Chapter 2
Project Roles
The last chapter briefly introduced the three major players in the planning and construction of a theater—owner, architect, and builder. On very small projects, each of these roles might be filled by an individual, but on most projects each role involves tens or even hundreds of individuals. And on almost all projects, each role has its own organizational structure and sub-roles. The architect, for example, has collaborating consultants and engineers. The builder has subcontractors.
Major Roles
Owner
The owner has a vision to fulfill—and a theater building has been identified as the means to that end. The owner’s motivation may be as prosaic as the need to replace an aging facility, as aspirational as the desire to transform an entire community, or as self-serving as the creation of a personal monument. The owner pays for the design and construction, which is fundamental to the whole enterprise! The architect and builder work for the owner and are responsible to the owner.
Architect
The architect designs the building and prepares the drawings and specifications necessary for its construction. Other names for the architect are design team (obviously implying more than one person) and A/E, meaning architect/engineer.
Builder
Appropriately enough, the builder builds the building. Other names for this role are constructor, contractor, or construction manager. Each of these titles denotes different responsibilities. These distinctions and the builder’s role will be discussed in Chapter 4—Project Delivery Methods.
Division of Labor
A division of labor exists between the architect and builder—one designs and the other executes the design. The architect and builder each have a contract with the owner, and together these contracts define a working relationship between the architect and builder.
Sound Familiar?
The reader with experience in mounting stage productions may have remarked on the similarities between that process and the process of building a theater. Each divides labor between design and execution, and the collaborative process is similar in each. Usually the time scale is longer and the cost is greater for theater buildings, but not always.
| Building project | Stage production |
| Owner | Producer |
| Program Manager | Production Manager |
| Architect | Director |
| Consultants and Engineers | Designers |
| Builder | Scene Shop and Crews |
Owner
Who builds theaters? The owner might be a university, a developer, a public body (municipal, regional, or national government), a group of civic-minded individuals, a theater company (either profit-making or nonprofit), a casino owner, etc. Sometimes the owner is a partnership of two or more of the entities listed above.
User and Operator
It’s important to note that the owner is almost never the same as the user of the completed building. For example, on a university building the owner might be the university administration or trustees, while the user will be the dance, drama, or music department.
And the owner is often not the operator of the completed building. For example, the owner of a municipal performing arts center may be the city or a private developer. The operator will likely be a separate entity—this may be a profit-making company that manages multiple facilities under contract, or a nonprofit corporation created to manage just one facility. The users are likely the local resident ballet, opera, and symphony.
The architect and builder are responsible to the owner, not to the operator or users. Therefore the ability of the operator and users to affect the design and construction process is entirely dependent on their relationship with the owner. Their role can vary from complete integration into the design and construction process to no involvement at all.
Table 2.1 Owner and User Example: Overture Center, Madison, Wisconsin
| Owner Overture Development Corporation (Private tax-exempt organization) |
| Operator (2000-2011) Madison Cultural Arts District (Independent public entity created by city with sanction of state legislature) |
| Operator (2012-) Overture Center Foundation, Inc. (Private nonprofit organization) |
| Users Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society Children’s Theater of Madison Forward Theater Company Kanopy Dance Company Li Chiao-Ping Dance Madison Ballet Madison Opera Madison Symphony Orchestra Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra |
Owner Organization
The owner must have personnel and an organizational structure to keep on top of the design and construction process. Sometimes an owner will have one organizational structure for design and another for construction.
The simplest owner structure has three distinct sub-roles.
Project Executive
The project executive has ultimate authority over the project. For example, on a university campus this is usually the president.
Building Committee
The role of the building committee is to articulate the needs the building must serve and respond to design solutions offered by the architect. The committee may include donors and community representatives in addition to users. The building committee can be most effective in the early phases of design when the critical decisions about cost, use, and design of the building are made. They have less influence in the later design phases and almost no influence once the project moves to construction.
Owner’s Rep
The owner’s rep (or project manager) manages the project budget and schedule, coordinates the work of the building committee, and directs the design team and builder day-to-day.
Program Manager
An owner without the necessary staff or experience to run a building project may hire a company to serve as their program manager. This is a broad role that may include all of the duties of the owner except the highest level decision making and the actual funding of the project. It may also be a longer term role involving multiple projects—for example, a university may retain a program manager to serve as its planning department.
