Introduction
Chris Butlak, founding partner of Barringer Construction, joins Jack Ossa on the first episode of The Power of Design Podcast. Barringer is a construction management firm based in Charlotte with a Raleigh office, and Chris and Jack have worked together for years while growing their businesses.
The conversation covers Chris's path from an architecture education to construction, the day he and his partners left a global company to start their own firm, and how culture, relationships and a deliberate brand shape the way Barringer works.
About the Episode
Chris grew up near Washington, DC and moved to the Carolinas in the early 1990s for school. He worked in construction to pay for his architecture studies, began by framing houses, moved into commercial work on old mill conversions and then joined a mid-sized family business that roughly quadrupled in size over about ten years before a global company acquired it. Chris explains that he left that setting to build a smaller company run on handshakes, relationships and community.
He describes the first day of the new company, which started more abruptly than planned, and how past clients and friends responded when the partners reintroduced themselves. Today Barringer works in commercial interiors, commercial buildings and hospitality, including hotel projects in Charlotte and Charleston, and prefers projects that offer a design and craftsmanship challenge.
The second half turns to the state of the industry in Charlotte: rising prices, a labor shortage, the stigma attached to the trades, and where prefabrication and design-build are heading. Chris closes with advice for young professionals and with what the power of design means to him, using the firm's own office as the example.
Key Takeaways
- Architecture helps a contractor: understanding the thinking behind a design lets Chris translate it for the field and the craftsmen who build it.
- Relationships restart a business: when the firm launched, clients and friends of twenty years or more were the first to help.
- Culture is a differentiator: Barringer treats its people as a family and has been named a best place to work.
- Quality is checked personally: Chris walks jobs before punch list and turnover to make sure the finish is crisp and tight.
- The brand carries weight: a logo is a business card, and a professional field team and clean job sites earn respect.
- The trades need a better image: a labor shortage and rising costs make skilled trades a missed opportunity for young people.
- Delivery is getting faster: prefabricated rooms, design-build and design-assist all point to closer collaboration.
Highlights from the Conversation
People really want to help people, you just need to ask.
Chris Butlak
Your logo and your brand says everything about you.
Chris Butlak
Stay humble, stay nervous. You never know what tomorrow's gonna bring.
Chris Butlak
Topics Discussed
- From architecture school to design-build and construction management
- Leaving a global company to start a smaller firm
- Commercial interiors, commercial buildings and hospitality
- Building a company culture and a family environment
- Choosing a name and building a brand
- Labor shortage, rising prices and the image of the trades
- Prefabrication, design-build and integrated delivery
- Advice for young professionals
Why This Conversation Matters
Chris's story is a useful reference for anyone who builds, designs or leases commercial space. It shows why contractors and designers work better when they understand each other, which is the idea behind our interior architecture and architecture work, and why a brand has to be visible in how a team looks and behaves, the focus of our branding services. Related examples include the workplace design of the BWM Office and the identity we created for Genesis Construction.
About the Guest
Chris Butlak is a founding partner of Barringer Construction, a construction management firm with offices in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina. He holds an architectural education, began his career framing houses and has spent more than twenty years in commercial interiors. He also describes work in commercial buildings and hospitality. Connect with Chris on LinkedIn.