Projects often begin with an answer.
Any of those may ultimately be right. But beginning with the answer can prevent the more important questions from being asked.
HB Thompson Group begins by understanding the conditions behind the presumed solution — what needs to change, why it matters and what the project actually needs to accomplish.
Define before design.
Before proposing a solution, understand the place, the people, the objectives, existing conditions, investment, schedule, priorities and constraints.
Separate the actual project need from the assumed solution. Establish what the project needs to accomplish before deciding what form the answer should take.
Give what has been defined form. Architecture becomes a response to the conditions of the project rather than its starting assumption.
Bring design, systems, cost and constructability into conversation while decisions can still be tested and intelligently changed.
Carry zoning, municipal review and permitting forward as part of the project rather than as a separate process disconnected from it.
Carry what was understood, defined and designed into physical execution — maintaining the project's intent as decisions become real.
The process is sequential.
The thinking is continuous.
Each stage informs what follows, while new information can also inform decisions made earlier. Cost can inform design. Constructability can reshape a detail. Approvals can affect a decision. Conditions discovered during construction can require reconsideration.
The objective is not to rigidly follow six steps. It is to maintain the understanding that defined the project as it moves through them.