my colleagues.”

How splendid that next time you want to show your kids something grand you’ve been involved in, you won’t have to drive all the way down to Los Angeles. You can stay close to home.

Yes, you can see the WAV (Working Artists Ventura) project from the freeway! We live in Camarillo, so they see the library all the time; they brag about it to their friends.

It’s likely that’s not all they brag about; your reputation indicates a clear preference for working with non-profits.

That’s very rewarding work, collaborating with clients who are doing something that you believe in. The people we work with have wonderful missions; most of them are helping a lot of people. For instance, we’ve been working on a number of affordable housing projects -- working, say, with Cabrillo Economic Development, on the 150 units that were just completed off of Vineyard and the 101. When that place filled up – when they first opened it – it was so gratifying. Also, when we opened up the library in Camarillo, to see all those kids there the first day, running through the place, getting so excited about the architecture and the technology…

In terms of your presence in the County, what perspectives do you see coming that we can look forward to?

Denser housing is one thing that we’re moving towards, and transit-oriented development is another; building projects around transit centers. Our WAV project is going to have electric cars donated by GM that the tenants can check out and use for free.

More forward-thinking design, perhaps an authentic sustainability ethic?

Of course there are different ways to measure sustainability, but we find most of our clients have a deep social conscience and are looking to create buildings that embrace that ethic, so we want to be able to guide them through that process. You know, to get a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) -rated building takes a lot of commitment from a lot of team players, and we like to think that with our background and expertise we can help them bring the right players together and guide the process.

It’s one thing to set oneself up in contracting and follow the money, which is of course abundant; but it seems you’re working more with an eye toward building community. When that trend truly penetrates the national consciousness, the future could be very exciting, indeed.

We all feel the same; we don’t have one of those cutthroat environments in our office. We talk a lot about the people we’re helping, the people that our clients are helping. With WAV we have a client from Minnesota, a non-profit organization called PLACE (Projects Linking Art, Community & Environment), and the founder is a man named Chris Velasco, who is a very passionate guy. It’s very contagious, his passion; it’s infected all of us. He’s done a lot of great things, things that many other people would not dare to try. So that’s part of it too, increasingly bumping into like-minded people, and yes, it’s exciting.

It would seem that some potential clients would be attracted to the marketing buzz behind green building or sustainability, but when the rubber hits the road perhaps it’s a greater commitment than they’re willing to undertake?

We have clients who say ‘we’d really like to do it but how much will it cost?’ It’s very hard to put a specific dollar amount on it, so what we try to do is shoot for it, and if our budget allows it, we can do it, if not, we try to incorporate as many of the big issues as we can. Luckily in California we have Title 24, which requires a great deal of energy efficiency. The next step up from that to be LEED rated, for instance, is not a huge leap. Hopefully we can help our clients make the right choices to get where they need to be.

You say the work is gratifying, but it’s gratifying from this end to know that there are forces such as yours making a conscious effort to work in that win/win paradigm.

Instead of putting up pictures of the buildings, I like to draw focus to some of the people we’re helping, you know? Let’s put up a picture of some of the kids who are benefiting from this, or some of the tenants who are moving into the buildings, people who had mental health issues who were helped by supportive housing. Anyway, that’s why we do it.