Abstract "Design one, build many." That is the oft tried, but seldom achieved, industry goal behind Williams’ Gulfstar FPS, a Classic Spar hull form with a traditional GoM three-level topsides. Williams set out to design the Gulfstar FPS as a flexible production handling hub for deepwater producers that would provide a re-usable core design which could be combined with plug and play options to adapt that design for specific developments. This overall goal of developing a re-usable design was soundly achieved but, in keeping with the industry's historical struggle to design "standard" platforms, the list of things to be done differently next time in the design and delivery is still substantial. With Serial # 1 installed and producing, the paper describes some notable lessons learned, particularly related to standardization, as well as the challenges of expanding Gulfstar's capabilities to service the special requirements of the Lower Tertiary developments that will become commonplace in the years ahead. In addition to describing the key characteristics of this design that enable it to be considered and used as a "standard," this paper addresses some broader field development questions such as, ‘Why a Spar?,’ and ‘Why a Classic Spar?’ The information and results presented in this paper are applicable to engineers and planners of deepwater developments when evaluating floating systems, particularly designs that have the potential and/or the goal to become a "standard" and applicable to be re-used to a significant degree.