Feasibility Studies
Many of our completed buildings began with a feasibility study prepared by us for a client with a nascent project.
A feasibility study is an advisory document, supporting you to make an informed decision on the sustainable future of your project. Asking the right questions together and presenting clear answers is our job in preparing your study.
The feasibility study will be made up of drawings, diagrams and text describing the project scope and testing and refining the outline brief. Our experience as Architects is in turning project briefs into building designs and in co-ordinating the work of engineers and experts. These skills equip us to take charge of your feasibility study.
SCABAL has developed these activities as specific stand-alone disciplines and offer them as a separate service, reporting on projects of varying levels of complexity and any size.
Questions
We will design with you the format of the study to suit your particular project. As a taste, the study should raise and answer the following questions:
Top-level issues
Is the need real? Is it best met by a building project, a refurbishment, an extension or a new build? Or by changing existing work patterns? Will the budget cover the type of building you want? What alternative scenarios are being considered/should you consider? What is the order of priority of the various elements and spaces? What aspects are ‘mission critical’?
Risks and constraints
Will increasing the budget improve the opportunity or reduce risk? Will funding be available and at the right time? How is the organisation capable of managing the project as it is developed? How is the organisation enabled to manage the finished project? Are there funds and skills in place to manage the finished facility or should more be found? Can time constraints be met? What are the legal issues?
Site-specific issues
Is your chosen site/building suitable for the proposed function and business case? Are there any potential site problems, such as poor ground conditions, inadequate utilities, access or lack of expansion space? Is planning permission likely to be granted? What impact will your project have on the locality?
The study
When drafting the study, we will make sure that it defines the areas of detailed work that are needed to take the project forward, covering the following aspects:
Technical – relating to the building or site possibilities, constraints and likely permissions required,
Financial – including initial fundraising, realism of future revenue streams and long-term cost implications,
Organisational – the ability of the organisation to do the project and extra skills needed,
Programme – the length of time needed, and any phasing issues.
To be?
On deciding how your project is to be feasible, you may need to present its findings to your project board/steering group and senior appointments to come to a decision to proceed. We in turn support this stage and are happy to be present to discuss some of the more complex or controversial aspects that the feasibility study raises.
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