In this first step, we will review all the background research available to the project to date and engage in consultation meetings with the design team, the civic or commercial client group, the community and/or other stakeholders, as required. Our research will include historical, ecological, and cultural investigations into the multiple layers of story that are embedded in each project’s specific site. If possible, we will also spend time exploring the site in person, to understand its specific context and experience. The work that emerges will be shared in consultation so the design team, clients, community and stakeholders can contribute additional perspective.

We will weave the research and engagement discoveries together to find the most compelling themes and narratives that will form the basis of our storytelling plan. We will explore the site to find the best locations in which to tell different stories, taking into account the physical features of the site, prominent views, paths or places of significance that have been identified. We then map specific storytelling opportunities to the plan, creating a visual interpretive site overlay for further consultation with the project group.

Based on all the information that has been collected to date, including information from our public engagement, we will develop conceptual approaches to storytelling that could range from simple text or graphic to more experiential or functional elements, depending upon each specific project. We prepare a visual presentation of our storytelling ideas through renderings, plans, elevations models, diagrams graphic layouts and story clips such that everyone involved will understand the proposed general approach or approaches to storytelling on site.

Through an engaged review of the conceptual approaches with the stakeholders, the community, the client, and the design team, we will develop the design through an iterative process which will be tied to the overall landscape or architectural construction drawings schedule. We will produce detailed design drawings of all storytelling opportunities including forms, materials, and text or graphic layouts.

Throughout the design process, we will continue to engage in further research in order to locate the best, and most up to date historical or cultural information and text to include in our storytelling elements. These developments will be vetted with the design team, civic partners, and cultural groups to get support and buy-in from everyone. Often this can result in multiple iterations, however, in our experience, this process is invaluable in order to ensure that inclusive stories are being sensitively told.

In this phase, we prepare construction documents and specifications for the storytelling elements and will review the work as it progresses through the fabrication process, to installation on the site. This can involve sample reviews, graphic proofs, mock ups, lighting tests, audio visual coordination, digital programming, and other details. As an additional component to our work, we will provide detailed maintenance manuals for the works to ensure that the works that have been created stay beautiful and continue to bring stories to life on the site for decades to come.