We advise before design begins.

We record the status of the project in a workshop with the management team, on a fixed agenda.

We clarify first whether the organisation needs a new building, a move, an expansion or a consolidation.

We search the published research on the building type and its occupants.

We add these topics from our own assessment of the project.

Points for the brief to the architects: We turn each open point into a requirement for the architects.

We plan the project with the management team.

If the project proceeds, we take what remains open and the requirements for the architects into the Strategic Project Blueprint.

Strategic Project Blueprint →Request a Decision Brief →

Shortcomings of the brief: For each shortcoming, we show which occupants it affects.

Each gap in the brief becomes a requirement in the Blueprint.

Strategic Project Blueprint →Request a Brief Review →

We provide the findings' effect sizes.

If the project continues, the findings go into the Blueprint and, in stage 02, into the Evidence Design Brief.

Evidence Design Brief →Request an Evidence Review →

We specify what has to be measured where the occupants work or sleep.

Effects of the existing building on its occupants

The next building has to improve on today's conditions.

Improvements required of the next building: For each improvement, we provide today's value and a target.

The requirements of the assessment go into the Blueprint as the baseline for the next building. One year after the move, the same conditions are measured again for the Post-occupancy Evaluation.

Strategic Project Blueprint →Request a Building Assessment →

Workshop on the purpose of the project: The management team sets the aims of the project and the conditions for achieving them.

Project goals

Direction over the life of the building: We record the long-term objectives the management team sets for that period.

Message to occupants and visitors: We define the message according to the use of the building.

Once the management team has approved the result, we enter it in the Blueprint as a requirement and in the Decision Rulebook as a rule for the design team. Two further workshops follow in stage 01, on the conditions of the project and on the requirements of its future occupants.

Strategic Project Blueprint →Communication Set → Stage 01, Project start, in the eight stages →

Project identity and distinctive features

Architectural intent

Material for marketing, investor meetings and team meetings

Identity Workshop →Strategic Project Blueprint → Stage 01, Project start, in the eight stages →

Scope of the assignment

Record of the work done

Assumptions and the data that confirm them

Distribution to the project participants

Positioning of the organisation and its core values: We describe what the values of the organisation mean for the building.

Long-term vision and strategy: The organisation states its long-term target location and headcount range.

Opportunities the project opens: For each opportunity, we name its risks and the period in which it can be pursued.

We describe the organisation as it stands at the start of the project.

Reason for the project: At the outset, we define the problem the project has to resolve.

Size and structure of the organisation today: We compare headcount, area, rent and occupancy today with the figures for the target year.

Culture and habits: We identify the habits of the organisation that should be kept or changed and what this means for the building.

Workshop on the conditions that define the project and the gaps in knowledge: The teams that follow work from the conditions agreed with the management team.

Occupant groups: The occupants fall into groups, each with its size, days on site and main needs.

Programme and use of the spaces

Behavioural and working patterns the project has to support: We observe how the work is actually done and compare it with the organisation's own description.

Workshop on the requirements of each area: For every area, the team leads state who works there and what the area has to offer them.

Research areas for the project: We identify the studies that apply to the project.

Expected results of the research: We state the expected improvement for every research area.

Priority order of the research areas

Strength of the evidence in each area: We use the grades of The Built Review.

Conditions in the building in use: For every measured condition, we define the required change.

Occupant satisfaction today

Findings by group and place

Meaning and cost of each finding

The management team approves the requirements for every later stage.

Requirements of the building: We rank what the building has to achieve for its occupants, for the organisation and in the market.

Benefits for staff, tenants and investors

Obstacles: We set out how each obstacle can be removed.

Risk assessment: We assess each risk by its probability and its impact.

Need for certification: We compare the certifications under consideration by cost and benefit.

Comparison of the options, including no move: We compare every option, including staying in the current premises, against the aims of the project.

Conditions for changing the recommendation: We state the conditions and reasons under which our recommendation would change.

Location, area and ownership, agreed before an architect is briefed: We set out the options for each of them.

Grounds for revisiting an agreement

Before the project begins, we record the baseline figures.

Figures to be measured again once the building is in use: These figures are the baseline for the Post-occupancy Evaluation.

Workshop records and surveys

Research sources and glossary: We explain the technical terms in a glossary.

The Blueprint goes to the management team. In stage 02, its requirements become the rules for the design team.

