Make It / Make Sense Rick Clark

Occupied office renovation with staged remediation

With Pentillion Construction, I helped deliver a two-floor renovation for a high-value professional office client while the space remained in use. The work included removing and adding walls, replacing flooring, painting and finish upgrades, a new kitchenette, a new reception area, custom feature walls, blind replacement, HVAC reconfiguration, and new data wiring.

Renovating around an office that still had to function

The project became more complex once the flooring scope exposed asbestos-containing tile below the existing finish. Because the office remained active during construction, the remediation and renovation work could not be handled as one clean shutdown.

We brought in a professional remediation contractor and broke the work into multiple stages so the tenant could keep operating while offices were shuffled around the floor.

Coordinating design decisions, trades, and tenant moves

My role was a mix of coordination, design support, and hands-on field work. I coordinated between the tenant, landlord, architect, remediation contractor, and trades while also helping the tenant work through design details and practical decisions.

The work had to keep moving without losing sight of how the space was being used day to day. Walls, flooring, abatement, painting, lighting, blinds, HVAC, data, and millwork all had to be coordinated around people who still needed to use the space.

Making the reception finish hold up under real lighting

One of the more detailed parts of the project was the new reception area. The client had a specific look they wanted for the feature walls, and the wall-wash lighting made the finish quality especially important.

Any waves, seams, or surface defects would have been highlighted by the lighting, so the wall needed a high-quality, Level 5-style drywall finish along with careful custom carpentry and detailing. I helped work through how to make that design intent buildable, coordinate the finish requirements, and bring the reception area together with the level of finish the client expected.

A clean finish

The difficulty came from the setting, not one dramatic detail. Everything had to happen in a real occupied workplace, in stages, with people still needing the office to function.

The result was a completed two-floor renovation delivered through staged work in an occupied environment. It shows the practical side of tenant-improvement coordination: communicate clearly, respect the people using the space, make finish details buildable, and keep adapting when field conditions change the plan.

Commercial office renovation and kitchenette fit-out

With Pentillion Construction, I helped coordinate a smaller commercial office renovation that included new interior walls, soundproofing review, kitchenette design and installation, glass doors and glazing, flooring, lighting, painting, and HVAC ducting.

The work was a compact tenant-improvement scope, but it still required the same kind of field coordination that makes these projects succeed. The layout, finishes, glazing, kitchenette, and building-system work all had to come together in a way that made the space feel complete and usable rather than like a collection of separate trade scopes.

One part of the work involved reviewing interior walls for soundproofing considerations. Another involved designing and installing the kitchenette so it fit the tenant’s needs and the available space. Flooring, lighting, paint, glazing, and HVAC ducting then had to be coordinated with the broader renovation sequence.

The project is a smaller example of practical tenant-improvement work: understanding what the tenant needs, coordinating the trades and finishes, and following through on the field details that turn an office renovation into a functional finished space.

High school reunion planning and event coordination

I organized my 10-year and 20-year high school reunions as combined events for graduates from both Campbell River high schools. Each event brought together roughly 140 people and was designed to feel inclusive, safe, and welcoming rather than like a loosely organized night out.

The work started with communication. I had to track down former students, reach people across different social circles, recruit volunteers, answer questions, and keep the event clear enough that people felt comfortable showing up. Combining both schools made the event more inclusive, but it also meant the planning had to account for a broader group of people and expectations.

The logistics were practical and detailed. I managed budgeting, ticket sales, food and drinks, supplies, venue setup, and the overall event flow. I also coordinated safety-related pieces, including security, liquor-licence requirements, and a safe-ride-home shuttle so people had a better option at the end of the night.

I wanted the events to feel considered, not generic. That meant booking a photographer and DJ, building a slideshow, and adding activities such as a minute-to-win-it challenge to help people reconnect without the event relying only on small talk. Those details mattered because the goal was not simply to gather people in a room; it was to create a shared experience that felt relaxed, safe, and welcoming.

This project is personal, but it reflects the same kind of coordination I bring to professional work: define what needs to happen, organize the people and details, communicate clearly, reduce friction, and make the experience work for the people using it.