Architect
The architect works for the owner, but as a licensed professional the architect also has responsibility for the public good. One architect describes the role as “guardian of the public realm.” Architectural firms vary in size from a handful of persons to a staff of tens of thousands. Firms have different cultures and values, and individual firms may place emphasis on quality design, tight construction drawings, budget control, or project management. Firms may focus on specific building types, certain kinds of clients, or specific roles within the design process. There are many different “flavors” of firms, and finding the right firm (or firms) for a given project can be challenging, but also quite fun.
The architect has multiple responsibilities, and sometimes those responsibilities are shared across multiple firms. The most common division of responsibility is for one firm to function as the design architect and one to function as executive architect.
Design Architect
The design architect is (appropriately) responsible for the overall design of the building. The design architect takes the lead in the early phases of design, when the critical decisions that shape the building are made, then hands off the detailing and documentation of the design to the executive architect. The design architect usually retains authority over all aesthetic matters, even after the hand-off.
Some architectural firms practice only as design architects. They emphasize and have special expertise in design, and they always work with an executive architect. But many firms that serve as design architects will do the detailing and documentation of their own designs for some projects.
A famous design architect may be called a celebrity architect or starchitect, but probably not to his or her face. One architect refers to them as “black cape architects.” Part of their appeal is their ability to attract donor contributions.
Executive Architect
The executive architect shadows and advises the design architect in the early design phases, then takes responsibility for completing the drawings and administering the project during construction. Other names for this role are associate architect or production architect.
The executive architect will often be a local firm—that is, a firm in the community where the project will be built. This proximity allows the firm to service the project economically. A local architect will also have relationships with the local building officials and contractors, and knowledge of the availability of materials and crafts persons.
Most firms that work in the executive architect role also provide design services on their “own” projects, but there are a few architectural firms that work exclusively in the executive architect role.
Architect of Record
Either the design or the executive architect will be the Architect of Record— they seal and sign the drawings, and their name appears on the building permit issued for construction. And one of the two firms will be the prime— that is, they will hold the contract with the owner, and the other firm will have a contract with the prime firm. It’s possible for the two firms to have separate prime contracts with the owner, but this would be highly unusual.
How Are Firms Paired?
Design and executive architects are usually paired in one of two ways. Most commonly, the two firms seek each other out and agree to “team” in order to submit joint qualifications to the owner. The owner may be explicit in requiring a design/executive team, or the architects may decide that teaming gives them their best opportunity to land the commission. This teaming is a bit like getting a prom date. Some design and executive architects have longstanding relationships and teaming is almost assumed. Some local firms will scout for national design talent and attempt to lock up a teaming relationship early—months or even years before the commission is advertised. Other firms may scramble to find a partner a week before qualifications are due.
If the advertisement is for a national design firm, the design architects have a bit of an upper hand in teaming. In contrast, some publicly funded projects require that the prime be a local architect, giving the local architects the edge.
The second way architects are paired is through a sequential selection process. For example, on publicly funded projects that require a local prime, there are usually fewer local architects with the ability to do the job than there are national design firms with an interest in the project. If the selection is for a design/executive team, the owner’s choice of design architects will be severely limited. So the owner may select and appoint the local architect first. Then the design architect is selected, often with the local’s involvement since in this case the local is likely holding the design architect’s contract. The reverse process is also possible, with the design architect selected first. In this case, the design architect is likely the prime, and will select the local architect, but with the owner retaining veto authority over the selection.
No matter how the pairing is made, it’s critical that the responsibilities of each firm be clearly defined. And it’s very helpful if the firms are a good fit in values and culture.
Design Team
The design of buildings, like many other aspects of life, has become increasingly specialized. Successful design requires a collaborative team of individuals or firms from many different design disciplines. The architect leads this team and is ultimately responsible for coordinating their efforts.
It is usually the architect who assembles the team, often during the qualification process. This process is perhaps more akin to filling out a dance card than finding a prom date. Institutional owners (for example universities) are likely to have prior experience and may have strong preferences for certain team members, particularly in the engineering disciplines. The owner may provide a short list of firms for the architect to choose from, or may reserve the right to veto the architect’s selection. On some projects the owner may insist on selecting some team members, either in consultation with the architect or independently.
Landscape Architect
Unless the building is in an urban setting with no site, the design team will likely include a landscape architect. Landscape architecture is a design profession with training and licensing requirements very similar to architecture.
The remaining members of the design team can be roughly divided into licensed engineers and unlicensed consultants.
