Building an office and retail focus space can be both time-sensitive and expensive if mistakes are made. Most companies have begun to become frustrated with long timelines and delays as here before are miscommunications and alterations to project designs. Thus companies have begun using the Design-Build method. Design-Build eliminates the need to hire separate contractors and designers as everyone is part of the same team from the start of the project. This method results in improved communication as well as lesser delays. Outcomes from Design-Build are completion of spaces with the same expectations that were present at the start and closure of projects within the budget and time that were set. If your company is looking to design and create an office or retail space to fit your needs, the Design-Build method will help lessen the stress of project management.
The Financial Reality Behind the Shift
Let’s be real. Money is the motivating factor in the end.
Why Traditional Methods Cost More Than Expected
Picture this: Your architect creates stunning blueprints in isolation. Beautiful stuff. Award-worthy, even. Then your contractor breaks ground and discovers those gorgeous plans can’t actually be built as drawn. Cue the change orders.
This scenario plays out constantly. Construction rework eats up 5-10% of your total project budget and can devour 20% of your timeline. You’re literally paying to fix preventable mistakes. Mistakes that happened because two separate teams weren’t talking to each other when it mattered most.
How Integrated Teams Save Money
An architect works alone to draft blueprints that are exquisite. In their own world of artistic creation, they are potentially designing an award-winning piece. Construction is then handed over to a new contractor, who finds out that those beautifully drawn plans are not actually able to be constructed.
This happens too frequently for words. Construction rework can chew up 5-10% of the project budget and 20% of the expected timeline. You will be the one to cover these mistakes that were able to be prevented. These mistakes were a result of two teams working on the project in silo.
Austin’s Growing Demand for Better Construction
Central Texas is thriving, this is evident to anyone doing business in the area. Austin’s one-of-a-kind blend of old architecture and new builds is one of the cities many construction challenges. Each challenge requires a new level of construction expertise.
The businesses tackling complex commercial construction austin projects need partners with an understanding of the city’s building codes and the pace of our local market. Each day, vacant offices and closed retail locations result in a loss of significant revenue. Our integrated approach streamlines construction in order eliminate inefficiencies and deliver spaces more quickly.
Speed Matters When Revenue’s on the Line
Most projects take a painfully sequenced approach with building happening only after designs are completed and contracts are signed. This is an old model of construction that lacks efficiency.
Unlike the traditional linear approach to construction, work on a design-built construction project occurs simultaneously in a more collaborative manner. This means that while the designers are finalizing the interior layout, builders are pouring the foundation. As design and building are happening in tandem, construction gets completed more quickly than with traditional methods. On average, design-build projects take 40% less time than traditional renovations and remodels, meaning less revenue is lost.
One of the more difficult construction challenges is doing renovations. When renovations require a business to remain open during construction, it’s vital to approach the work with surgical precision in order to keep the operation running smoothly and to ensure that construction does not disrupt the business.
Not having third-party construction managers changes the game for your business. Your construction team works with designers to schedule construction around your preferred business hours. After hours work is scheduled collaboratively, rather than defensively negotiated with other companies outside your control who don’t orchestrate well with each other.
Office Spaces Designed for How People Actually Work
Cubicles don’t exist anymore. Today’s work places require a level of flexibility that old school methods of construction can’t deliver.
Creating Flexible Work Environments
Hybrid work schedules have become the norm. Work that is collaborative in nature relies on workspaces that rapidly change. Purpose built design-build office environments enable that flexibility.
Companies with builders on the team during the design phase understand how to work around flexible systems because they are built from the ground up, rather than having to retrofit a design from another pod of builders.
Health and Wellness Features
Your employees are expecting more than a box with windows and florescent lights. Features like, air systems that work, natural light, biophilic design patterns, and acoustic control, are expected now.
To do it right, both the designing and the construction has to happen in a holistic manner. This is where value engineering takes place, collaboratively.
Retail Environments Built for Customer Experience
The evolution of the retail industry has undergone a radical change. Your physical space also needs to change as quickly.
Keeping Stores Operational During Construction
What is the nightmare scenario of retail office renovations? Shutting down during the construction period. Every darker day means losing revenue.
Integrated teams come up with surgical solutions – working a section at a time, timetabling to avoid peak traffic, keeping the branding intact mess. Days lost to revenue tend to be down 40-60% compared to more traditional approaches where entire sites were closed.
