About briefing. Q&A with Harald Nikolaisen, Director-General of Statsbygg

Harald Nikolaisen is the Director-General of Statsbygg, which is the Norwegian government’s building commissioner, property manager and developer. Statbygg’s role is to provide and maintain high quality public facilities and workplaces for state agencies. Their project portfolio includes major projects like the Norwegian Opera House in Oslo or The Global Seed Vault in Svalbard. They also manage many national heritage properties and Norwegian embassies. So, a large diversity of properties, projects and activities. Briefing is a key element in all this. It is Statsbygg's task to align user needs, budgets and political objectives regarding architecture,?the preservation of heritage sites and environmental issues. How do they do that? I managed to get a hold on Harald and asked him the following the questions.

JvM: In Statsbygg’s projects, there are typically lots of different stakeholders involved. How do you deal with conflicting interests? How do bring these together in a single, coherent brief?

HN: Well, we don’t think in terms of conflicting interests. Interests need to be aligned and we are in a unique position to do so because we engage with all stakeholders in the value chain. It is our job to cover all perspectives and to ask the difficult questions. What does a user really need? What are the needs behind the demands? And what is possible within the budgetary constraints and other practicalities? ?In this, we take a long term perspective. It is our responsibility to ensure that buildings have a long term value, that they are sustainable, and they can adapt to future changes. It helps that we also manage and operate our buildings. This is not a conflicting role, but an advantageous one. We know how buildings work in practice—from both an operational and functional point of view—and we can incorporate that knowledge into the briefing process.

JvM: How does Statsbygg see the brief’s status and role in a construction project? Is it like detailed delivery contract or more like a starting point that is open to interpretation and refinement????

HN: It depends. For relatively simple projects, the brief can indeed act as a delivery contract. It is different however for large and complex projects with long time lines. For sure, things will change in such projects so it doesn’t make sense to create a very strict or rigid brief at the start. There, we see the brief more as road map or guideline that helps with decision making during later phases.

JvM: What makes a good brief according to you?

HN: A good brief translates user needs into actionable, realistic requirements. This can be a challenge obviously. A university may, for example, ask for a building that supports world-class research and teaching. A valid demand, but how do you break that down into concrete requirements in a brief, knowing that there will be surprises, changes and budgetary pressures along the way? A good brief should therefore also communicate priorities. What is essential for a project’s success and where is there room for manoeuvring?

JvM: Earlier in your career, you have been responsible for infrastructure projects. Are there lessons to be learned in relation to briefing?

HN: It is a difficult comparison. Infrastructure projects are characterized by even longer timelines and even less flexibility. When working on a new road or a rail track, you cannot just change the specifications half way. Building projects are more flexible. You can for example still make changes in the specifications for the building’s interior when its structure is already being build. This allows for a more iterative briefing approach, which is good.

What is interesting about infrastructure, however, is that there are advanced models for assessing the economic benefits of a project at an early stage. It would be great to have similar models for builing projects.

JvM: How do you see the future of briefing?

HN: There is a clear shift taking place: the definition phase of a project is becoming more important and more iterative. Traditionally, organizations like ours would spend a lot of time on creating a very detailed brief, and then present it to market, saying “Build this!”. We are now moving towards a more interactive process in which architects, engineers and contractors get involved at an earlier stage. With their input, we are able to get a better grip on risks, costs and timelines before we actually start the project.

JvM: Any recommendations for other constructions clients in relation to briefing?

HN: As said, it is important to involve design teams and contractors at an early stage. Furthermore, I recommend to think carefully about user involvement. User involvement is essential for a project’s success, but there is a risk that you go too early into details such as furnishings or the use of colours. Especially in projects with long timelines, things will almost certainly change and people may then get the feeling that they haven’t been listened to. So, when developing the brief, the focus should firmly be on functional needs.