My branding and business card

I designed this business card as a compact expression of how I think and work. It was not just a place to put my name and contact information. It needed to communicate a broader professional identity: engineering, project management, construction, design, communication, systems thinking, and practical follow-through, without making the work feel scattered.

The central challenge was clarity. My work crosses different domains, so the card had to create a thread that tied them together. I wanted it to feel professional and capable, but still human, creative, and specific to me.

The logo combines my initials, R and C, with references to squaring the circle, the golden ratio, and a 3-4-5 triangle. Those references connect the identity to philosophy, mathematics, construction, and design. The geometry is not there as decoration; it reflects the way I tend to approach work: look for structure, understand the constraint, and find a practical path forward.

The sketched line quality was intentional. I did not want the mark to feel overly polished or sterile. The slightly drawn quality suggests thinking, iteration, and problem-solving in progress. It keeps the identity connected to the process of working through an idea, not only the final result.

The colour palette reinforces the same idea. The charcoal grey has a pencil-lead quality, which connects to sketching, drafting, and working something out by hand. The deep construction-gold adds warmth, value, and a practical built-environment association. The two-tone name treatment connects directly back to the logo so the initials and wordmark feel like one system rather than separate graphic elements.

The back of the card centres on the phrase “Make It / Make Sense.” I like the phrase because it carries two meanings at once. It speaks to making, building, and execution, but also to sensemaking, clarity, and communication. Separating the phrase into two lines turns a familiar expression into a simple statement of how I work.

The supporting line, “Design. Solve. Build. Deliver.” turns that philosophy into a process. It reflects the sequence I naturally bring to projects: understand the problem, design a response, solve the constraints, build the result, and deliver something that works.

This project is personal, but it supports the same idea as the rest of the portfolio. The card was a small physical object, but the design problem was the same kind of problem I often work on: make something broad and complicated clear enough that someone else can understand it, use it, and remember it.

Restaurant shell conversion in an existing building

With Pentillion Construction, I represented the building owner through the conversion of a former single-tenant ground-floor commercial space into a demised shell for an incoming restaurant tenant. What began as a landlord-side turnover scope became a broader technical coordination project involving lease obligations, existing building systems, consultant drawings, trade scopes, tenant requirements, landlord requirements, field conditions, older infrastructure, code review, and schedule pressure.

My role was project engineering support and owner-side coordination. I was not the engineer of record, but I investigated existing conditions, developed practical options, coordinated consultant review, and translated technical issues between trades, suppliers, consultants, ownership, and property management. Much of the work was about finding a buildable path through existing-building constraints without overstepping the professional roles of the design consultants.

Electrical capacity without replacing obsolete switchgear

One of the major constraints was electrical capacity. The incoming tenant required a significant electrical service, but the existing switchgear was older and difficult to modify. The expected path had been to remove existing chiller equipment to free up a 600 amp switch for the new tenant service.

Through field review, I identified that some base-building air-handling equipment was connected to oversized switches from an earlier arrangement. I proposed relocating one of the air handlers onto an existing oversized switch already serving chiller equipment, which freed a 600 amp switch for the tenant service.

After review by the electrical engineer, that approach was accepted and implemented. It avoided removing chiller equipment, avoided modification of obsolete switchgear, reduced feeder complexity, preserved future flexibility, and helped keep the turnover moving.

Fault-current and series-rating coordination

The electrical scope also required coordination around available fault current and series-rating requirements. This was not the kind of issue that could be left vague until ordering. If the panel requirements were misunderstood, the result could have been a purchasing mistake or a schedule delay.

I researched the requirements and coordinated between the electrical engineer, contractor, supplier, and manufacturer so the panel selection could be checked against the actual project conditions. My role was to help keep the technical question moving between the right people so the final decision was properly reviewed and documented.

Separating HVAC systems

The ground-floor space had previously functioned as one larger single-tenant area. The turnover required the incoming tenant to be separated from the remaining area so both spaces could operate independently.

I reviewed the proposed HVAC approach and flagged concerns with continuing to rely on shared base-building air-handling equipment. Working with the mechanical team, I helped coordinate a revised approach that redirected supply and return ducting so the incoming tenant could be isolated from the shared air system.

