Gary Van Acker

Owner and President

Gary Van Acker has over thirty years experience in high-end residential construction and established Van Acker Construction in 1987 to provide quality construction services to discerning clients. Prior to the founding of Van Acker Construction, Gary was principal and partner of Mesa Construction and was responsible for building many notable residences throughout the San Francisco Bay area.

 

Daniel Van Acker

Assistant PM / Labor Coordinator / Company Owner

Daniel is in his mid-twenties with degrees in Business Management and Real Estate from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. After graduating from business school Daniel’s goal is to follow in his father’s footsteps and operate Van Acker Construction. He has worked within the company over the years both as: an onsite laborer / project coordinator for the general labor team and in-house, providing project engineer services / preconstruction development. He is currently in the field as an assistant site superintendent on larger scale projects concentrating on Project Coordination and Building Systems. While working closely with Gary Van Acker and Glen Sherman, he continues to manage the general VAC labor force from HR considerations through to onsite scheduling and site specific project management of multiple crews.

 

Shaun Madden

Controller

Shaun Madden oversees all financial operations for Van Acker Construction and has extensive experience as a corporate internal auditor and financial analyst. Shaun graduated with honors from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelors of Science degree in Finance and Economics. In addition to studying at the University of Wyoming, Shaun completed a yearlong program in International Business and Economics at Yonsei University in Seoul, Korea.

 

Glen Sherman

General Manager / Senior Project Manager

Glen Sherman has an accredited degree in Landscape Architecture and Architecture, with a minor study in Structural Engineering, from the University of California. He has over twenty years construction experience in New York and California, and has worked as a technical consultant in the fields of steel, glass and waterproofing. Glen received formal training as a furniture maker in both Arts and Crafts and Japanese styles of woodworking, and his work has been published in several architectural and woodworking publications. Glen joined Van Acker Construction in 2000; His current responsibilities include: new business / project development and overseeing project operations.

 

David Brent

General Manager / Senior Project Manager

David has practiced construction in a diversity of its parts for over 25 years; 8 years with Van Acker.  He is a graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in mathematics and accounting.  Working at Van Acker he has been in the forefront of major projects with expanded scopes of work on multiple properties, he continues to be a part of the project development team while working on estimating and systems refinement within the company, one of his greatest strengths is consultant coordination during preconstruction.

 

David Dhaliwal

Project Manager

David Dhaliwal received his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley followed by a Master’s of City and Regional Planning. Prior to joining Van Acker Construction David designed and built numerous residences in Northern California. He is a licensed general contractor and joined Van Acker Construction in 1991. Work has included two very large estates including all infrastructures in site and building construction.  All other work consists of three to twelve acre residential projects consisting of infrastructure, site, and building development.  Experience includes project design development, pricing, material selection and acquisition, construction management/administration, close-out, and post occupancy service. High level communicator from clients to professional consultants, subcontractors and individual workers on site.

 

Joseph Darriau

Project Manager / Senior Architectural & Design Coordinator

Joe Darriau is a licensed architect and earned his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. He has over 30 years experience in residential, commercial and institutional architecture and construction. Joe joined Van Acker Construction in 1991.

 

Peter Chase

Project Manager

Peter Chase has over thirty-five years of field and project management experience in high-end construction and has managed significant projects for Van Acker since joining the company in 1988. Peter brought additional trade and project experience building high level resort homes throughout the western United States. Peter studied architecture at Diablo Valley College and University of California, Berkeley-Extension.

 

Noel Manerud

Architectural & Design Coordinator

Noel Manerud has over 20 years experience in high end residential construction. He graduated with a BA Arch from the University of California, Berkeley and M. Arch from the University of Oregon, and is a licensed general contractor. Noel’s Experience includes work as a project architect, project manager, and site superintendent. Along with his technical experience, Noel has a strong background in sustainable design theory and practice, which includes work with noted sustainable design architect Sim Van der Ryn at the Environmental Design Institute. Noel joined Van Acker Construction in 2005.

 

Matthew Evilsizer

Architectural & Design Coordinator

Matt Evilsizer joined Van Acker Construction in 2006 with over 10 years experience in residential design and construction projects in California and Colorado. Matt had the opportunity to collaborate closely on several projects with notable environmental design architect and former California State Architect, Sim Van der Ryn and the Ecological Design Institute and has a degree in Environmental Design with an emphasis in Architecture from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

 

Pat Maguire

Site Superintendent / Project Manager

Pat joined Van Acker in 2000 with over 25 years experience as a site superintendent and construction project manager. Pat has worked as independent residential developer and contractor in California before joining Van Acker Construction. His experience here has focused on: large scale project survey and layout, a Pacific Heights new construction main house and guest house in addition to recently completing a large residence and guest house on Pebble Beach. Pat is currently working on a large main house and guest house remodel on the Peninsula as well as developing a new project in Sonoma.

 

Blair Buchanan

Site Superintendent

Blair joined Van Acker in 2005 as a licensed general contractor with twenty years experience in high end residential construction as a builder and field manager of projects. He has also worked in commercial capacities designing and building interiors of retail spaces, medical clinics and offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. He studied architectural and fine art photography at San Francisco State University.

 

Ray Weiss

Project Engineer

Ray Weiss is a Project Engineer for Van Acker Construction and provides technical coordination for complex building structural and mechanical systems layout. Ray has thirty years experience in all phases of high-end residential construction as a superintendent, journeyman stair builder, furniture maker and master finish carpenter. Ray has also developed a precision building and site layout method using state of the art survey equipment. Ray joined Van Acker Construction in 1991.

 

Gregg Roos

Site Superintendent

Gregg joined Van Acker in 2007 with over 30 years experience in high end residential construction. Gregg has extensive experience in site supervision and construction, furniture building, architectural millwork manufacturing and installation. He has primarily worked in the San Francisco Bay Area on high profile schedule and quality driven projects.

 

Laura Palko

Associate Project Manager / Budget Manager

Laura developed her career in construction management by working in such roles as; assistant project manager in commercial construction then transitioning to project management within an architecture firm. She has been with Van Acker for 6 years working on a multitude of estate and large scale construction projects from inception to close out focusing on project development, budget creation and subcontractor coordination.  Laura studied business and finance, her formal degree is in Business Management from San Francisco State University.

 

Holly Henry

Assistant Project Manager

Holly Henry joined Van Acker in 2006 and has over 8 years of contracting experience. With a Masters of Arts from University of Missouri with an emphasis in Urban Studies, the bulk of her work to date has been single & multi-family residential. Other past projects include banks, churches, senior centers, and retail stores.