Choose the architect through a documented, qualifications-based process. Define the renovation’s scope, institutional needs, budget, schedule, building constraints and decision makers before you solicit firms. Then compare demonstrably relevant completed work, the people who will actually lead the project, the consultant team, technical and preservation capability, stakeholder approach, availability, schedule, references and clearly stated fee assumptions. Use a request for qualifications (RFQ) to create a defensible shortlist, followed by detailed proposals and interviews against criteria published in advance.
This approach matters because a museum renovation must work simultaneously as a building project, an operating workplace, a collection-protection exercise and a public experience. A firm can have an impressive cultural portfolio yet lack the right experience with your building type, occupied operations, conservation requirements or governance structure.
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Start with an owner-side brief
Do not begin by asking architects for ideas. Begin by documenting what the institution needs to accomplish and the conditions under which it must do so. A clear brief lets every proposer answer the same question and gives your selection panel a fair basis for comparison.
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Describe the areas included, what is explicitly excluded and the outcomes that will define success. Your brief may cover galleries, visitor arrival, education rooms, public amenities, storage, loading, offices, conservation spaces, event areas, exterior work or site circulation. State whether the project is a renovation, an addition, a phased combination or a feasibility study leading to later work.
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Explain what the finished project must improve: collection safety, environmental stability, accessibility, visitor flow, exhibition flexibility, staff efficiency, energy performance, security, revenue-generating space or the institution’s public identity. An architect should respond to those outcomes rather than substitute a generic design concept.
Record operational realities
State which galleries, offices and support spaces must remain open, whether the museum can close temporarily, how exhibitions will be moved, and what noise, dust, vibration or temperature limits apply near collections. Identify blackout periods, major exhibition dates, school programs, events and donor commitments that constrain construction.
List the people who will make or influence decisions: board members, director, curatorial and conservation staff, facilities, visitor services, education, security, finance, information technology, development staff, tenants, public agencies and community partners. Include who has approval authority and how disagreements will be resolved.
Set known cost, schedule and site information
Give the working project budget and explain what it includes: construction, professional services, exhibits, furniture, equipment, temporary facilities, escalation, contingency and owner-procured items. A budget without these boundaries invites proposals that appear comparable but are not.
Provide the target milestones, such as fundraising gates, design approvals, permitting, bid or construction-manager procurement, phased occupancy and reopening. Attach available surveys, as-builts, condition assessments, hazardous-material reports, energy data and prior studies, while identifying information that is still unknown.
Describe ownership and procurement route. Publicly owned or publicly funded work may have mandatory advertising, licensing, minority- or disadvantaged-business participation, wage, insurance and contract requirements. Private, nonprofit and university owners may have different rules. Confirm the requirements for your jurisdiction and funding sources before issuing the solicitation.
Identify specialist services early
Decide which disciplines must be included in the architect’s team. Depending on the building and program, that may include structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, life safety, security, lighting, acoustics, information technology, sustainability, environmental planning, landscape, interiors, exhibit design, conservation, building-envelope, historic-preservation or hazardous-material specialists.
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The Smithsonian’s museum RFQ sought licensed architects and engineers and expertise spanning structural engineering, fire protection, security and life safety, sustainable design, lighting, environmental planning, acoustics and other specialist areas. That 2008 solicitation is an example of the breadth a major museum may require, not a checklist that applies to every renovation. Review the Smithsonian RFQ example and tailor the team to your actual brief.
Set selection criteria before you see responses
Publish the criteria and their relative importance before opening submissions. A panel can then score evidence instead of being swayed by a famous name, a dramatic rendering or the lowest preliminary fee.
Relevant completed experience
Look for completed renovations of museums, galleries, cultural institutions, historic or landmark buildings and other projects with comparable operational complexity. Ask for project size, scope, dates, budget range, procurement method, current status and the firm’s exact role. A firm that was a minor design consultant on a new building should not receive the same credit as one that led an occupied, phased renovation.
Ask references about results that matter to your institution: coordination with collections and exhibitions, change orders, schedule reliability, commissioning, defects, communication and post-occupancy support. Request references for projects led by the proposed team, not only by the firm generally.
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The named project team
Require names, roles, availability and expected level of effort for the project architect, project manager, technical leads and each major consultant. Review licenses where the jurisdiction requires them. Ask who has authority to make design decisions, who will attend owner meetings and who will be present during construction.
Confirm that the people shown in the interview will remain assigned after appointment. A compelling principal can win the work while a less experienced team performs it unless the contract identifies key personnel and a substitution process.
Understanding and project approach
Evaluate how each firm interprets your brief. Strong responses identify the building’s unknowns, propose an early investigation plan and explain how design decisions will be tested with staff, visitors and governing bodies. They should address occupied operations, collection moves, security, life safety, accessibility, environmental control, phasing and construction logistics where those issues apply.
Stakeholder engagement and communication
Ask for a practical engagement plan: who is consulted, at what design milestones, which decisions are delegated, how feedback is recorded and how the team prevents endless redesign. Request sample agendas, decision logs or workshop formats if useful. Include community or cultural stakeholders when the institution’s mission requires it.