This was a practical example of looking beyond the drawing and asking how the system would actually operate after demising. The issue was not only whether ductwork could be installed, but whether the resulting system would give the landlord and tenants the separation they needed.

Underground plumbing through an existing slab

The restaurant shell also required new underground plumbing through the existing slab. I reviewed historical drawings and consultant drawings to understand likely service locations, then coordinated scanning, slab cutting, excavation, tie-ins, backfill, and concrete reinstatement.

The work had to move carefully because existing drawings can only tell part of the story in an older building. The field work needed enough planning to reduce surprises, but also enough flexibility to respond once the slab was opened and the real conditions were visible.

Hazardous-material sequencing

As the work progressed, hazardous-material concerns had to be identified, isolated, and sequenced without derailing adjacent work. I arranged testing, marked affected areas, brought in remediation specialists, and coordinated the work so the issue could be resolved safely and in the right sequence.

I was not performing the abatement, but I helped keep the issue from becoming an unmanaged project risk. The practical value was recognizing the constraint, getting the right specialists involved, and keeping the surrounding work coordinated.

A practical code path for the equipment platform

One of the more complicated issues involved an internal platform that had been designed and built based on an earlier building assumption. Later review confirmed that non-combustible construction was required. By that point, mechanical equipment had already been installed above the platform, so replacing the supporting structure with steel would have created major cost and schedule impact.

I worked with the architect and code consultant to investigate a practical compliance path. That included researching rated assembly options, identifying a listed rated ceiling and grid assembly for review, checking what had already been installed, determining required changes, and coordinating the accepted solution.

The final path used protected assemblies, Type X drywall, rated ceiling components, firestopping, and revised sprinkler protection. The value was not in bypassing the requirement; it was in helping the team find a compliant way forward that fit the real project condition.

Meter troubleshooting and handoff

After installation, the tenant power meter was not reading correctly. I contacted technical support, sourced a USB-RS485 adapter, connected directly to the meter, and found that the sensing breaker arrangement had changed during tenant-side work.

I updated the programming and confirmed corrected readings. It was a small part of the overall project, but it was a good example of the same pattern at a smaller scale: understand how the system is actually wired and operating, then make the practical correction needed for handoff.

The power of collaboration

The project brought together electrical capacity, obsolete infrastructure, HVAC separation, underground plumbing, hazardous materials, code review, consultant coordination, tenant requirements, landlord obligations, and schedule pressure.

My contribution was helping those issues stay connected instead of letting each one become a separate crisis. That meant looking ahead, asking sideways questions, involving the right specialists, and turning uncertain field conditions into reviewed, buildable paths.

The owner-side coordination value was making sure the right information reached the right people early enough that the project could keep moving.

 

Automated event photo upload and print station

This project supported The Big DV public installation by making one of the interactive pieces easier for guests and volunteers to use. The installation invited people to contribute photos and design responses to a public wall, so the workflow needed to move images from a guest’s phone to a volunteer-operated photo printer without creating a messy manual process during the event.

Keeping the public interaction simple

The visible workflow had to be simple: scan a QR code, upload a photo, and let the volunteers print it. I did not want guests handing over phones, emailing files, or relying on a volunteer to troubleshoot every submission. That meant the technical side could be more complicated, but the public side could not be. The system needed to feel like a normal event interaction, not a tech demo.

Making the hidden workflow do the work

I connected a Dropbox File Request, Dropbox webhook, Cloudflare Worker, Join, Tasker, Autosync, and a Samsung Tab A9+ into one operating workflow. Uploaded images triggered the automation chain, the tablet was notified that new files were available, and Autosync moved them into a local folder the SELPHY printing app could read. For volunteers, the result was straightforward. Open the printing app, find the submitted photos, and print. They did not need to download files, search folders, move images around, or understand the automation chain behind it.

Designing for a live event

The setup also had to survive the realities of a public event. I configured the tablet more like a kiosk than a personal device, with separate accounts, minimal installed apps, public-use restrictions, and no unnecessary personal data exposed. I also built in fallback sync behaviour and failure alerts so the workflow was not dependent on someone noticing a problem at the exact moment it happened. Theft and recovery risk, account separation, volunteer handoff, and privacy exposure were all part of the design.

