Design-Bid-Build versus Architectural Design Build

WHAT IS ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN BUILD?

There are two primary approaches to a major home design and remodel. While this can be made very complex as a subject, the natural creative process is fundamentally simple. I will cover both here:

Design-Bid-Build?is the process that has been introduced over the past 150 years or so whereby you as the client directly hire an architect to draft plans and design your project — to then have it bid out to multiple contractors seeking to win the bid and perform the project. This approach has been generalized as mainstream over the past decades and sold to homeowners, often creating client stress and potential loss of both client funds and time. This approach has many liabilities for the client due in no small part to the fragmented spheres of responsibilities which this system and method creates.?There is no single person or entity fully accountable to the client for the entire project’s success.

By default the client is then ultimately responsible for both Architect and Builder as well as the ultimate success of the project. Thus one can have impractical and expensive design work, impractical planning, numerous change orders, shoddy craftsmanship, and projects which are off timeline and over budget. In the end, the client can be left damaged. You or a family member or friend may have experienced this in the past. We have many clients come to us after poor experiences with this approach.

While the quality of work and the final result still be of high quality and strikingly aesthetic using the Design-Bid-Build approach, a key difference is the client experience and cost in getting there. Change orders, unpredicted costs, design changes and schedule increases are all more frequent factors when the Architect and the Builder/Contractor operate separately from each other and only engage once the design is well along, or in some cases fully completed.

The Architect may design a beautiful project that in reality is twice the client budget when the rubber meets the road and the Contractor bids it out. This is especially risky in these times of rapidly fluctuating prices and supply availiablity.

Architectural Design-Build (also Design Build)?is the natural approach to creation of the built environment and has been used for thousands of years to create many of the beautiful structures of earth. Architectural Design Build is the way to go if you want to save on time and money, reduce stress, and eliminate a fragmented sense of project responsibility in the people working for you. Architectural Design Build is a model that stresses single-source accountability with the creative design, planning, and remodel executed start to finish by one firm.

Architectural Design-Build is currently being turned to by professionals, families, and individuals with homes in Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline, Chestnut Hill, Back Bay, The South End, Wayland, Weston, Wellesley and throughout Boston’s Metrowest as the cutting edge of efficiency, aesthetics, practicality, and accountability when it comes to designing and remodeling a home. This approach packages architectural design and interior design services with artisan-level building and remodeling services. This natural synthesis makes for a simple, efficient, and accountable creative process followed by a streamlined and responsible build phase, reducing cost, time of execution, and client stress throughout. With the Architectural Design Build approach, the client is dealing solely with one fully accountable firm.

New England Design and Construction does Architectural Design Build with a specialty focus on sustainable luxury homes. We are extremely mindful of environmental impact and passionate about project efficiency and client comfort.

Value Engineering for Boston Home Remodels:

Value Engineering is a key part of each NEDC project during the design phase. This means each design is crafted with the client budget in mind, and if materials need to be adjusted to achieve this target (both in cost and in value) due to current market conditions, this is done IN THE DESIGN PHASE. This allows NEDC and the client to design towards a beautiful target aesthetic while calibrating the design to achieve the best possible value before it is built. This approach coupled with thorough and exacting due diligence greatly reduces change orders during the construction phase.

This chart compares advantages between the two approaches:

These are several beautiful client projects across Boston which are NEDC Architectural Design Build creations:

Cambridge, MA.

Brighton, MA.

Somerville, MA.

Short Film - The True Meaning of an Architect:

NEDC COST GUIDE: