Ensuring hygienic design in food and beverage plants is of prime importance for both product safety and regulatory compliance. However, the industry often zooms in on isolated details of equipment, overlooking key elements of conceptual process design, project preparation, commissioning and validation. At the EHEDG World Congress 2024 Jeroen would like to offer a holistic perspective on hygienic plant design, showcasing a typical engineering project as an illustrative example, with a focus on technical engineering solutions aligned with hygiene standards. Navigating through each phase and level of detail (LOD), he will highlight challenges, tools and the crucial relationship with commissioning and validation, unveiling success factors for scale-ups, greenfield and brownfield projects. Recognising the consequences of inadequate project preparation, this presentation will emphasise how a coordinated engineering approach is a fundamental investment to mitigate project risks, ensure quality and fulfill production requirements.