Decision Rulebook →Request a Blueprint → Stage 01, Project start, in the eight stages →

Governance and readiness

Readiness for change

Strategic risks and opportunities

Sustainability and reporting objectives

Stakeholder map and communication plan

Governance, mandate and levels of authority

Property strategy

Portfolio and real estate strategy

Ownership, lease or new build

Location strategy by region

Financing

Financing structure and funding sources

A working day in the building, group by group: For every step of the working day, we define what the building has to do.

Working conditions, including shift work and recovery: We take the working hours of each group into account.

Assessment for each group: We assess the project against the needs of each group of occupants, from quiet work to recovery after a shift.

The design team works to these rules at every design stage.

Strategy and building purpose: The first requirement is the purpose of the building, quoted word for word from the Blueprint.

Priorities of the requirements: We rank the requirements in the order of the priorities in the Blueprint. In a conflict, the design team follows the higher-ranked requirement.

Findings turned into requirements: Every rule derived from a finding has a target value.

Environmental rules: light, air, acoustics and temperature

Spatial rules: layout, adjacency, occupancy, circulation and quiet rooms: Between groups that work closely together, we specify a maximum distance. Occupancy, circulation routes and quiet rooms each have a target value.

Nature rules: views and planting, indoors and outdoors: We define what the existing views to the outside mean for the planting inside the building.

Material rules: surfaces, colour and furniture: We write the rules for surfaces, colour and furniture from published findings.

Stage application: which requirement applies at which stage: We assign each rule to the stage at which it applies and send it to the design team before that stage begins.

Stakeholder roles: to whom each requirement is addressed: For every rule, we name the trade that has to meet it.

Requirements for each kind of space: We write the requirements for each kind of space, from the surroundings to the individual workplace.

Certification criteria a rule already meets

Checklist for the Design Review: An assessor can answer each requirement directly with "Yes" or "No".

Rules for a further site: For a new site, we write a new Rulebook and mark every changed value.

Before the design begins, we record every conflict.

Competing priorities: Where two agreed goals compete, we show the management team what a compromise costs in area, money or time.

Conflicting studies: Where studies conflict, we state which finding we follow and why.

Decision governance

Rule for conflicts between requirements

Suitable certifications: We assess each certificate for its cost and its effect on financing and letting.

Performance targets: We set the target value for each indicator.

Methods and intervals: For each indicator, we specify the method and how often it is applied.

Monetary value of the improvements: Where published studies assign a monetary value to an improvement, we state its range and limitations.

Thresholds for success

The Rulebook goes to the design team and to every trade named in it. In stage 04, we prepare the Competition Brief and Assessment from it. Each design proposal is later checked against it in the Design Review.

Evidence Design Brief →Strategic Project Blueprint → Stage 02, Project requirements, in the eight stages →Stage 08, Operation, in the eight stages →

Grades from The Built Review

Reasoning from findings to rules

Publishing the search parameters

Notes on the research for the rules

The brief goes to the design team with the Rulebook. We also use it for location assessments, due diligence reviews and certifications.

Decision Rulebook →Evidence Review → Stage 02, Project requirements, in the eight stages →

We describe the benefits in the words tenants and investors use.

Positioning of the building: We define the positioning from the values established in the Identity Workshop.

Evidence for claims: Every benefit claimed in a letting brochure requires a measurement.

Financial indicators for this building type: We give each financial indicator as a range from the research and explain its use.

Performance figures for the client's reporting obligations

The client uses the report for letting and for its reports to investors. One year after move-in, we compare the building in use with the targets of the report.

Decision Rulebook →Our view of the market → Stage 02, Project requirements, in the eight stages →Stage 08, Operation, in the eight stages →

The summary goes first to the management team and then to the investors in the project. For a board or an investor meeting, we prepare its content as the Executive Presentation.

Executive Presentation →Decision Rulebook → Stage 02, Project requirements, in the eight stages →

Executive Summary →Decision Rulebook → Stage 02, Project requirements, in the eight stages →

The workplace programme

Needs analysis

Workplace concept

Schedule of accommodation and space budget

Functional programme and adjacency diagram

Occupancy model and sharing ratio

Operating model

Surveys and trials

Occupant surveys, observation and occupancy studies

Capacity checks and use simulations

Test fits

Pilot and sample floors

Internal requirements

Technical requirements: IT, security and building controls

Employee representation and workplace regulations

Stakeholder agreement on trade-offs

Applying the research to the options under consideration: We set out the findings that distinguish one property from another.