Engineers
Engineers (also professional engineers or consulting engineers) are licensed design professionals. They have a professional responsibility to the public, and they have the authority to seal and sign their design drawings. The typical disciplines involved in the design of a building are civil (or geotechnical), structural, mechanical (meaning HVAC—heating, ventilating, and air conditioning), plumbing, fire protection, and electrical. Fire protection and plumbing design are often provided by the same firm. It’s also common to combine the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing disciplines—shortened to MEP engineering.
Consultants
Consultants provide design services for which there are no licensing requirements. Despite the lack of licensing, professional societies exist for many consulting disciplines. And it’s possible to gain certification in some disciplines. For example the National Council for Interior Design Qualification certifies interior designers, and the United States Green Building
Table 2.2 Design Team Example: Overture Center, Madison, Wisconsin
|
ARCHITECTS |
| Design Architect Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects
|
| Executive Architect PL&F Architects LLC
|
|
ENGINEERS |
| Geotechnical Engineer STS Consultants Ltd.
|
| MEP Engineer Affiliated Engineers, Inc.
|
| Structural Engineer Thornton-Tomasetti
|
|
CONSULTANTS |
| Acoustical Consultant Kirkegaard Associates
|
| Architectural Lighting Designer Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design Inc.
|
Art Center Program Consultant
|
| Code Consultant Rolf Jensen & Associates
|
| Color Consultant Donald Kaufman Color
|
| Cost Consultant Vermeulen Cost Consultants
|
| Curtain Wall Consultant Israel Berger & Associates
|
| Door Hardware Consultant Essex Industries
|
| Elevator Consultant Lerch Bates
|
| Environmental Consultant STS Consultants, Ltd.
|
| Food Service Consultant Stewart Design Associates
|
| Graphics Consultant Pentagram Design Inc.
|
| Operations Consultant AMS Planning & Research
Arts Axis
|
Organ Consultant
|
| Project Communications Consultant Gassman Communications & Public Affairs LLC
|
Source Reduction and Recycling Consultant
|
| Targeted Business Participation Consultant Cross Management Services
|
| Theater Consultant Engineering Harmonics (under contract to Theatre Projects Consultants)
Theatre Projects Consultant
|
Council “credentials” Leadership in Energy and Environmental design (LEED) professionals.
Consultant services may be product-based (curtain walls, door hardware, and elevators) or function-based (food service, parking, and retail). Some consultants specialize in one building type (hospitals, prisons, or theaters), and some consultants provide services on a wide range of building types (acousticians, code consultants, and specification writers). The design of a complicated building will involve a dozen or more consulting disciplines.
The example team listing shown in Table 2.2 is taken from an Overture Center project directory from 2002. Twenty-five firms and nearly 100 persons are listed—and this is only a single slice in time, about mid-way through design. It’s not a complete roster of all the design firms and individuals who worked on the project over its six-year life.
Core Design Team
The early work on a theater building project is mostly accomplished by a much smaller group of firms. This group consists of the architect (or architects) and three or four important consultants—theater, acoustical, cost, and (possibly) arts management. It’s common for these consultants to work under contract to the architect, especially on smaller and publicly funded projects. On larger and more prestigious projects, the owner may contract directly with some or all of the core design team members. One motivation may be the owner’s desire to receive unfiltered advice from these key consultants.
Theater Consultant
The theater consultant (also called theater planner, theater designer, or theater design consultant) is the expert on the building type. All design team members will be familiar with the design and construction process, but the theater consultant is conversant in the specific design issues and functional requirements of theater buildings. He or she provides the other design team members with the design criteria and guidance they need to perform their roles. The theater consultant may also take the lead in explaining the design and construction process to the owner and users, and advising them on how to effectively communicate their needs and desires to the entire design team.
There are two professional organizations for theater consultants. The Institute of Theatre Consultants was formed in 1964 in the United Kingdom and has about 40 fully qualified members. The Institute offers a master of arts in theater consultancy in collaboration with Warwick University. The Institute applied for a royal charter as a professional body, a possible step towards certification, but the charter was denied in 2014 due to the small size and limited visibility of the profession. The second organization is the American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC). It was formed in the United States in 1980 and has about 80 full members. The ASTC has not attempted to develop a certification for theater consultants.
