Project Planning Overview
Capital Project Roles
Management of all campus planning, architectural and engineering design activities, and construction projects is performed by the Office of the University Architect. This applies to all capital and non-capital projects. Capital project oversight is delegated by the Board of Visitors (BOV) to the President and EVPFA, with regular updates at the Board’s Committee on Administration, Building and Grounds and president’s advisory Design Review Board (DRB).
- A project's Executive Sponsor (ES, Cabinet level) is accountable for all the activities that take place in a W&M building and for delivering on the university’s strategic goals.
- The ES assigns an Internal Client Representative (ICR) responsible for defining program and serving as the ES rep through the life of the project.
- The Office of the University Architect (OUA) is accountable for successful project planning, management, and execution
- OUA delegates these functions to appropriate Project Managers (PMs), consultants, etc.
- OUA convenes an ad hoc Building Committee for ICR/PR consultation and to receive updates.
- Advancement is responsible for fundraising. ICRs work with Advancement Leads to collect donor feedback on program and design concepts during the concept phase [W&M’s gift acceptance policies define scope of donor input to avoid perceived conflict of interest]
- PM and ICR work together to convene User Focus Groups to contribute insights and “user stories” that define the program and guide design. Programmatic requirements are documented and updated in each project's Program of Record (POR) documentation.
Key Terms
Form follows function. “Program” is the term used for what happens in a building or space: What’s it for? What activities happen here? Who uses it and how? How will it be used in the future?
User stories distill common and aspirational activities of the users of a space, to help guide program and design.
W&M Neighborhoods are multi-building, multi-project zones where defined activities cohere, e.g., living, socializing, learning.
Design in Defined Phases
Design at W&M unfolds in defined phases
- Concept Planning (program and design concepts that create the starting place, used for scoping and fundraising), to …
- Pre-Design, culminating in Internal Concept Approval and commencement of fundraising on a defined timeline and targets, then …
- Design Development, Schematics and Validation, including refined cost estimates, value engineering as needed, and Code Reviews, and finally to …
- Construction / Working Documents that guide execution.
- Greenlight / Project Approval Work commences when 75% of funding is on hand and 100% is committed. Work is completed as time and resources allow.
Note that completion of item 3 above corresponds to completion of the Preliminary Design (PD) phase of design delivery. Item 4 above corresponds to the Working Drawing (WD) phase.
PROJECT PLANNING GATES GRAPHIC (PDF Download)
