McCutcheon Construction, Inc.
With a Focus on Green Building, Bay Area Design/Build Firm Provides Excellence in Product, Service and Professionalism
By Karen Henry
There's a level of professionalism that only experience can provide and a level of service that only personalized care can provide. Berkeley-based McCutcheon Construction prides itself on providing the best of both worlds - the small company benefit of close attention to each individual project and the large company benefit of experienced, professional management.
Michael McCutcheon founded McCutcheon Construction in 1980. He started small, doing most of the craft and trade work himself. By the mid 1980s, he was able to hire a few employees, and was developing a solid reputation doing smaller remodel projects. As the company grew, McCutcheon's team was able to incorporate a few $2-3 million projects into its mix each year. Today, the company is 40 employees strong and completes more than 50 projects totaling between $8-10 million each year.
The butler's pantry and wine storage boasts custom mahogany cabinetry including roll-out wine racks. Wine storage pulls out and bottles stack two deep. (Photo courtesy of McCutcheon Construction Inc.)
McCutcheon Construction primarily serves the residential design/remodel market in Berkeley, Oakland, Piedmont, Lamorinda, San Francisco and Marin, but the company also does residential new construction and select commercial projects throughout the Bay Area.
McCutcheon says his company follows the design/build model of construction delivery. He believes that teamwork and partnership among everyone involved in a project - his staff, the customer, the architects and the designers - is critical to the success of the project and his business. One of the hallmarks of McCutcheon's approach to construction is a focus on green building. He says that while about 20 percent of his customers specifically ask for green building, his company strives to make 100 percent of its work more green.
This new addition houses the custom kitchen, which is personalized with a balanced variety of materials including Honduran mahogany, black walnut, granite, zinc and antique tiles. (Photo courtesy of McCutcheon Construction Inc.)
Market demand certainly has played a part in the company's green focus, and McCutcheon says his company was fortunate to have people like David Willner, Malou Babilonia, Deborah Moore and Adam Dawson - all active environmentalists - among its earliest customers. However, he adds that McCutcheon Construction has been employing green building practices long before the term became part of the building industry vernacular. "When we started, we didn't know these people called a lot of what we were already doing green," McCutcheon says. "We've always used energy-efficient insulation, windows and doors. Our customers wanted to use bamboo, which we had used many times and never stopped to think and label it as green. We use low VOC paints and energy-efficient appliances and lighting. We recycle and reuse a lot of materials and always have, and that's considered green. We build durable buildings. We remodel instead of tear down, and that's considered green. But these people were environmentalists, and because we were sympathetic to what they were trying to do, even though we weren't using the green label, we fit right in."
The shower walls are covered with natural river rock; unexpected larger rocks are imbedded in the corners for shelves. (Photo courtesy of McCutcheon Construction Inc.)
Green features in the master bath include a refurbished tub and shelf from a local salvage yard as well as exposed and finished existing tongue and groove fir sub floor. (Photo courtesy of McCutcheon Construction Inc.)
Since then, McCutcheon has become an evangelist of sorts for the green building movement. Over the last 10 years or so, he has worked with the Alameda County Waste Management Authority to help find ways to reduce construction waste, and he was part of a grassroots effort to develop and implement a green building certification program in the Bay Area, which is now offered through Build It Green. Including himself, McCutcheon Construction currently employs 10 people who are Certified Green Building Professionals, and McCutcheon says he has asked all of his staff to complete the training.
McCutcheon says that some industry professionals shy away from green building because they don't understand what it really is and think it is politically charged. McCutcheon diffuses much of that charge by placing the three primary tenets of green building - energy efficiency, resource conservation and indoor air quality - in terms of tangible values and benefits to the homeowner. He cites the benefits of resource conservation, for example, in terms of providing for the future. "Who doesn't want to think about their children and their grandchildren?" he asks. Instead of talking about energy conservation per se, he talks in terms of saving money and being comfortable. Using energy-efficient products such as insulated doors and radiant floor heating not only helps to reduce a homeowner's energy costs, those products also increase the comfort level inside the home. McCutcheon translates indoor air quality into healthier living. "I see no one clamoring in the marketplace for more toxic things in their house," he says. "So there's no reason to think of green building as a philosophy or a fringe thing. Green building really just means moving toward better and better practices of building."
Once a dark kitchen with inadequate storage, timeless materials from mahogany cabinets to granite surfaces create a kitchen that is both bright and functional. (Photo courtesy of McCutcheon Construction Inc.)
Best practices, however, include more than just environmentally responsible building. McCutcheon also says that part of being a responsible builder involves careful planning, budgeting and scheduling. McCutcheon staff members partner with the designer or architect as early in the design phase as possible and develop three separate versions of the scope of work. The first McCutcheon calls a "need plan," a minimal scope of work that includes only those things the client absolutely needs. The second and third preliminary designs McCutcheon calls "want plans." Decidedly higher end, the want plans are more free flowing and creative, showcasing the design talent and the aspirations of the owner. Together with the architect or designer, they then explain all three options to their customers. That way, homeowners know up front exactly what they can afford given their budget, and from there, they have the control to add desired elements - and dollars - to the project at their discretion.
"So often the owner's enthusiasm working with the creative design team takes over, and the next thing you know, you have something that's significantly over the budget," McCutcheon says. "We try to teach our people to document that minimal or need plan, and then we can build from there. Psychologically, it's so much healthier." He says his approach helps his company deliver projects that consistently meet people's budget and design expectations while raising the level of professionalism in the industry.
Natural materials such as limestone counter and floors, and glass mosaic tile create an elegant and calm master bath. (Photo by Bruce Schneider)
Custom bamboo cabinetry and shoji closet screens create a peaceful environment in this Asian inspired bedroom. (Photo by Bruce Schneider)
McCutcheon cannot stress enough the importance of service and professionalism, and he's not one to preach something to his team that he does not practice. He cites retail giant Nordstrom as the primary inspiration behind his approach to service and business management. "Nordstrom is not the lowest cost provider, but they're not the highest either," he says. "What we admire about them is their consistent high quality, consistent high service, and a smart policy of having those practices widely propagated in many stores all over the country. That is what sets them apart, and that kind of service is what sets us apart." McCutcheon says he's a firm practitioner of the Nordstrom approach to business management, which takes the traditional pyramid-shaped organizational chart and turns it, literally, on its head. At the top of the chart is the widest, most important member of the McCutcheon team: the customer. Beneath the customer is the field staff, which serves the customers and the subcontractors. Supporting the field staff are the middle managers and design professionals, and at the bottom supporting everyone is management and, ultimately, McCutcheon.
A focus on providing service and support to people at all levels drives McCutcheon's management style and his business focus. "This is not a project-driven company," McCutcheon says. "This is a relationship- and people-driven company. We're proud of our construction, and we're looking for the sophisticated homeowner - someone who is appreciative of fine, quality work and wants a relationship, not just a one-shot deal. We want to take care of our clients. We want clients for life."
McCutcheon Construction is located at 1280 Sixth Street, Berkeley, CA. For more information about the company, call (510) 558-8030 or visit the company's website: mcbuild.com
December 2006 Builder Architect Edition Issue