Architecting Giga Projects

Marc O’Connor, Global Capital Projects Leader, Deloitte
Professor Harvey Maylor, Saïd Business School

The purpose of this article is to provoke conversations about Giga Projects: their characteristics, complexities, opportunities and challenges. We provide our thoughts and guiding frameworks, and a chance to join those conversations about delivering the future.

Giga Projects are Infrastructure or Capital Project investments of such scale and ambition that they can be considered ‘once in a generation’ in terms of what they deliver to the world, and the way that they deliver it. They have a guiding vision which, if successfully delivered, will have a fundamental and transformative impact on entire societies and the ways we live and work. Giga Projects typically comprise of numerous Mega Projects, which, in themselves, comprise portfolios, programmes and projects. This presents a step change in scale and complexity due to the number of interfaces that need to be managed and integrated.

Fundamental to achieving the transformative vision of a Giga Project is an ongoing and iterative process comprising three elements:

• Breaking down the vision into component parts in a series of phases, with delivery models designed for the activities within those phases

• Integrating the individual components into a ‘Holistic Delivery Ecosystem’, closely managing the interfaces across all organisational layers and the external environment

• Holistically evaluating delivery outcomes ensuring the combined actual outcomes realise the original intent and vision of the project.

This article explores this holistic approach, which provides the foundation architecture for Giga Projects, as well as the the three key enablers leaders should consider critical for successful delivery.

No matter where you are on your Giga Project journey, we would be
delighted to share our latest thought leadership, perspectives and insights
with you, and explore what it could mean for your Giga Project. We can also offer you an immersive ‘Deloitte Greenhouse lab’ to discuss your key challenges in more detail and provide you with a tangible action plan.