Fund That Flip 01 - First Steps
Starting a new project is exciting for us in the office. The possibilities are endless, everyone is enthusiastic, and the constraints of time and budget haven’t reared their heads (yet). Every project is different, but there are some steps that are common to almost all of them. Our goal with this series of posts is to walk through the various phases/stages of the design and construction process.
The Client
Around this time last year we finished an office renovation for Fund That Flip. They quickly outgrew that space and asked us to help design them a new office.
See more pictures from Fund That Flip’s first office here.
Fund That Flip’s old office (red) inside their new space (blue).
Existing conditions floor plan
Initial conditions
The very first step is to take stock of the existing conditions. This means going to measure, photograph, draw, and note everything that we can know about the space. For this project, seven people descended onto the site at once (four from our office and three from our engineer’s office). Although it is nearly impossible to get all the information in a single visit, we still try to be a thorough as possible.
Conceptual Design
The first meeting with a client lets us start the conceptual design phase. It is important to make sure of a few key factors (some more exciting than others). In this case, the information we needed was:
What is the vision for open office areas vs. enclosed offices? How many of each are you looking to accommodate?
How does your company operate within the office space? Does everyone value their privacy? Should spaces be more open and collaborative, even if that means less privacy for folks?
How should your office “feel?” Is it a sleek, polished corporate environment? More raw and loose?
Initial Concept Sketch
We treat conceptual design both as a way to lay out space requirements AND to start developing the overall design and feel of the project. To this end, we don’t do a lot of pure “bubble diagrams.”
The client’s budget is kept in mostly in the background during this process. It isn’t totally forgotten, but there will be plenty of time in future steps to bring it more to the front. This is the time to establish the aspirational goals, and then see how to best achieve them.
Speaking of next phases. The next post will elaborate on the schematic design phase, where things become a little more “real,” and the visions from the conceptual design phase get put to the test.