Architects and interior designers brief specialists all the time. Lighting designers, acousticians, landscape architects and kitchen consultants all receive detailed briefs, drawings and programmes, and are expected to work within them. Art is too often the exception. It is left until the finishes are fixed, handed over with a budget figure and a mood board, and expected to fill the walls in time for the opening.
The results are predictable. Works chosen late rarely feel part of the architecture. Walls that were never reinforced cannot take the piece the client wants. Lighting falls in the wrong place, and the budget has already been spent elsewhere. A clear brief, issued at the right moment, avoids almost all of this, and it allows an art consultant to work as a genuine member of the design team.
WHEN TO BRING A CONSULTANT IN
The earlier, the better. Using the stages of the RIBA Plan of Work, which most UK practices will recognise, the ideal point is during Stage 2, Concept Design, when the character of the spaces is being defined and art can be considered as part of that thinking rather than applied to it afterwards.
Certain decisions need to be settled by Stage 4, Technical Design, at the latest. Large or heavy works need structural backing in partition walls. Feature works need lighting positions, and media or kinetic works may need power and data. Sculpture may need a plinth, a floor loading check or a fixing detail. Commissions need time, often several months from brief to installation. Each of these is simple to accommodate on the drawings and expensive to retrofit once walls are boarded and ceilings closed.
Some projects carry a formal public art requirement, typically as a condition of planning permission or through a section 106 agreement. Where that applies, the consultant should be involved before the strategy is submitted, since the planning authority may expect to approve both the approach and the artists.
WHAT A GOOD BRIEF CONTAINS
A useful brief need not be long. It does need to answer the questions a consultant will otherwise have to ask, and it should be agreed with the client before it is issued.
1. THE PROJECT AND THE PEOPLE IT SERVES
Describe the client, the brand and the purpose of the building. For a hotel, that means the market position, the typical guest and the story the property wants to tell. For a workplace, it means the culture of the organisation and the people who will see the art every day, from staff to visiting clients. Say whether there is a wish to reflect the locality, to support artists from the region or to follow a particular theme. Equally important is what the client does not want.
2. THE SPACES
Provide plans, elevations and, where they exist, renders of every space in scope. Mark the walls and locations intended for art, with dimensions, ceiling heights and principal sightlines. Include the finishes and materials palette, the lighting design and any features that limit what can go where, such as glazing, joinery, signage, radiators or access panels. A site visit is always worthwhile once the building can be walked, but good drawings allow serious work to begin well before then.
3. THE BUDGET
State the budget clearly, and say what it is meant to cover. A figure for the works alone will produce a very different scheme from one that must also cover framing, delivery, installation, lighting adjustments and the consultant's fees. A contingency is sensible, particularly where commissions are involved. Say too whether the client intends to buy the works, rent them or combine the two, since that affects both the cash flow and the kinds of works that make sense in each space.
4. THE PROGRAMME
Give the key dates: design freeze, the period when installation can take place, handover and opening. Note any phasing, such as floors or buildings completed in sequence. The consultant can then plan the order of work, from selection and approval to framing, production of commissions and delivery. Framing alone can take several weeks for a large guest-room scheme, and many commissioned works take months.
5. SPECIFICATION AND CONSTRAINTS
Set out the technical requirements the works must meet. These commonly include:
■ Fire safety requirements, including the treatment of materials and the need to keep escape routes, signage and equipment clear. ■ Maximum weights and the fixing methods permitted on each wall type. ■ Security requirements, such as tamper-resistant fixings in public areas. ■ Environmental conditions, including spaces with high humidity, direct sunlight or heat sources. ■ Cleaning and maintenance regimes, and any materials or glazing the client prefers to avoid. ■ Access and inclusion considerations, such as hanging heights and works that project into circulation routes.
If the works are to be installed on an active site, the consultant and installers will usually need to work under the principal contractor's site rules and the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, with risk assessments and method statements prepared in advance.
6. THE APPROVAL PROCESS
Explain who will approve the scheme and how. Name the decision-makers on the client side and say how many rounds of review are expected. Specify the format you prefer for presentations, whether in-situ visuals, sample boards, schedules or physical viewings. A consultant who knows in advance that a brand team, an owner and an operator must all sign off can plan for it. One who discovers it at the final presentation cannot.
If visuals are to include images of real works by named artists, remember that those images are usually protected by copyright. Using them in internal presentations is generally straightforward, but publishing them in marketing material before permission has been obtained is not.
7. PROCUREMENT AND OWNERSHIP
Decide early who will contract with whom. In some projects the client buys or rents works directly from the consultant. In others, purchases run through the design practice or the main contractor as part of the FF&E package. Each arrangement has consequences for invoicing, VAT, insurance during installation and the point at which ownership passes to the client. Ask the consultant to show their fees separately from the price of the works, so that everyone can see what is being paid for, and agree any trade terms in writing.
8. DOCUMENTATION AND HANDOVER
Say what the client should receive at the end. A full inventory, with each work's location, dimensions, value, condition and provenance, should be standard. So should care guidance for facilities and housekeeping teams, and short artist notes or labels for guests and staff. For commissioned works, the contracts and any agreements on reproduction rights and moral rights should be passed to the client on completion.
A NOTE ON SCHEMES AT SCALE
Large projects bring their own demands. A hotel with several hundred guest rooms, or an office building across many floors, may need hundreds of works that are consistent in quality and framing while still feeling individual. The brief should say whether each room is to be different, whether rooms follow a small number of set layouts, and how far works may repeat between floors.
Where a project includes a mock-up or model room, the art should be part of it. It is the cheapest point at which to test frame finishes, hanging heights, glazing, lighting and fixings, and to resolve any concerns from the client or operator before hundreds of identical items go into production. A sample frame approved at this stage saves a great deal of difficulty later.
WHAT A CONSULTANT SHOULD GIVE YOU IN RETURN
In response to a good brief, a capable consultant should provide a written curatorial concept that explains the thinking behind the scheme and how it relates to the architecture and the brand. They should also provide an outline schedule of works for each space, with sizes and indicative prices, and visuals showing the proposed works in place. Add to that a budget plan showing works, framing, installation and fees separately, and a programme aligned with yours. Above all, they should be able to explain why each artist has been proposed, and what is known about their work.
COMMON PITFALLS
■ Bringing the consultant in after walls have been boarded and lighting fixed. ■ Issuing a budget without saying what it includes. ■ Treating art as decoration to be matched to the upholstery, rather than as part of the scheme. ■ Leaving approvals undefined until the end, when changes are most costly. ■ Choosing reproductions without the client understanding that they are not original works. ■ Overlooking copyright when photographing the finished spaces for publication.
HOW WE CAN HELP
RSAS works alongside architects and interior designers from concept stage to final hang. We work to your specification, palette and programme, present options in the format you prefer, and show our fees separately from the price of the works. Clients can buy, rent or combine the two. Trade terms are available to design practices. Full details are on Corporate and Hospitality.