The final snapshot

I recognized the friction in a live public interaction and connected available tools into a workflow people could use without thinking about it. The system reduced volunteer handling, protected guest privacy better than an improvised process, and made the interactive part of the installation feel simple from the outside

Music Made Visible: Partner Dance in Victoria

I help support a small Brazilian Zouk-rooted partner dance community in Victoria by creating spaces where people can practise, ask questions, make mistakes, and keep coming back.

This is not a formal dance business, and I do not present myself as the authority on Brazilian Zouk in Victoria. I am one person helping a community grow by organizing practice opportunities, sharing what I have learned, and helping people feel more connected to the music, their movement, and each other.

A practice space people actually want to return to

The work is practical as much as it is personal. I help organize practice sessions, support community events, share music, explain movement concepts, and help newer dancers feel less intimidated.

A small dance community only works if people feel welcome enough to participate. That means the tone of the space matters. People need room to experiment, get things wrong, laugh, try again, and gradually build confidence.

Translating movement into language

My role is often informal teaching and facilitation. I help break down movement ideas, explain what I am feeling in a lead or follow, and translate embodied concepts into language that people can use.

Partner dance can be technically complex, but the goal is not to overwhelm people with terminology. The goal is to give people enough understanding that the movement starts to make sense in their own body.

Why I call it Zouk-rooted

I describe this as Zouk-rooted partner dance because Brazilian Zouk shaped my foundation, while the music and movement I connect with often reach beyond one strict traditional container.

I try to be careful with that distinction. I am not claiming to represent Brazilian culture or formalize the dance for everyone else. I am sharing the parts I have learned, the music I connect with, and the kind of practice space I think helps people grow.

Music made visible

For me, partner dance is a conversation between the music, my body, and another person. At first, it can look like one person leading and the other following. The more I learned, the more I understood it as both people following the music together. One person may suggest the movement more often, but both people are listening, interpreting, adapting, and expressing in their own way.

That is where the phrase “music made visible” comes from. A good dance is not just a sequence of steps. It expresses through timing, tone, space, weight, softness, contrast, and response. It turns something heard into something seen and felt.

A multi-step process

This project is personal, but it says something real about how I communicate and build community. I like dancing with my wife. I like sharing something meaningful with other people. I like seeing a group become friends as well as dancers.

It also shows a useful capability: taking something complex, embodied, and hard to explain, then making it accessible enough that more people can join in. It is another form of facilitation, translation, and sensemaking.

Industrial infrastructure project management at Harmac

My role at Harmac Pacific started early in my career and expanded my project management experience in an industrial operating environment. The work was different from commercial renovation work: the scale was larger, the consequences of downtime were higher, the stakeholders were broader, and the field conditions were often less forgiving.

The main thread was practical industrial coordination. I worked with operations, maintenance, trades, contractors, utilities, residents, property owners, environmental stakeholders, and regulatory agencies while helping move mechanical and infrastructure projects from planning into execution.

Pipeline replacement through difficult terrain

One of the major projects was part of Harmac’s water supply pipeline replacement. The work involved replacing roughly 1,200 metres of 52-inch creosote-soaked wooden stave pipe with 48-inch HDPE pipe. My role focused on managing and coordinating difficult stages of the work where the pipe route, access, environment, and existing structures made the work more complicated than a straightforward pipe replacement.

A key challenge was that sections of the old wooden pipe were on trestles over environmentally sensitive areas. Access was limited, the old material required care, and the project had to protect both the surrounding environment and the remaining support structures while keeping the replacement work moving.

Helicopter removal and trestle protection

For one difficult stage, the old pipe sections had to be removed from a trestle where conventional access was limited. I helped coordinate the removal strategy, including the use of a helicopter lift to remove old pipe sections from the site.

The new HDPE pipe also had to be pulled through a route where the trestle needed protection from excessive loading. Rather than defaulting to a more complex equipment approach, I helped develop a method using a sacrificial cable and a secondary restraint cable. The sacrificial cable provided a controlled weak link, while the restraint cable helped protect the trestle if the pulling force became too high.

