Build July (2016)

Build Magazine 18 Construction Top 50 Guido Construction With such an historic legacy to uphold, Maryanne does not shy away from listing the factors that define this family firm. “The experience that we have in our team, coupled with the longevity of the industry, the integrity that is the backbone of our company, and the sheer quality of the services that we provide, are the factors that I believe make us a distinguished and recognisable entity in the wider market. “The most important and vital element of our success is the team that we lead today. We have a number of people that have been working with us for many years now, and in the past 90 years, we have seen and continue to see successive generations coming to us with the same levels of excitement.” In recent years, the good name of the Guido has been upheld through the company’s involvement in a number of high-profile projects. With the Alamo Mission on their doorstep, Maryanne and her team been intimately involved in work around this key World Heritage Site. “For the last five years, we have been renovating the historic buildings. The site that now occupies Alamo Plaza is a multi- purpose development with a shopping centre, along with a convention centre, which is bringing new life to downtown San Antonio. And of course, there’s the original Alamo Mission building at the centre, so working here has been a real privilege. Looking to more recent projects, Maryanne remarks upon the impact that Guido has had in in transforming the wider community. “Most recently, we completed a fabulous project with the Children’s Museum here in San Antonio, which has been recognised with national awards. It is heavily focussed around Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, and we anticipate that this will have a profound effect upon the local community; we’re very proud to have been a part of that.” Special Feature Guido Construction is a commercial construction and product management business, focusing upon work within the City of San Antonio, along with the wider county. Boasting an impressive list of clients, including the San Antonio Zoo, the Children’s Museum, SeaWorld of Texas, and the San Antonio Spurs, Maryanne Guido represents this fourth generation family enterprise going back to 1927. “We worked for seven years on the River Walk Renovation project, with a particular focus on enhancing the beautification of the area, whilst also providing full accessibility to people with limited mobility, ensuring that were compliant with federal policy, specifically the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The River Walk is a hugely important part of San Antonio’s local community; it is popular with tourists, and it is a genuinely pleasant spot to visit. We were just awarded a new, large greenway park at the Brook’s redevelopment centre that will integrate the living and commercial aspects as the city space is being developed. “Among the various other projects that we have completed within the last couple of years, we have done extensive work on improving the public spaces and parks around San Antonio; we have been involved in transforming this space into a wonderful educational site for the community.” Having contributed so much to enhancing the infrastructure and community spirit within and beyond San Antonio, Maryanne reflects upon how the evolution of the construction industry has enabled Guido to establish new, long-lasting relationships with clients. “A number of years ago, new construction projects tended to follow this pattern: somebody would design a project and create a set of plans, which were then given to a construction manager for them to build. Now, though, clients and investors alike have all begun to realise that construction is in fact a three-legged stool – everybody needs to work together, so that they can come up with the best solution to the task at hand. I think that demonstrates how the industry as a whole has shifted quite noticeably. “We are now brought on from the very beginning of a project, so we are involved in the conceptive stages, helping the entire team throughout that period until it enters the construction phases. This has enabled us to form closer ties with clients and made the projects themselves more sustainable. Open communication is vital to the creative process.