After evaluating the first round of maquettes and proposals submitted for Nobel Square by the eight artists, a few of them were approached to form a working group and submit a combined proposal for Nobel Square. Together with a landscaping architect, they held a two-day workshop under the guidance of the Nobel Square Technical Committee in Cape Town in May 2004 and came up certain proposals.

These proposals were refined into one proposal, ensuring that aesthetic coherence exists and that the final product makes a lasting and stimulating contribution to public art and sculpture in South Africa.

The next step was to hold research meetings with the three surviving Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and the Luthuli family, to obtain accurate proportions, dimensions and measurements, as well as to discuss appropriate stances and gestures for the sculpted figures. The research meetings formed part of the very thorough and consultative process the Western Cape Government and the V&A Waterfront have been following with the Project.

At the beginning of 2005 maquettes of the proposed sculptures were presented, together with a proposal for the layout of Nobel Square, to the four Laureates and/or their families, as well as the Western Cape Government and V&A Waterfront, for their approval.