That approach allowed the work to proceed without installing a torque-limited winch onto an excavator, reducing complexity while still giving the team a practical safeguard for the structure.

Simplifying another stage with culverts

On another stage of the pipeline work, I reviewed the constraints around existing trestles and HDPE pipe flexibility. Based on that review, I suggested removing unnecessary trestles and replacing the approach with culverts where appropriate.

That kind of decision was less dramatic than a helicopter lift, but it reflected the same pattern: understand the real constraint, check whether the assumed construction method is actually necessary, and look for a simpler path that still satisfies the project needs.

Chlorine dioxide mixer replacement

I also supported replacement of an aging chlorine dioxide mixer in a harsh pulp-mill chemical environment. The work involved materials and details that had to suit the service conditions, including titanium valves, 317L stainless steel, fiberglass components, and Derakane epoxy vinyl ester resin.

That project required coordination across safety, maintenance, operations, materials, procurement, contractors, and installation planning. In that environment, the design and material choices mattered because the equipment had to survive chemical exposure and fit into an operating industrial system.

Drawings, procurement, and contractor coordination

My work also included preparing RFQs and RFPs, using weighted criteria for contractor selection, and producing technical information needed by fabricators and contractors. I designed machinery bases and lifting equipment in SolidWorks and produced manufacturing, assembly, layout, foundation, and lifting drawings.

Those drawings were not just documentation. They were part of the handoff between engineering intent, fabrication, installation, safety planning, and field execution. In an industrial environment, unclear drawings or incomplete scope can quickly turn into shutdown risk, contractor confusion, or unsafe work conditions.

An early-career lift

This work came early in my career, but the systems and consequences were large. It put me in the middle of operating industrial infrastructure, environmental constraints, old structures, contractor decisions, hazardous-service equipment, and shutdown pressure.

The pattern still shows up in my later work: understand the system, verify the field condition, involve the right people, and find the practical path that lets the work move forward safely.

.

Veterinary clinic tenant improvement

With Pentillion Construction, I helped deliver the James Bay Veterinary Clinic tenant improvement: a conversion of a former bank into a veterinary clinic of roughly 3,800 square feet, or 353 square metres. The finished clinic included reception, six exam rooms, surgery, dental, storage and equipment space, washrooms, an office, and support areas.

Turning a former bank into a clinical space

The project was more than a standard interior refresh. A former bank and a veterinary clinic have very different operating needs.

The new space had to support public/client-facing reception, clinical workflow, treatment and procedure areas, equipment needs, staff support space, storage, durable finishes, and the building-system coordination required to make those spaces work.

Working through the existing shell

The existing bank condition added complexity, including the constraints created by the former vault and the need to adapt the commercial shell to a specialized tenant use.

That meant the work had to be coordinated carefully across layout, demolition, framing, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, finishes, millwork, equipment coordination, and permit requirements.

Keeping the construction information moving

My role was hands-on project coordination and field support. I helped define scopes, coordinate trades and labour, update drawings, create Gantt charts, support permit coordination, and work through day-to-day field issues as the project moved from drawings into construction.

I was not the architect or engineer of record, but I helped keep the project information moving between the people who needed it. That mattered because specialized tenant improvements depend on timely decisions, clear scopes, and practical coordination between drawings, permit requirements, site conditions, and field labour.

Managing schedule pressure and supply-chain constraints

The schedule also had to be managed through post-COVID supply-chain constraints. Materials, equipment, and trade availability could not always be treated as predictable, so the project needed active tracking, sequencing, and communication to keep the work moving despite delays and changing availability.

A key part of the work was translating the tenant improvement scope into a practical construction sequence. The clinical layout had to become a real space with the right trades in the right order and the right information available when decisions were needed.

Not just a pet project

The result was a completed tenant improvement that turned a former bank into a functioning veterinary clinic. It shows a full commercial conversion with specialized operating requirements, active field coordination, drawing updates, scheduling, permits, and trade sequencing. The drawing set, field conditions, tenant needs, trades, schedule, and supply-chain constraints all had to be kept connected until the space could actually operate as a clinic.