Design Brief – A Project Management Tool

Giving Shape to the Design Brief

Revision and Management

While writing the brief, it is important to specify the main operational features of the building as early as possible. You should include a preliminary program and target deadlines. The brief should outline cost priorities and be explicit about whether costs outlined include design fees, VAT and landscaping. Elements of the brief which directly affect the future operation of the building will need to be highlighted for detailed review and should be translated into part of the maintenance manual.

You may still be uncertain about some of these issues, in which case your architect may be able to carry out some preliminary research or feasibility studies that will help you firm up your requirements.

Revision of the Design brief

When the first draft is completed you can review the content of the brief as a whole:

• Does is clearly state your aims for the project and set limits for cost and time?
• Does it clearly state your expectations for design quality?
• Does it ask the architect exploit the opportunities for making links to adjacent public space and the wider context?
• Have you considered future flexibility and changing needs?

The Brief as a Project Management Tool

Once the architect is appointed the brief will be developed and tested through drawings and detailed in the specification. The architect will make a thoughtful considered response to the brief at the outset of his appointment, exploring the opportunities, costs and constraints. He will begin to give shape to the brief and may propose altering or rearranging the content. At this stage you will be engaged in a creative and interactive process with your architect. Your aims stated in the brief will help to steer this process.

The project will need to be properly resourced and managed at your end as well as by your architect. Make sure that one person becomes the designated point of contact with your architect. He or she should carry authority as your representative at planning sessions and project meetings.

The costs defined in the feasibility study will give a baseline throughout the project. The architect will develop a cost plan and program in tandem with his design proposals.

Architectural Design Brief’s Development

Architectural Design Brief

Function and Development

Your architect will be responsible for ensuring that the project aims and vision are clearly expressed and these are pursued throughout the project.

The Function of the Architecture Design Brief

A good Design Brief should:

• State your vision for the Project.
• Set limits about the budget and timescale
• Set the scene and state where you are in the process, how you got there and your aspirations for the Capital Project
• Design criteria and principles for the design
• Set out the practical requirements for the relationship between spaces and the proposed spaces, focusing on performance requirements rather than detail. You may wish to give a schedule of areas (possibly arising from a feasibility study) but you should expect your architect to review these figures as they develop a spatial strategy for the project.
• Communicate as much factual information about the current condition of the building or site as is available. Give a summary in the brief and include relevant drawings and document in the appendix.
• The brief should not re-iterate government guidance and regulations, as your architect will have a knowledge of these, though you may wish to list sources that you consider a priority.

The Design Brief’s Development

The brief can be a useful consultative tool. The process of producing a brief can be carried out by developing a series of drafts, which contributors can review and amend. The Design Brief will draw together and synthesize diverse sources of information. It can follow on from a Strategic Brief and/or concluded Feasibility Study and can give a précis of the decisions arrived at here.

The brief writer may wish to refer to existing sources of information. The following ones may be helpful:

• Briefs for a similar scale/ type of project
• Generic guidance and empirical evidence about space standards and performance requirements and specific points of reference or exemplars. Generic guidance should always be tuned to your specific site and requirements.
• Existing buildings and spaces as a qualitative reference.

Contents Page for the Design Brief

The contents page should give a skeletal overview of the content of the Design Brief. The headings will organise the information and give a framework to the brief.