“Occam’s razor: The simplest explanation is always the best.”
Leave it to “House, MD” to teach me a lesson that would stick. While the exact definition of Occam’s Razor can vary, the message remains the same — the human brain tries to convince us that complexity = correctness. As site design engineers, we face complex challenges, but solutions don’t have to be. Self-inflicted complexity can be a project’s own worst enemy.
Unfortunately, the words “simple” and “engineer” often feel like antonyms. I’ve seen project teams become stuck doing “design gymnastics” and admit that I’ve been part of a couple myself. Engineers know that re-work is time-consuming and expensive, so complex solutions are applied like duct tape. Ever see something, tilt your head, and wonder “why would they ever design it like that?” Then you have experienced the problem.
Simple Solutions
Successful site design (and most everything else) is anchored in the ability to communicate ideas and make abstract concepts tangible, coherent, adaptable … and simple! By doing this, many project pitfalls resolve themselves. How do you …
- Convince plan commissioners to approve your zoning request? Craft a straightforward message that resonates with non-engineers.
- Obtain permits faster? Exhibit clear and thorough design intent.
- Get contractors to build it correctly? Make plans obvious.
It may sound like a paradox, but simple design takes substantial brainpower. My best mentors had a keen ability to analyze “at 30,000 feet” and knew that site design creates a ripple effect. Small decisions on the east side of property can magnify into a design nightmare on the west side. Identification of all the major sticking points at the beginning of a project is of utmost importance. To do this correctly, it requires team participation, a deep knowledge of the approval agencies, and a little flair for predicting the unknown. A finished project may appear simple, but a lot of thought had to happen to make it look that way.
A Short Story
To illustrate my point, I once collaborated to design a grocery store on an existing site with six feet of elevation drop from the public roadway. The project team was determined to avoid adding a retaining wall due to the developer’s perception that it would substantially increase the overall project cost. Our initial design would have eliminated the retaining wall, but the negative impact to site drainage, outlot generation, and useability was undeniable. And trying to fix these secondary and tertiary issues further complicated the design. After discussions with the developer, they saw that the cost of the retaining wall far outweighed the downsides. The simplified design moved forward on-schedule, within budget, and with far better functionality and aesthetics.
Final Thoughts
Land development is full of risk, and the job of a civil consultant is to de-risk. Reducing project complexity is an important technique in achieving this goal. One of my coworkers likes to say, “when civil engineers do their job right, you don’t even notice it.” I understand the sentiment, but I like to frame it a little differently — there is beauty in design simplicity.
