A Day in San Francisco with Related Companies' Tansy Mak

Tansy Mak is an architect and Design Manager for Related Companies in San Francisco. She is also the co-president of the Young Leaders Board for Aim High, an education non-profit. Her day involves dual site visits, design reviews, a meeting with the building department, and a non-profit board meeting.

7:00am: Since the early days of the pandemic in 2020, I gave up my local gym membership for in-home workouts. But since our office has gone back to in-person work days, fitting a workout in has become an increasing challenge. My husband, Ryan, also in the architecture/real estate industry, has been WFH this entire time, so we catch up with our new kitten, Ollie, for a few minutes before focusing on our respective emails and meeting prep.

8:00am: As an architect working for a real estate developer, my role is to ensure the delivery of a high quality product by guiding both internal and external teams through the design and delivery process. I like to say we manage the full breadth of built-work: from critiquing master plans, to planning commission presentations, to pillow fluffing, literally. It can be a challenge to mentally switch gears between scales, but it is also what I enjoy most about my job. Since many of the teams I work with are East Coast based, I often take the first one or two earlier conference calls from home. Today, I catch up on operations updates for a new senior living brand we are launching and facilitate the technology coordination of our operator and product vendor. I have to mind my volume once or twice since we both start work in our cozy living space. It’s good that one of us has returned to the office.

9:00am: I leave the house with a homemade matcha latte or make one as soon as I get to the office. Yes, I’m that person whisking matcha powder and steaming oat milk in the employee kitchenette. At my desk, I join a series of calls: an interview with a potential architect for a new project, a design presentation for a salon retail build-out, and an introduction to a new structural system we hope to use on a future project. Between calls, I review any material samples my designers have sent for approval.

11:00am: I head to one of my main project sites to meet with the construction team. I aim to spend two full days on site each week as no amount of photos and 3D coordination can take the place of tackling issues in person. Today, we were reviewing the progress of custom millwork being installed in the amenity spaces, ensuring the material and quality are as expected. Related has in-house design, construction, and real estate experts, which ensures an incredibly collaborative and full life-cycle process.

1:00pm: While on site, representatives from our operating partner and investors arrive for a tour. I switch gears from construction administration mode to client presentation mode. Even as part of the development side, we still have “clients”. I enjoy showing off the project, presenting design renders of each space as we walk. Every group we tour has a different lens on the project - whether they are looking at the returns it will provide or how their staff and residents will be able to use the space. Learning to see each project’s life beyond just when the architect is involved has been a big transition from working for an architecture firm to a real estate development firm.

3:00pm: I try to find a quiet area on the construction site to take a call with a few city officials. As we work on acquiring a new site, we take the opportunity to meet with the main building department officials to introduce our team and the preliminary ideas we have for the project. It is important for us to demonstrate that we want to partner with the city and that our project will benefit the community. I find it’s beneficial to have more than one voice from the development team, especially one that comes from the design perspective.

4:00pm: I head to one of our existing multifamily residential buildings. We are redesigning the amenity spaces and the new furniture has arrived today. I spend the next two hours rearranging, accessorizing, and documenting the new space before we turn it over to our building managers and residents. Our team cares deeply about the product we produce and are involved from the inception to the final details.

6:00pm: I head home to cook a quick dinner of Cantonese style steamed egg and rice. It’s a simple weeknight favorite of ours. Ryan has already done the groceries midday, perks of living catty-corner to Whole foods. We catch up over dinner and watch an episode of Ted Lasso - an instant pick-me-up for a stressful day.

8:00pm: Ryan takes care of the dishes while I start a virtual board meeting with my cohort of junior board members for the free summer education non-profit, Aim High. I dive into a creative ice-breaking activity before we discuss progress on our annual fundraising goals, anti-racism education, and updates on how the summer program is shaping up. I was a graduate of this program, so the work is especially meaningful.

9:00pm: Feeling energized after the board meeting, I tackle a few more work emails. Often my most focused work, drawing markups, new design sketches, challenging correspondence, takes place at night, when no one will ping me. On a less busy night, I’ll read a graphic novel (Swimming in Darkness is a recent, architectural, fave.) or watch YouTube tutorial videos for roller skating (I recently started skating to join my husband’s skateboarding hobby).

12:00am: I wind down with a cup of mint tea and try to read my kindle for at least 15min before falling asleep. E-readers with backlit screens are wonderful for couples with misaligned sleep schedules.