Planning

A Tailored Framework for Confident Decision Making

Our approach to planning removes doubt, adds clarity, and creates alignment around size, budget, timing, and execution. But it’s more than making on time, on budget possible. It’s also how we help you bring your big, bold ideas to life. 

Planning

A Tailored Framework for Confident Decision Making

Our approach to planning removes doubt, adds clarity, and creates alignment around size, budget, timing, and execution. But it’s more than making on time, on budget possible. It’s also how we help you bring your big, bold ideas to life. 

The roadmap for a successful journey

We create a detailed framework that covers everything from your high-level vision of the building to room-by-room functional expectations. The result: prioritized data you can trust for making smart decisions through key stakeholder engagement and consensus, setting realistic budgets, and eliminating unexpected changes that affect time and cost. This is not a report that sits on a shelf. We reference it daily, throughout your project. 

Let’s Have a Conversation
  • Visioning
    Client Vision Workshopping, User Persona Definition, Defining Nirvana, Stakeholder Engagement, Consensus and Prioritization
  • Strategy
    Master Planning, Operations, Market Assessment, Decision-Making Frameworks
  • Planning
    Functional and Space Programming, Workflow and Staff Optimization, Budget Assessment, Test Fits, Option Development and Analysis, Simulation, Detailed Budgeting for Total Project Cost
  • Assessment
    Feasibility and Utilization Studies, Site Evaluation, Benchmarking, Current- and Future-State Mapping, Qualitative Analysis
Best Practices at Every Phase
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Highly-Experienced Planners
6 members of DesignGroup’s staff are fully-dedicated planners with expertise in your project type.
Facilitated Planning Work Sessions
We bring energy and structure to planning charettes to ensure they’re inspiring, enlightening, and productive.
A Guideline For Success
Our planning and programming Is highly detailed and actionable; every sequence and role is clearly defined.
Designed for Comprehension
Visualization techniques help all parties understand data and recommendations.
Total Cost Analysis
Planning includes everything from raw materials to labor to interior finishes, furniture, and technology.
Created for the Long Term
Your planning effort may include phases that accommodate needs well into the future.
What our clients are saying
Their Facility Needs Assessment explored our hopes and dreams for a new arts center that would be not only functional but also a centerpiece of the community. DesignGroup led us through a process that generated our wildest ideas and gently guided us back to reality with great finesse. They listened to and responded to all comments and suggestions, and helped us sort out opposing view into a cohesive plan.
Jordan Knepper, Executive Director Piqua Arts Council
Meet the DesignGroup Planning Team
DesignGroup architects and interior designers ask good questions, listen intently, and build strong collaborative relationships. It’s the key to understanding your mission and vision, today and into the future.
Featured Project:
McConnell Residence Hall
Check out our thought leadership on:
Planning for the Future of Radiology: A Q-and-A with West Penn Hospital

When leadership at Pittsburgh’s West Penn Hospital started to plan a fairly routine refresh of its radiology space, they quickly realized they had an opportunity to reinvent the department. In this lively and insightful Q-and-A, stakeholders describe the hard work that went into the project – and how the result will deliver a dramatically improved patient experience.

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Let’s Create a Plan
While our designs are created to elicit emotion, our project planning process is just the opposite. We are driven by data, not a feeling; we rely on facts, not anecdotes. We believe an objective, tactical approach keeps partners and clients organized and aligned through every step of the project.  Design is art; planning is science.  Let’s discuss how it can help you achieve your vision.