As explained in the previous chapter, briefing is often an explorative process. Except perhaps for small projects, clients are seldom able to produce a full brief all at once. Accordingly, this chapter discusses the brief not as a single document, but as a sequence of segments that become more detailed and definite as the project progresses. These segments are: (1)The strategic brief: The strategic brief is a concise brief that is written at the very beginning of the project. It gives a bulleted description of the clients key ambitions and an initial estimate of the projects scope. The contents can be quite abstract, but they should contain sufficient detail to enable the design team to develop a concept design. (2)The functional brief: The functional brief supplements the strategic brief with a detailed overview of the requested functions and spaces that need to be realized in the project. It is very much about room quantities and square metres, and it fixes the spatial contours of the project. It serves as the primary input for the design teams design development. (3)The technical brief: The technical brief is an elaboration of the functional brief. Functional needs are translated into performance requirements concerning technical matters such as indoor climate, mechanical/electrical services, fittings and fixtures. The information is of a specialist nature and gives direction to the technical design of the building. This sequence corresponds deliberately to the phasing of the design process (see figure opposite page). The idea is that each briefing segment feeds into a different part of the design process, thereby ensuring that the design team gets the right information at the right moment. Furthermore, the alignment allows for interplay between the design process and the briefing processes. The brief provides input for the design process, and vice versa.It is important to point out, however, that the proposed sequence is not intended to be followed rigidly. For example, professional clients often prefer to combine all segments into a single project brief because they want to keep the design process free of too many iterations. The same applies to Design & Build projects, where the brief functions as a delivery contract, which means that it should be as complete as possible before the start of the design process.Nevertheless, even these kinds of projects will benefit from a structured briefing process that explicitly addresses the clients strategic objectives and functional needs before rushing into any technical details. 25