Basic HTML Version
451
D.M.
Indeed, the great difficulty lies in being able to
certify that the client will effectively receive what
he or she purchased on paper. In order to guarantee
production quality, the Samyn office is certified by
several organisations. The general organisation of tasks
is based on principles set out in
sai
’s quality system,
which has been
iso
9001 certified since 2000 (
iso
9001: from 2000 to 2003) and
iso
14001 from 2007.
2
Nevertheless, each project – far from being treated on
a case-by-case basis, each with its own characteristics
– tends to help the entire office advance towards a sys-
tem of acquired knowledge. Here again, the dialectical
approach is very apparent. One of
sai
’s major concerns
is the integration of the principles of sustainable devel-
opment into architecture.
P.S.
sai
is effectively an eco-dynamic organisation.
A philosophy of sustainable development has under-
pinned our architectural and engineering approach since
1972, as numerous publications in technical and scien-
tific journals can attest, as well as presentations given
at various colloquia and conferences. It is therefore
natural that
sai
would apply these precepts to itself.
After having signed the Eco-consumption charter with
the Brussels Capital Region in March 1997,
sai
was
awarded ‘Eco-dynamic’ certification from the Brussels
Capital Region in 2001, which was renewed in 2004
and 2007. In addition to its annual financial and social
reports, the office publishes a report on the group’s
environmental activities.
Tell us about your projects. First of all, how do you
‘ land’ contracts?
D.M.
Many new commissions come to us based on our
reputation. We make it a point of honour to publish our
production widely, because we practise in a field that is
in the public interest, and thus we have a responsibility
to render an account of our activities. Chance encoun-
ters pay a role. We also take part in a number of private
and public competitions. The latter require a significant
investment of both time and resources, with a highly
uncertain outcome. With a small team such as ours, it
is only rigorous organisation that makes it possible to
enter such competitions without jeopardising the man-
agement of ongoing projects.
Tell us how a project unfolds. What exactly happens?
D.M.
The principle is exactly the same for every
project. Right from the initial studies, a project team
is put in place, which accompanies the contracting
authority through all the phases of the project. Our
members of staff speak most of the major European
languages and this allows us to offer perfect com-
munication between the stakeholders, regardless of
where they are from. Philippe Samyn is the associate
in charge of project design. His participation is of
a conceptual nature, but it applies to every graphic
document produced throughout the project, from the
initial sketches all the way to the final blueprints drawn
up by the contractors. A colleague, who is in charge
of the administrative and technical management of
several projects at a time, always accompanies him.
The project manager leads the team and handles the
daily flow of information, dealing with information
coming from outside so that it can be incorporated into
the design process, and ensuring that the team imple-
ments the decisions made during design meetings. The
associate in charge supervises the flow of information,
handles contractual issues and uses his or her exper-
tise to find answers to the innumerable questions that
arise as the project unfolds. As with all collective crea-
tive processes, the division between different people’s
jobs is not hermetic. At all levels, everyone takes the
initiative needed to help the project move forward:
proposing a new idea, detecting a problem, developing
a solution and implementing it if necessary.
Until 2004, Philippe Samyn alone fulfilled the role of
intuitu personae – the official contact with the contract-
ing authority. From 2004 to 2007, the role was carried
out by Philippe Samyn and the associate in charge of
the project. Since July 2007, this responsibility has
been taken over by the company Philippe Samyn and
Partners sprl, architect’ as the law now permits. Each
project is divided into clearly identified steps. The
principal phases are the sketches, pre-project, planning
permission, contract, project execution and reception
of works. Each step of the project has a correspond-
ing formal approval from the contracting authority.
Meetings play a highly important role in the develop-
ment of a project, because they are the place in which