Integrating Omnichannel Features
Today’s retailing integrates physical and digital shopping. BOPIS zones. Experience zones. Adaptive merchandising. These complicated zones require tight integration across numerous building systems.
The collaborative designer-builder approach from the start eliminates the coordination challenges that exceed the industry norm for these projects. Because of working together from the concept stage, they have all been on the same page.
Traditional vs Design-Build Delivery
| Factor | Traditional Method | Design-Build Approach |
| Project Timeline | 22+ months typical | 14-16 months average |
| Cost Predictability | Frequent overruns | Fixed pricing options |
| Communication | Multiple contacts | Single point of contact |
| Accountability | Finger-pointing common | Unified responsibility |
| Change Orders | High frequency | Significantly reduced |
| Risk Management | Split between parties | Consolidated with team |
The Process Simplified
Contrary to how many believe, having to deal with only one integrated team as opposed to multiple contractors as if one was herding cats, is actually very refreasingly simple.
Initial Planning That Actually Works
Design-build retail spaces begin with thorough exploration in the begining. Understanding how your business operates will drive to correctly make the right decisions. How and when customers flow in and out. When revenue is was continuing to stimulate cycles. Developing the budget. it shifts from funds allocated to constructing a building to funds allocated to definable business objectives.
Site assessment considers the challenges of the space that will be occupied right away. No surprises in the way of road blocks because, in the heads of some, the right questions will be (are actually) asked up front.
Design That’s Actually Buildable
Regular collaborative sessions take the team from each group and bring them together. That’s architects, engineers, contractors, and your team (they all join with you). Cost estimating happens in real time as you work. No longer waiting a few months to find out that to build the design you will be a down 30% of the funds.
Before construction, you can experience the spaces with virtual realty walk throughs. Building Information Modelling catches system clashes digitally rather than in the brutal way during installing, when you will be bankrupt for fixing any of it.
Construction That Respects Your Business
During the time of construction, in the time allotted to each project, the project management is fully focused on the operational continuity of your business. Your facilities team is also kept on a daily basis, notifying on construction coodination without overwhelming them with a lot of information. Quality control is focused on right first time. Safety programs are in place to keep all people and workers, employees to construction workers, that are on or around the site safe.
Selecting Your Partner
Not every construction firm with integrated capabilities actually delivers value in that area. Do your homework.
Look for Specific Experience
A general construction experience is not the same as expertise in commercial design-build projects. Request references for your particular sector in similarly sized projects. Portfolios should be examined for comparable complexity levels of the strucutre.
What a firm says they can do is not as important as what they have actually done.
Evaluate Communication Style
This team will be working with your organization for several months so be sure their communication approach is a good fit for your culture. Look for collaborative problem solving instead of top-down directives.
How do they approach stakeholder engagement? How do they resolve issues? Who is your single point of contact?
Common Questions About This Approach
Does design-build have a higher initial cost than traditional bidding?
Initial estimates may seem higher, since they include design and construction, but it should be a true comparison. Traditional “low bid” contracts tend to increase significantly with change orders and delays.
With integrated delivery, most clients find a better overall value. You are actually getting what you are paying for instead of being drawn in with an artificially low bid.
Do I still get competitive pricing without getting more than one bid?
Of course. Associates know how to perform negotiated bids using market cuts, transparent sub bid costing over the course of the project, and open book costing. Costing verification occurs throughout the project.
A lot of companies will offer guaranteed maximum pricing so you know your budget is secure from the beginning. That is, from a peace of mind standpoint, hard to beat.
What if I don’t like the design?
There are multiple design approval gates during the process. You will have input in the important decisions without the need to micromanage daily.
Many contracts will have allowances for revision. If your concerns come to the surface, integrated teams are able to pivot a lot faster than the old styled disjointed approaches. They are already in the room.
Final Thoughts on Modern Construction Delivery
The shift to integrated project delivery is something more than a passing trend. The construction industry is realizing that construction does not have to be painful.
Having one accountable delivery team complete design and construction, the project will be delivered faster, come in at a lower total cost, and have less disruption to the ongoing operations. This is more relevant in office and retail spaces where time impacts the bottom line greatly.
Traditional delivery has worked for decades, but the pace of the current business environment requires more speed, certainty, and collaboration than what is possible using the traditional fragmented delivery.