Assessing each location and property against the requirements

Comparing the shortlist: We score every property on the shortlist against the requirements and set out its long-term cost.

For each shortfall, we give its cost over the life of the building.

Alternative courses of action: We set out every alternative with its reasons, costs and benefits.

The assessment goes to the management team. Once the client has chosen a property, we record in the Competition Brief and Assessment where it falls short of the requirements.

Competition Brief and Assessment →Request a Location Assessment → Stage 03, Location and property, in the eight stages →

Search

Market screening and site search

Longlist, shortlist and site comparison

Feasibility studies

Analysis of development potential

Due diligence

Building analysis

Area analysis and efficiency ratios

Technical due diligence

Sustainability due diligence

Survey of contaminants and existing fabric

Access, transport and infrastructure

Legal and tax

Legal and tax due diligence

Planning law, building regulations and heritage

Lease or purchase agreement

Public funding and subsidies

Costs

Business case on a discounted cash flow basis

Outline cost estimate

Fit-out

Negotiation support on functional and technical terms

Tenant fit-out planning and technical contract annexes

Assessing the proposals against the brief and the requirements: We show the jury where each proposal differs from the brief.

Brief for the competition or tender, from the Blueprint and the Rulebook: We state in the brief which rules the design has to meet.

Dependencies between the requirements: Before the brief goes out, we reconcile conflicting requirements.

Advising on the choice of team: We rank the teams in order of recommendation and state the conditions under which the ranking would change.

The assessment goes to the jury and the management team. Once the client appoints a team, we check its work against the same requirements in the Design Review.

Design Review →Request a Competition Brief → Stage 04, Design team, in the eight stages →

Procedure

Competition procedure and jury

Public procurement procedure

Designer selection and fee negotiation

Contracting strategy

Contracting strategy: single trades, general contractor or design and build

Assessing the design proposals: For each design stage, we record the requirements the design meets.

Open requirements for the design team: After every checkpoint, we send the open points to the design team.

Supplying the evidence and project data for certification: We supply the studies and data the certifier requests.

After each checkpoint, we send our assessment to the design team and the client. At handover, we use the same requirements for the Move-in Review.

Move-in Review →Request a Design Review → Stage 05, Design and engineering, in the eight stages →

Design

Concept and preliminary design

Detailed design

Planning application and building regulations approval

Construction documentation

Engineering

Structural engineering

Building services: heating, ventilation, cooling, electrical and controls

Building physics, acoustics and daylight

Fire safety

Specialist design

Landscape and outdoor space

Interior design, furniture and equipment

Wayfinding and signage

Specialist design: kitchens, laboratories and medical technology

Certification and tendering

Certification

Tendering and award

Construction management

Project management

Project organisation and coordination

Schedule management

Cost management

Quality management

Interface management

Opportunity and risk management

Contract and variation management

On site

Site supervision

Health and safety coordination

Client and occupant representation on site

Mock-ups and material sampling

Comparing how the building is used with what was agreed: In the first weeks after move-in, we check whether the spaces are used as agreed.

Conditions for the first day

Findings still open after the first weeks go into the Post-occupancy Evaluation.

Post-occupancy Evaluation →Request a Move-in Review → Stage 07, Occupation, in the eight stages →

Commissioning

Commissioning management

Systems balancing and handover

Acceptance, defects and warranty

Move

Move and migration management

Change management and communication

Training and onboarding to the new environment

We mark results that are still too early for reporting.

Figures for the management team's internal communication: We give the management team figures on the improvements the building has achieved.

We report the new figures for use, indoor conditions, running costs, and the work and recovery of the occupants.

Evaluating the building against the criteria of the Rulebook

The results go to the management team. We use them again in the Blueprint and the Rulebook of the next project.

Move-in Review →Client Standard → Stage 08, Operation, in the eight stages →

We remove rules that name a room, a value or a condition of the first project.

Decision Rulebook →Post-occupancy Evaluation → Stage 08, Operation, in the eight stages →

Building operation

Facility management: technical, infrastructural, commercial

Space management

Operating cost optimisation

Regulatory and sustainability reporting

Satisfaction and adjustment

Occupant satisfaction measurement

Continuous adjustment