Just like the Library series, this Sub-series appears to have been created when the firm of Robbie Architects Planners took form in 1980 following the dissolution of the predecessor Robbie, Williams and Kassum partnership. It was meant to keep track of the firm's endeavours to secure commissions and consisted of files created according to two distinct patterns :
1- General promotion files;
2- Project specific promotion files.
"General promotion files" were meant to promote the skills and experience of the firm as a whole, usually through the use of brochures and other graphical material. The original files therefore included multiple copies of sample information pages which could be assembled into "promotion" brochures in due course; record copies of brochures already issued; other material which is used to finished presentations. As they were not associated with any specific project, these files were not numbered.
Additional files of a similar nature can also be found in the Administration and Accounting Series under the relevant partnership's name.
"Project specific promotion files" were created when the firm decided to seek a specific project advertised in the market place. A project opportunity could also come to the firm by direct invitation from the owner, or through an intermediary, as a result of an RFP, (Request For Proposals) being published, or the proposed project could be an initiative of the firm, approaching a potential owner with new ideas for development and construction.
Whatever its origin, each specific project was given a file number followed by the name of the job, if it referred to a building, and the report or study name if the work sought did not involve designing any specific building. The numbers start with a prefix that represents a type of building (see complete list below) followed by the year the file was opened and a consecutive number within the year. That is the theory. In practice the numbering system often failed to include the prefix and, more confusing, some file numbers were used more than once to designate distinct projects. Furthermore, through time and reorganizations, files of various provenance (such as surviving copies of pre-RAP firms or RAN International, Arcanco, R/Y W promotion files) were added to the system, making it less coherent. Finally, a clear distinction between promotion and project files is not always possible, leading to the possibility of files being assigned to the wrong sub-series or indeed to the wrong category as per the list below.
A project specific promotion file was maintained until the firm won a project, lost it to someone else, or simply ended the promotion as a non-productive waste of professional time and other resources. If the firm was retained to carry out a project then the Promotion File was closed and a Project File opened with a new number assigned to it (although many numbers were brought forward into the Project numbering system). These files are the object of the next sub-series of records.
