In the construction industry, a conceptual design is the design team’s initial response to the client’s requirements. Conceptual design is usually carried out following a situation analysis, feasibility studies and a project summary.

Conceptual design is usually considered to be the first real design phase. Some designers distinguish between ‘concept design’ and ‘schematic design’. In this case, the ‘concept’ is the initial design idea, while the ‘schematic’ develops the concept to take into account more functional and practical aspects. In most project plans, these two phases are now combined into a single phase called ‘concept design’ or ‘concept’.

The conceptual design is followed by the ‘detailed design’ or ‘developed design’, during which all the main components of the building are developed and described, and how they fit together.