Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/109465
. photo: Edward O���Neil Photography Inc. Shangri-La, Toronto, ON chemistry and science, he joined his father as an engineer in 1983. ���I���m a people person and soon realized the academic world would be too isolated for me,��� he says. ���But by joining the company I had the best of both worlds: science and human interaction. I love nothing better than working with colleagues to solve problems.��� Indeed, Nemetz���s face lights up when asked to describe some of his early challenges. ���My first serious challenge in the so-called ���big project��� market, circa 1999, was the Lincoln Square complex in Bellevue, Washington,��� he recalls. ���We were working for Westbank, and all the .com people were going to inhabit the property. Unfortunately, the bottom dropped out of that market and the entire project had to be re-thought as a mixed-use complex.��� After a pause, he adds, ���Rejigging to this degree is always stressful, but I personally found it exciting.��� Equally exciting was the task of providing electrical engineering for the multi-highrise Central Park Towers condominium project in Hong Kong in 2003-04. ���The standard way of doing things in Hong Kong would have been to create six separate services off the street for the six different towers, which would have been grossly inefficient and resulted in a nightmare of interconnections,��� says Nemetz. ���Instead, we proposed to unify the services as is done in North America. I even drew an explanatory diagram with captions in Mandarin to illustrate how the system would work. The comeback from the Hong Kong team was, ���we haven���t changed our way of doing things in 50 years, so why should we start now?��� But the developer backed us up and our system was put into place, albeit very reluctantly. And the upshot was that the developer saved an enormous amount of money.��� Even when Nemetz discusses more recent projects, Uptown Shopping Centre, Saanich, B.C. lighting design, all staffed by people (some of whom are LEED certified) with an extensive background in electrical contracting. ���This strategy has really paid off in terms of minimizing coordination problems, producing better documents, and fortifying ourselves against economic slowdowns,��� he says. Ironically, Steve Nemetz initially didn���t want to follow in the footsteps of his father and granddad. ���I had dreams of becoming a scientist in academia,��� he says. By contrast, William Nemetz launched the firm in the early 1960s just three doors down from the current Kitsilano headquarters. His original specialty was residential contracting, but when Arnold Nemetz took over the business and founded Arnold Nemetz & Associates in 1963, the company also earned a reputation for designing original systems for commercial and industrial projects. ���Back then it was pretty much one person doing the engineering, the lighting ��� whatever was required,��� says Nemetz. ���Dad was a stickler for building relationships and providing good quality, and these values are stronger than ever today.��� Although Steve Nemetz���s strengths in school were Nemetz (S/A) & Associates Ltd. p08-11Nemetz.indd 9 photo courtesy nemetz (S/A) & Associates Ltd. photo: Steve Bedard Fairmont Pacific Rim, Vancouver, B.C. february 2013��� ��� /9 13-01-22 3:04 PM