Beyond the Assignment: Impact and Learning in Institutional Projects

Over more than ten years of experience at TORUS, we have participated in a wide variety of institutional projects: from public initiatives, NGOs, civil associations, and organized communities. In all of them, the greatest challenge has undoubtedly been establishing a common ground: a shared minimum objective that allows all those involved to feel represented and engaged.

Through some examples detailed below, it is evident how the human factor—beyond budgets or designs—is decisive in the success or failure of these projects.

Casita de los 1000 Dias - Foto © Copyright TORUS, S.A.

In 2011, TORUS joined other members of civil society in a national campaign against child malnutrition in Guatemala. Aware that more than 50% of Guatemalan children suffer from chronic malnutrition, the objective was clear: to act during the critical period of the first 1,000 days of life, from conception to two years of age.

Our role was to develop The 1,000 Days House , a physical and replicable model of a preventive primary care center focused on pregnant mothers. This space provided essential nutrients like folic acid and provided training in ten concrete actions to prevent malnutrition. The first prototype was built in front of the National Palace during the Nutrition Expo. Thanks to the support of PRESANCA, we were able to replicate it in two villages in Honduras, two in El Salvador, and one in Guatemala.

Although the project initially had the support of the Presidential Secretariat of Food and Nutritional Security (SESAN), its national implementation was hampered by bureaucracy. Were the model's precision and budgetary clarity an obstacle to its institutional adoption? Or was the political moment simply not conducive to its development? The answers remain unanswered. However, the model was invited to be presented at Tufts University as an example of good practice in public health prevention, and its open-source approach allowed it to be downloaded and adapted in African countries and other regions of the world.

Antigua Estacion de Ferrovias - Foto © Copyright TORUS, S.A.

On another occasion, we were invited to lead the design charrette for the State Administrative Center (CAE) , a project sponsored by ANADIE (National Institute of Statistics and Geography). This proposed building a public office complex on a historically sensitive site: the former Guatemala City railway station. The intention to centralize public services in the Civic Center was well-founded, but it met with opposition from a sector that advocated restoring the site to its original use, without contemporary intervention.

The purpose of the charrette was to establish minimum agreements to guide spatial planning under common technical criteria. Although both positions were valid, the lack of willingness on the part of certain stakeholders to compromise or integrate different visions impeded progress. Informed dissent is essential to improving public projects, but we found that, in many cases, ego or personal agendas become the greatest obstacle to achieving high-impact collective solutions.

Instituto Nacional de la Marimba - Foto © Copyright TORUS, S.A.

Finally, for the interior design project for the National Marimba Institute , located in the Miguel Ángel Asturias Cultural Center, we assembled a top-notch team in museology, acoustics, and lighting. (This monument is considered the last unfinished work of Maestro Efrain Recinos.) We developed a comprehensive technical document to guide the general contractor's execution. However, the implementation suffered from poor material selection and decisions that ignored the studio's specifications. This led us to ask: Is it possible for a well-founded document to become incomprehensible to teams without the necessary technical expertise? Or was the budget the determining factor for the deviation in quality?

Conclusion:

Institutional projects face complex challenges, but they also possess immense transformative potential. When these projects involve the best talent, with solid technical criteria and cultural and social sensitivity, their impact can be profound and lasting. However, success depends not only on the design, but also on the collective capacity to dialogue, compromise, integrate, and execute with rigor. We must acknowledge that in all these projects in which we were involved, our learning curve increased exponentially.

At TORUS, we believe that raising the technical and ethical bar in institutional projects not only improves the quality of public spaces, but also strengthens social trust, generates collective learning, and opens up opportunities to replicate good practices. Designing with ethics and excellence for the common good should not be the exception, but the norm.