In Facility Design, Changing Course Needn't Be a Crisis

Rendering courtesy of Stanmar Inc.
Rendering courtesy of Stanmar Inc.

Perhaps you’re in the enviable position of having hired an architect, who recommended an owner’s representative, who in turn handled the hiring of a general contractor, and the four of you have planned and are constructing a great new building. Or, perhaps not. Maybe you hired an architect, fired that architect, and have since had to assemble and reassemble your planning team, player by player, at different times — and will still end up with a great new building.

Although newcomers to the planning process don’t realize it, “change” is not equivalent to “crisis.” Because of the architecture profession’s preoccupation with the concept of vision, there’s a tendency for people to assume that successful design is dependent on the efforts of one particular person. However, successful collaboration probably has more to do with getting buildings right than any one person’s conception of how a building should look, feel and function. It should be obvious from every professional sports league you’ve ever followed: Teams are complicated. And the way many teams, design teams in particular, are put together isn’t all that linear. Players can enter and leave the mix at various stages, and those who remain throughout can see their roles change as new players are brought into the process.

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