Schedule, availability and risk management
Require a milestone schedule with assumptions. Test whether the proposed staffing can meet your dates and whether the firm has capacity during fundraising, approvals and construction. Ask how it will handle unknown existing conditions, long-lead equipment, permitting delays, discovery of hazardous materials, changing exhibit requirements and budget pressure.
Fee clarity
Request a fee structure tied to a defined scope, with assumptions, exclusions, reimbursables, consultant costs and hourly rates for additional services. Explain how the firm will notify you when a requested change affects fee or schedule. A low number that omits surveys, coordination or construction-phase services is not comparable to a complete proposal.
AIA Minnesota’s hiring guidance recommends selecting on qualifications and negotiating the fee after the firm is selected because scope and service quality can be difficult to define at the outset. That is guidance, not a universal rule: public and institutional owners must follow their applicable procurement requirements and solicitation terms. See the AIA Minnesota selection guidance.
Use an RFQ to build a qualified shortlist
An RFQ is the right first stage when you need to establish capability before asking firms to invest in a detailed design and fee proposal. Keep it specific enough to reveal fit without demanding unpaid concept work.
What the RFQ should contain
- Owner identity, governance and procurement contact.
- Project purpose, locations, approximate areas and requested services.
- Known budget, schedule, phasing and occupied-building constraints.
- Collection, exhibition, accessibility, security, sustainability and preservation objectives that are already known.
- Submission format, page limits, questions deadline, delivery method and selection timetable.
- Required licenses, insurance, conflicts disclosures, certifications and team commitments.
- Evaluation criteria and any rules governing interviews, negotiations or public records.
Ask for concise firm information, comparable project sheets, resumes for the actual leads, consultant relationships, references and a short statement of approach. Do not let glossy imagery replace evidence of completed work and accountable personnel.
Shortlist on evidence of fit
Score each response against the published criteria. Eliminate firms that cannot demonstrate the required license, capacity, relevant building experience or consultant coverage. Record reasons for advancing or declining each firm so the process can be explained to trustees, funders or auditors.
The American Institute of Architects describes a two-stage renewal selection in which it considered more than 60 firms and invited 11 to compete after the RFQ stage. The quoted figures belong to that AIA headquarters renewal example; they are not a recommended number of applicants or a sector benchmark. Read the AIA Building Renewal FAQ.
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Request detailed proposals and interview finalists
Send every finalist the same questions, background information and opportunity to ask clarifying questions. Require a response that demonstrates how the firm would work on your building, not a generic capability statement.
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- What would you investigate first? Look for a disciplined plan for surveys, testing, records review, code analysis, collection requirements and stakeholder discovery.
- How will the named team participate? Ask for time commitments, decision authority and examples of the principals’ actual involvement on cited projects.
- How will the museum operate during design and construction? Probe temporary galleries, staff moves, visitor routes, security zones, collection protection, noise and vibration controls, and phased commissioning.
- Which consultants are essential? Require the firm to explain disciplines, responsibilities and coordination points rather than simply attach a long consultant list.
- How will decisions be made? Ask for meeting cadence, deliverables, approval gates, cost checks and a process for resolving conflicting stakeholder requests.
- What assumptions drive the schedule and fee? Require explicit allowances for surveys, permitting, public review, travel, reimbursables and additional services.
- What risks could change the plan? Ask how the team will identify, price, communicate and mitigate unknown conditions.
Run a structured interview
Give finalists the same time, attendees and presentation requirements. Include representatives who understand collections, facilities, operations, finance and governance. Score the interview separately from presentation polish. A short scenario—such as discovering inadequate humidity control above a gallery or needing to keep a major exhibition open—can show how teams reason under pressure.
Contact references directly. Ask what the named architect and project manager personally did, whether the final team matched the proposal, how the firm handled cost and schedule problems, and whether the client would hire that team again for a similar renovation.
Use project-specific scoring, not a copied formula
A 2026 Allentown Art Museum architecture RFP illustrates criteria covering relevant experience, approach, team qualifications and availability, schedule and stakeholder engagement, fee assumptions and references. Its weighting and dates belong to that procurement and should not be copied as a universal formula. Consult the Allentown Art Museum RFP example for the type of categories a museum may publish.
Test technical, preservation and regulatory capability
Ask each finalist to identify approvals and investigations that may apply to your actual property. Depending on location and ownership, these can include building and accessibility codes, fire and life-safety review, environmental assessment, historic-preservation approval, landmark commission review, planning or zoning approvals, energy requirements, grant conditions and public procurement rules.
The Smithsonian example incorporated environmental impact and historic-preservation review in early planning. That does not establish requirements for another museum. Your architect should map the approvals, responsible parties, submission dates and design consequences for your jurisdiction.
For federal architect-engineer procurements, FAR Part 36 and FAR Subpart 36.6 describe qualifications-based procedures and professional qualifications as a selection consideration. Those rules apply to covered federal procurements, not automatically to nonprofit, municipal or private projects. Obtain jurisdiction-specific legal and procurement advice where needed.
