“This was an interesting project in that I was brought on board  after the landscape architect.  They had completed a very  extensive landscape design, and hadn’t thought about changing  any of the exteriors of the buildings to match the new landscape.  Therefore in the beginning, the landscape architect was the lead  designer for the project.  That created a different kind of project  team dynamic, which was further contrasted by the fact that they  were one of the largest landscape architecture firms in the  country, and I’m a one-man show.  It had been close to twenty  years since I’d last worked in a large firm format.”  Steve Yett has been involved with nearly every project since the  new owner purchased it in some capacity or another. “In some instances the tenant already had their own designer that  they wanted to work with, but the owner of the shopping center  wanted me to secure the permits because of the level of difficulty  getting projects approved in the City of Malibu.” 

“Salon Oceanne was a point of  pride for me because the tenant  started out with a designer who  specialized in salon design.  I think  she had hesitation hiring me to  start, viewing me as the shopping  center’s representative. She had  this preliminary design, but nothing  else.  When the landlord asked her  where she was getting the permits,  she ended up hiring me to secure  her permit.  There were problems  with the design that I ended up  fixing.  The designer didn’t have  anything that was ADA compliant,  so every space was drawn way too  small.  I changed enough of the  plans, that all that remains from the original design is the conceptual  arrangement of the spaces.”