Design That Builds Consensus | By Barbara Hubbard, LEED AP

Design for the built environment is the embodiment of the phrase: “the work of many hands.”

While the complexity of practice may not make the work “light,” it means that by its very nature we are engaged in a team sport. Creating solutions using the framework of design is part of the spark that drew all of us into practice; but it is the skill of building consensus around the work that has enabled us to thrive over 90 years.

As design professionals, we are never working with a blank slate or in a vacuum. There is always the need to bring expertise and to be ready to learn, to address new challenges and understand context, to engage with clients and foster broader dialogue with stakeholders. A healthy cycle of planning, design iteration and refinement all come together and gain traction through the process of building consensus.

It is this layered process that lies at the very heart of design, and we think it is worthy of highlighting and celebrating. Whether our teams are meeting with singular clients, with small groups providing input or with large groups who have an interest in a project’s development; whether they are using tools to build a common understanding around design, presenting to a Board of Directors or a Planning Board, working in the field and responding to new information, we are constantly deploying our skills to build consensus.

Managing complexity, looking ahead and bringing people together are skills essential to design. Here’s to building consensus, and to the possibilities that emerge when people come together around great ideas.