The Real Harris: Meet John Gregory Williams

Tell us about your background.

I started with a large design & engineering consultancy when I was 18 years old in London UK as a pre-university trainee. I worked there each summer before graduation from University of Manchester, then returned to carry working with them for many more years in London and San Francisco.

What drew you to Harris? What makes you stay?

I was drawn to Harris through the collaborative approach I’d experienced with the Harris National Group team while working on Apple Park where I was the MEOR. I stay because I’m excited to see how we can build the best collaborative and innovative Design-Build and Design-Assist for the OneHarris team.

What do you enjoy about working at Harris?

I enjoy the welcoming nature of all the team.

What is the best part about your position?

It really is the people.  Whether it be observing how our rapidly growing studio team all pull together to help get a project finished and issued or working with other business units who support or improve our overall delivery.

What traits do you think are important for someone in your role to be successful?

It’s a huge mix from big picture creativity, through to being technically, detail and quality oriented, while understanding how the team can maneuver through a growing work load.  Which can mean I need to pivot myself quickly. That sounds like it could be similar traits to a ballerina!

What are your main responsibilities and initiatives that you lead? There are lots of areas that the Design Studio is currently trying to push. We break it down into four main buckets: Projects and their delivery; “Store-Front” to make sure we are pushing ourselves in technical thought leadership; Tools Development to keep our project using the most innovative and up to date resources and Design Skills, considering how we can constantly improve knowledge sharing and lessons learned.

What are you passionate about at work?

I’m passionate about two main areas currently. Sustainable solutions, usually around improving energy efficiency.  I have been fortunate to always work in the “Green Building” space in one way or another.  I’m excited to see how we can really master and push forward with Telemetry and optimize buildings in design and (more importantly) operation. We need to do this for survival.

I have also been super interested in project delivery models, especially around prefabrication.

How do you like to re-charge?

I love to cook. That is my main go-to activity if I need to get away from the day to day.  Whether it be baking a cake or an elaborate feast.  I’m happiest in the kitchen.  My parents ran restaurants and bars when I was growing up so I worked in and around kitchens from a young age. I learnt a lot there about food preparation and how to work in teams in time-stressed, but customer focused delivery.

What keeps you up at night?

Normally the jet lag. Traveling between all the projects and offices across the States while keeping productive often messes up my circadian rhythm.

What are you most proud of at Harris?

I’m proud of the Design Studio team. They are an inspiring bunch of passionate professionals, who want to design and document well to produce efficient, function and quality systems.

What is one thing Harris employees wouldn’t know about you?

I don’t ever see myself retiring.

What drew you to this industry?

By chance I suppose, I was seeking pre-university roles and university sponsorship since I did not come from a background in engineering and wanted to get that hands on knowledge while studying.  When I was around 16, I watched this Open University TV program (A British non-campus university, that used to show its lectures overnight on the BBC – now on-line of course).  This was late one night, and it was about the design of a low energy building in Nottingham. It was super interesting to me about how the structure helped keep the building cool and the form allowed natural ventilation to flow. The man that interviewed me for the pre-uni job in London was the lead mechanical design of that very building!

What do you wish the public knew about Harris?

I wish people knew how much the Harris team care about the buildings we are working on.  Project teams are increasingly large these days with multiple on-line platforms to ease workflows. But, buildings are about and for society and people and made by people in project teams. Getting these wide-ranging project teams, often divided by contracts and geography, to really engage and understand how each other feel about their work creates better outcomes for our projects.

What inspires you? What motivates you?

I’m inspired by anyone who overcomes adversity, discrimination, or other form of anguish. I’m motivated by seeing others grow and develop and watching a project get built and function well.