Knowledge on Design & build.
Strategic articles touching on design & build, selected for boards preparing a workplace investment.
Design and build concentrates design and execution with one contracting party. It shortens the programme and gives a single point of accountability, and it removes the interface risk between architect and contractor. It also means the party producing the design carries the construction margin, which is precisely why the client-side brief and the contract have to be sharper than in a traditional split.
Three things decide whether design and build works: a programme of requirements that is specific enough to be tested, a contract that defines change and quality control rather than only price and date, and independent supervision on the client side. Remove any one of them and the model tends to produce a defensible building that does not match the original strategic decision.
The alternative models, traditional split and construction team, remain valid. The choice should follow the maturity of the brief and the client organisation's capacity to steer, not the preference of the party offering to deliver it.
Find the right article.
Design & build for office fit-out: what a board needs to know before making the choice
Design & build promises speed and a single point of contact. The strategic question is where that promise strengthens your decision-making, and where it weakens it.
Design & build, traditional tendering or design & construct team, which contract model fits your office investment?
The three common contract models for office fit-out differ not primarily in price, but in where strategic control sits. A plain overview for boards.
Managing a design & build partner: how a board retains strategic control
Contracting a D&B partner is half the work. The other half is preventing strategic control from gradually shifting from the board to the contractor.
Tendering a workplace partner: the selection criteria that really matter
The tender for an architect, design & build partner or strategic adviser is an underestimated moment. Which criteria beyond price and CV determine whether the collaboration will succeed.
Contract types for design & build: which fits which type of workplace project?
Design & construct team, integrated design & build and turnkey distribute risk, price and steering room in fundamentally different ways. Which form fits which organisation and which type of project.
Frequently asked questions
- Is design and build cheaper?
- It is usually faster and more predictable rather than cheaper. Savings come from a shorter programme and fewer interfaces; the trade-off is less freedom to change direction once the design is fixed.
- What do we need before tendering?
- A programme of requirements that is specific and testable, clear award criteria, and a decision on how quality will be verified during execution. Tendering without these produces bids that cannot be compared.
- Do we still need independent advice?
- Yes. In a design and build contract the party producing the design carries the construction margin, so client-side supervision of brief compliance and quality is the only structural counterweight.
Before the first decision is made.
A strategy session is the moment to clarify your context and the strategic choices around your workspace investment, before design and construction set the direction.