The theater consultant will be asked many different questions—what lighting control console should be specified? How many public toilets are needed? What are the Actors Equity requirements for dressing rooms? Will the patrons be able to see? Richard Pilbrow, the originator of theater consulting in the United Kingdom, says “The theatre consultant is totally responsible for every aspect of the (theatrical) performance of the building.” Or more succinctly, “Everything is in our remit!”
The services that theater consultants provide fall into three major categories—theater planning, theater design, and theater equipment. These categories are useful in understanding the nature of theater design consulting, although they may become blurred in actual practice.
Theater Planning
Theater planning is the broadest of the categories and itself encompasses multiple tasks. The first is pre-design—the initial work with the owner and users to assess their current and potential needs and to determine the scope of the building project. Pre-design is described in detail in Chapter 5.
The second task is functional planning. This is comprehensive advice on the building design to ensure it has the required features and is suited for the intended use—for example, properly outfitted dressing rooms located appropriately near the stage.
The third task is providing advice on building systems and features that are special or unique to theaters. For example, the theater consultant will propose details for stage lighting positions and auditorium railings, and these items will be documented by the architect and provided by the miscellaneous metals fabricator.
The final task is design coordination—that is, the review of all the building elements and features proposed or dictated by other design disciplines to ensure they are properly coordinated and don’t inhibit the performance function. For example, the theater consultant and mechanical engineer will coordinate the routing of stagehouse ductwork to minimize its impact on stage productions.
Theater Design
The task of theater design is first to determine the size and shape of the audience chamber, and to develop seating layouts, access, circulation, and egress to ensure the safety of the audience and the quality of their experience. It also includes the layout of the stage or performance area, with circulation and technical elements such as traps, grids, and galleries.
Theater planning and theater design are advisory services, meaning the theater consultant is providing advice to the architect and other members of the design team. The advice may be comprehensive, highly detailed (and opinionated), but it is up to the other team members to adopt and implement the advice.
Theater Equipment
In contrast, theater equipment is the service area in which the theater consultant has “soup to nuts” responsibility. The theater consultant typically has responsibility for audience seating; stage rigging, lifts, and wagons; adjustable acoustic devices; and production lighting, audio, video, and projection. The theater consultant provides design criteria and collaborates with the architect and engineers on the infrastructure needed to support this equipment. For example, the theater consultant will provide design criteria for the structural supports for the stage rigging system, so that the supports can be designed by the structural engineer and provided by the steel fabricator. The consultant budgets the cost of the theater equipment, develops the design, prepares drawings and specifications, reviews the installation, and performs final testing.
This area of service closely parallels the typical responsibilities of a consulting engineer, with one important distinction—unlike engineers, theater consultants are unlicensed and do not have the authority to seal and sign their design drawings.
Acoustical Consultant
Most projects have an acoustical consultant (or acoustician) on the design team from the very beginning, and if the building is primarily for music performance the acoustician may take a lead role in early design discussions. The core acoustical service provided by all firms covers the three areas described below. Some acoustical consulting firms also provide design services for audiovisual and projection systems, potentially creating an overlap of the theater planner’s and acoustician’s scope. This overlap is usually identified and resolved quickly and amicably in the qualifications stage or early in design.
Room Acoustics
Room acoustics includes advice on the geometry and volume of the auditorium, wall and ceiling shaping, material selections, and architectural detailing.
Noise Isolation
In the area of noise isolation, the acoustician is concerned with preventing the intrusion of noise into the auditorium, where it may disturb the performance. The noise source may be outside the building (for example, traffic noise) or from other areas within the building (a scene shop, say). The acoustician advises on structural systems, roof and wall construction, treatment of any penetrations of the roof and walls, and door specifications.
Mechanical System Noise and Vibration Control
This area of service involves advice on reducing the noise produced by the building services (heating, cooling, electrical, lighting, etc.) and/or limiting the transmission of this noise into the performance volume.
Cost Consultant
Cost estimating in the very early design phases and cost management throughout design are critical to a successful project. So a cost consultant is almost always a member of the core design team. (There may also be a construction manager providing cost estimating services directly to the owner. See Chapter 8 for more detail.) Several large international firms offer both program management and cost estimating services. There are many smaller cost estimating consultants, and a handful of these firms specialize in cost management for performing arts projects.
Arts Management Consultant
An arts management consultant is sometimes a part of the core design team. They may evaluate the market potential for the new building and guide the owner on the governance and operations of the completed building. This work is often complete before design commences, but sometimes the management consultant has an ongoing role.