Compare firms on the same evidence
| Axis | Evidence to request |
|---|---|
| Relevant experience | Comparable completed renovations; the firm’s and proposed leads’ roles; client references |
| Proposed team | Named project architect and manager, availability, licensing, consultant disciplines and accountability |
| Understanding and approach | Response to the institution’s brief; design and project work plan; approach to occupied operations and stakeholder decisions |
| Technical and preservation capacity | Needed engineering, life-safety, building-systems, sustainability, conservation and preservation expertise based on project scope |
| Delivery | Milestones, schedule realism, coordination plan, risk handling and communication |
| Commercial clarity | Fee, scope assumptions, exclusions, reimbursables and additional-services process |
Use a written score sheet and require each panelist to record evidence. Discuss large scoring differences before averaging them. Keep the finalist presentations, questions, reference notes and conflict disclosures with the procurement record.
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Once the selection committee identifies the best-qualified firm, reconcile its proposal with the final agreement. The contract should identify deliverables, phases, meetings, approvals, consultant responsibilities, cost-estimating and value-management duties, code and permit support, bidding or procurement assistance, construction administration, site visits, commissioning, closeout and post-occupancy services.
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Define the fee basis for each phase and consultant. State what is reimbursable, how travel and printing are treated, which surveys are allowances, and how additional services are authorized. Require written notice before work outside the agreed scope proceeds, with its effect on fee and schedule.
Protect continuity and accountability
Name key personnel in the agreement and require approval for substitutions. Set reporting, meeting and issue-escalation expectations. Clarify ownership and permitted use of drawings and models, insurance, indemnity, confidentiality, records, termination and dispute procedures with counsel appropriate to the project.
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Decide whether you need an owner’s representative
A museum with limited internal capital-project experience may need an owner’s representative or project manager who understands design and construction. That role can help maintain the brief, coordinate trustees and staff, monitor schedule and budget, manage decisions and review the architect’s deliverables. AIA Minnesota identifies an owner’s representative as one possible alternative to a selection committee; it is a service category to evaluate, not a recommendation of any provider.
Do not use an owner’s representative to blur accountability. Define who directs the architect, who approves scope and budget changes, who communicates with the contractor and who reports to the board.
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Choosing the most recognizable name
Recognition is not evidence that the proposed team can renovate your building while it remains operational. Score comparable completed work and verify the roles of the people assigned.
Requesting design concepts too early
Unpaid concepts reward presentation resources and can conceal unknown conditions. Use the RFQ to establish qualifications, then ask finalists for a project approach, investigations and decision process rather than a speculative master plan.
Comparing incomplete fees
Normalize scope before comparing numbers. Check whether each fee includes consultants, surveys, permitting, exhibit coordination, construction-phase services, travel and reimbursables. Document exclusions instead of assuming they are included.
Ignoring occupied operations
A design that works on paper may fail if it blocks visitor routes, exposes collections to vibration or cannot be built around exhibitions. Require an operations and phasing response in the proposal and test it with facilities and conservation staff.
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Leaving preservation review until late
Identify potential historic, environmental and public-agency reviews during briefing. Late discoveries can force redesign, delay approvals and alter the budget.
Failing to plan stakeholder decisions
Invite every interested group to every meeting and the project may stall. Establish who is consulted, who recommends, who approves and when decisions become fixed.
Assuming a past museum project proves current capacity
Ask when the cited work was completed, who led it, what the firm is doing now and whether those people are available. A portfolio is only relevant when the proposed team and current workload support the claim.
A practical decision checklist
- The brief states scope, outcomes, budget boundaries, schedule, phasing and operating constraints.
- Decision makers, approval authority and stakeholder groups are identified.
- Required architectural, engineering, exhibit, conservation, preservation and other disciplines are defined.
- RFQ criteria and submission requirements were published before evaluation.
- Each finalist supplied comparable completed work and references tied to the proposed leads.
- Licensing, conflicts, insurance and procurement eligibility were checked for the project’s jurisdiction.
- The proposed team’s availability and continuity were confirmed.
- Interviews used the same questions and a documented scoring method.
- Schedule assumptions, risk management, occupied operations and stakeholder engagement were tested.
- Fee scope, exclusions, reimbursables and additional-services procedures are understood.
- Preservation, environmental, accessibility, life-safety and other approvals have an identified path.
- The final contract names deliverables, responsibilities, key personnel, decision rights and reporting.
- The institution has adequate owner-side capacity or has separately procured appropriate project-management support.
Geography, date and applicability of the guidance
The cited examples are U.S.-oriented. Licensing, public procurement, preservation review, funding conditions and contract rules vary by jurisdiction and ownership structure. The Smithsonian RFQ dates from 2008, AIA Minnesota’s document is older guidance, and the Allentown Art Museum RFP is a project-specific 2026 example. Treat them as models for questions and process design, then confirm current requirements with the authority having jurisdiction, counsel and your funding agencies.
The American Alliance of Museums’ 2026 account of renovation work offers an operational perspective on coordination among museum staff, a project manager and an architect, but it is not a formal selection standard. Read the American Alliance of Museums account when planning internal coordination.
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