When to Involve Operations in Design-Build Projects: 10 Questions with Theresa Ward

We sat down with Theresa Ward, who brings decades of experience in public and private commercial real estate development, to talk about when and how to leverage operations as a strategic value in design-build projects. And the role of customer experience in cost savings and delivery on promises for large capital projects.

To help tell that story, Theresa shares her insights on lessons learned from a performing arts venue design-build project in a major city on the East Coast of the US. Below is our conversation with Theresa. Responses are edited for clarity and length.

You have said that in your work with performing arts facilities, you found that “if operations people aren’t in the room during design, they [suffer] in the end.” Can you walk us through a moment when you saw that play out?

I remember during the design process for one of the performing arts projects I worked on there was a disagreement with designers about how many wheelchair-accessible seats were needed.

Designers included approximately six seats. The technical director said he was sure they would need more. There was discussion about what days and times would likely have the highest number of seats needed. It was agreed that the Sunday matinee would require the most wheelchair-accessible seats. But the designers still felt their estimates were reasonable.

That Sunday, thirteen patrons who used wheelchairs needed to be accommodated. So, more than double where the design team was headed. Had operations been in the room earlier, they could have reached the correct answer much faster.

Design‑build teams often assume they understand operational needs. From your experience, what do they typically miss in terms of how a space actually functions once it opens?

Where I have seen the miss is usually back-of-house needs like undersized or missing storage areas. I’ve seen coat rooms excluded or value-engineered and then rolling garment racks installed after a facility opened.

I’ve also seen no storage provision for janitorial products or cleaning equipment. Or storage that is so far away that makeshift storage has to be created under desks, in kitchenettes, or in hallways. I have also seen proper recycling set ups that are missing entirely.

Lastly, factoring seasonal or weather changes like snow and slippery floors means that skipping the step of bringing operations leaders into design meetings results in hazardous, unattractive, cumbersome setups that severely undermine design investment. Customer experience at a performing arts facility shouldn’t be compromised just because there is a rainstorm, but keeping operations and experience leaders out of early-stage design-build conversations does exactly that.

When operations is excluded from early design, you have said teams end up “living with bad situations that cost labor and materials.” What is an example of a design decision that led to these consequences, and what are the simplest ways to avoid them?

In my experience, a perfect example of this is that, after significant time and investment, the venue ended up with little to no prop and wardrobe storage.

Because that type of storage is necessary for any functioning performing arts facility, it resulted in the organization having to lease off-site storage space. That also meant transporting materials and keeping inventory, all of which are avoidable costs.

Having an experienced operations team member as part of the design team for their next project helped them avoid that mistake when they renovated and expanded their facility.

Performing arts venues have complex flows (audience, staff, performers, equipment). What lessons from that environment translate to large infrastructure environments like transportation hubs and airports?

Loading areas are one of the biggest challenges in performing arts venues. Loading competes with precious front-of-house space. It can be hard to make that argument in a room full of designers and engineers under budget pressure.

But, like with airports and transit hubs, you only get to do these projects once in a lifetime, or once in a hundred years, and you have to think that way. While, what the customer sees is tantamount, the customer will feel it if the back-of-house is insufficient and staff are so worn out from inadequate space they cannot perform their job function.

Whether it is a performing arts facility, an airport, or a train station, securing space and operations-driven setup of back-of-house spaces is an investment in customer experience delivery.

If you could reimagine the typical design‑build kickoff, what would you change to ensure operations has a real seat at the table, rather than a symbolic one?

I would say, be intentional about who is at the table. Ensure that a strong voice at that table brings the voice of the customer into the conversation at every stage. For a design-build project to get the right return on investment and mitigate costs like retrofitting and additional labor, it requires knowing – not guessing at or ignoring – what customers actually need and want. And how operations teams interact with each other and with customers to deliver on what those customers need and want.

Design without consideration of who is using the space and how they are using it, whether those users are customers and patrons, or employees, is design without intention. Successful design-build projects are embarked on with intention.

Bringing that intention to life requires customer experience strategy that can bridge design goals and operational realities. Someone who can speak both languages and keep the customer central to the conversation, and the final build.

You’ve seen both worlds: capital‑project design and day‑to‑day operations. What do these two worlds need to learn most from each other?

There needs to be someone who provides the continuity for the project from conception to operations. Once design and engineering contracts end, they end and wave from the proverbial dock.

Project sponsors are well served to have someone represent their interests with continuity from conception to operation and beyond.

What role does customer experience play in bridging the gap between the architecture and engineering side of design-build and the operations side?

To my mind, customer experience plays two roles in bridging the gap between the architecture and engineering side and the operations side. First, when customer experience does its job well, it acts as translator between the two, bringing a clear sense of both design goals and operational needs to the design-build process at every phase.

Second, when it is most impactful, customer experience acts as an auditor of experience, constantly checking plans against the real needs and wants of customers and operators’ ability to meet those needs in real ways, empowered by the design of the space. Customer experience holds both designers and operators accountable for the promises they make to their customers.

In your experience, what does “front‑of‑house excellence” require from the back‑of‑house? What are the invisible operational and customer experience layers that audiences and other users of space feel but do not see?

Back-of-house needs to feel that they are a core pillar and catalyst for providing a delightful experience to audiences and users of space. Part of that delight on the part of the customers comes from the perception of ease that the employees they interact with make possible. Of course, we know that the layers underneath that ease are complex, strategically mapped, and carefully designed.

When they are working together and working well to support customers, operations and customer experience communicate clearly and consistently, and keep the needs of customers at the forefront of that communication.

All of this begins during the design process. Building delightful moments does not happen at the end of the design process. It fuels the design process from the start.

Looking at today’s infrastructure mega-projects, with their high budgets, large teams, and many complexities, what operational risks do you think are most likely to be overlooked during design? And what could be a solution?

There is a lot of budget and schedule pressure. Usually, it is not a single person or team who is responsible for ensuring a seamless customer/visitor/passenger experience.

I think one of the biggest areas overlooked is clear communication and wayfinding before, during and after construction. Mega-project sponsors must be intentional from the beginning of a project, during its design iterations and through to operations after the design-build team is gone.

If you were advising a design‑build team tomorrow, what one customer experience principle would you insist they adopt from day one to avoid the “bandaged‑over problems” you have witnessed? And how or why would it help?

Every step of the way, the user of the space should be considered by both the back-of-house and front-of-house. Many times, the front-of-house user only comes to the facility once. Navigating the space needs to make sense to them whether there is construction going on or not. A great mentor of mine once said, “good enough is neither good nor enough.”

To learn more about how customer experience can unite design-build teams around the needs of the customer for the success of capital projects, schedule a time to talk with us.