EBG Studios · Development Atlas · DRAFT — For review & feedback
Chapter I · Discover
Why should this project exist?
Stage 1 · Questions, problems & people
Each lead brings the answer together with the people named below. Maya represents the developer and enterprise owner; specialists and public reviewers retain their own responsibilities.
Turn application growth, security and continuity needs into a workload forecast and a clear reason to invest.
With: Jo (operations lead).
CIO and application owners validate the business need.
Compare a new enterprise facility with improving existing capacity or using external services before committing to a site.
With: Noor (power & cooling engineer); Jo (operations lead).
Corporate finance tests affordability and alternatives.
Define the users, required capacity, resilience expectations and success measures so the team designs for an agreed purpose.
With: Morgan (project architect); Jo (operations lead).
Authorize a bounded investigation budget and record what evidence would justify proceeding, revising or stopping.
The enterprise sponsor authorizes the investigation.
What this milestone needs to produce
An agreed business brief and permission to investigate, with a budget and decision criteria.
Why this stage matters
A development begins with a useful change in the world: a place for a business to operate, a home people can afford, or a tired building brought back into use. A vision becomes a thesis when you state who needs that change, why they will pay for it and what would make you walk away. Starting with a building shape before understanding those needs can lock the team into the wrong answer.
The decision map
People & information
Frames the opportunity and owns the decision.
Shares evidence with the development lead and the other stage disciplines.Explain unmet needs and potential impacts.
Shares evidence with the development lead and the other stage disciplines.Defines capital constraints and return expectations.
Shares evidence with the development lead and the other stage disciplines.Parallel work, shared decisions
Illustrative relative activity, not a duration schedule. A stage can loop back as evidence changes. Select another discipline to see where it contributes.
| Workstream | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Market & Tenancy | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Land & Approvals | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Design & Engineering | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Finance & Investment | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Construction & Procurement | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Delivery & Operations | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Stakeholder | 1 · Opportunity & vision | 2 · Market & site | 3 · Diligence & control | 4 · Planning & feasibility | 5 · Approvals & commitment | 6 · Design & procurement | 7 · Construction & delivery | 8 · Commissioning & handover | 9 · Tenancy & stabilization |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developer | Set the thesis | Choose the search criteria | Own the acquisition decision | Integrate design and economics | Align approval and capital | Approve scope and contracts | Authorize verified changes | Accept documented handover | Review performance and strategy |
| Investor & lender | Set risk and capital limits | Challenge demand assumptions | Review acquisition risks | Test equity need and returns | Define conditions precedent | Review the committed budget | Review eligible draw evidence | Confirm completion conditions | Monitor coverage and evaluate exit |
| Design & engineering | Explore user requirements | Screen site constraints | Investigate physical conditions | Develop and compare concepts | Address authority conditions | Coordinate detailed packages | Resolve technical field questions | Verify systems and as-built records | Review feedback from operation |
| Contractor & suppliers | Offer early feasibility insight | Advise on site access | Identify construction uncertainty | Estimate scope and sequencing | Test schedule feasibility | Price packages and lead times | Execute work and record quality | Complete tests and defects | Respond to warranty obligations |
| Users & community | Explain unmet needs | Test location and access | Identify local impacts | Review functional usefulness | Participate in applicable review | Confirm use requirements | Coordinate tenant interfaces | Receive usable and safe space | Report performance and changing needs |
| Operator & asset manager | Define operating objectives | Assess serviceability | Identify inherited liabilities | Estimate operating burden | Plan the operating transition | Review maintainability | Prepare asset and service records | Receive manuals and training | Manage leasing, costs and capital plans |
Roles may overlap within one organization. The project’s contracts and local requirements determine actual authority and responsibility.
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Priority score | Response |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unproven demand | 4 | 4 | 16 | Verify evidence; assign an owner, mitigation and decision deadline. |
| Misaligned objectives | 3 | 4 | 12 | Verify evidence; assign an owner, mitigation and decision deadline. |
| Too much early spending | 2 | 3 | 6 | Verify evidence; assign an owner, mitigation and decision deadline. |
Choose a concept. Choose your depth.
Why should this project exist?
Overview · Understand · ApplyWhich assumptions actually drive this decision?
Overview · Understand · ApplyWhich intervention creates a benefit users will pay for?
Optional practice
Try the enterprise data-center decision, then compare it with the logistics exercise below.
Juniper Ridge · make the call
An internal workload forecast, security and resilience requirements, alternatives analysis and a bounded investigation budget.
Apply the same development principles to Riverton Logistics Center. This supporting case uses its own warehouse assumptions and preserves your recorded logistics decisions.
Decision studio · Stage 01
You are the project’s development lead. Rank three development theses using explicit investor priorities. Use the fictional evidence below, make a choice and explain what you would verify.
Available equity: $5M. Priorities: demand evidence, manageable complexity, then capital fit.
Two distributors need flexible loading. Interest is nonbinding; neither has signed a lease.
| Thesis | Score / 10 |
|---|---|
| Riverton logistics | 8.00 |
| Neighborhood infill homes | 7.70 |
| Downtown office conversion | 4.20 |
Riverton logistics ranks first at 8.00/10 under your priorities. Scores represent illustrative judgments, not measured investment returns. A different weighting can support a different choice; your rationale should identify what evidence would reverse it.
