Consulting Firms

C. Overaa & Company: Pre-Construction Agreement

A construction firm has been engaged to begin the process of putting together the preliminary budget and key design and construction documentation for our new sanctuary. Based on recommendations from several friends of Sufism Reoriented intimately familiar with both our project and area construction firms, and after careful interviews and a site visit with three noted construction firms, we engaged C. Overaa & Company of Richmond in a pre-construction agreement to assist us in this beginning phase. Overaa is a family-owned company with more than a century of experience in construction in Northern California. Overaa’s skills and experience with building projects having similar features and challenges inherent in the design of our new sanctuary design make them an excellent choice. Colby Powell, Overaa’s project manager for our sanctuary, and Kevin Smith, the Overaa project director, are both seasoned construction professionals who are very excited about being involved in this uniquely beautiful and innovative project.

Professional Consulting Team Members

The pre-construction phase also has meant actively engaging or re-engaging our professional consultants, whose technical and design expertise are critical as we move forward.

Alan Ritchie, our design architect and a principal of Philip Johnson/Alan Ritchie Architects, New York, is working with the larger consulting team to complete a number of design elements that will unify the beauty and harmony of the sanctuary’s finishes and features. Alan has spent time in Walnut Creek meeting with key consultants and our construction manager, Chris Martin, and also a full day with Murshida Conner and the building team in Washington in early September.

Alan will be working closely with our new lighting-design consultant, J. S. Nolan & Associates of San Francisco, a well-respected lighting-design firm headed by Janet Nolan. The firm has a superb portfolio of successful projects large and small and comes with very high recommendations from other architects and designers who know Janet’s work.

We also have engaged Meyer Sound of Berkeley, as our acoustical and sound consultants. John and Helen Meyer have built one of the world’s most respected and sought-after sound consulting firms. Their portfolio of projects includes sound-system designs for many noted Broadway shows and theaters, worldwide contemporary music festivals, and national and international music venues and concert halls. John Meyer holds many patents on unique sound system components and has consulted with Sufism Reoriented on our sound systems in the past. John and Helen are very excited about their involvement in our new sanctuary project.

Other consultants who continue their full engagement with the project include:

  • SWA Group, our landscape design consultants, is moving forward with the next phase of a more detailed landscape plan in coordination with Alan Ritchie and Janet Nolan.
  • Thornton Tomasetti (Oakland/San Francisco) are structural engineers who are helping us design a basic structure that will last a very long time.
  • Lisa Meline of Meline Engineering (Sacramento) is consulting on our ground-source heat-pump system and, in collaboration with our mechanical engineers, MHC of San Francisco, designing the systems that will efficiently heat and cool the new building.

This effort proceeds under the coordination of our local architect of record, Clem Soga of Soga & Associates, San Francisco. Clem and his wife, Marie, are long-time friends and Meher Schools parents. Clem is working closely with Chris Martin as these complex and important pre-construction processes move forward.