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 decision-making, 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 ofcharacters involved
• how to find them (RFPs and selection)
• how design team agreements work (contracts)

Print Friendly