During the planning and design phase, you will for the first time turn the bulk of the work over to a team of people outside your organization, including:

• Project Managers
• Architects
• Engineers
• Specialty Consultants (theatre, interpretive planning, acoustical, etc.)
• Cost Consultants
• Contractors  (among others!)

All will bring their professional expertise to bear on the project you have established, and your job will become centered on adept decisionmaking, and the management of both your design team and of those within your organization.

Selecting the team of people that will help you realize your facilities vision is a complex undertaking that can seem daunting to arts organizations.  You will likely have your team under contract for many years, you will pay them a lot of money, and you will trust them with decisions that will affect your organization for decades to come.

However, the process can proceed in a straightforward way for groups that are organized and have built consensus around their project before engaging a design team.

Owners beginning a design process should have an understanding of:

• The cast of characters involved
• How to find them (RFPs and selection)
• How design team agreements work (contracts)

Print Friendly