Proven, Cost-Effective Efficiency
In a design-build process the client works together with their design-build team under a single contract from project conception through final completion. An integrated, multi-disciplinary team of architects, designers and construction experts fuse cutting-edge design concepts with state-of-the art building science to deliver the highest and most inspiring results – effectively, efficiently and on-budget – all while enjoying the process.
The converse approach is design-bid-build, where a project is designed and built under separate contracts. A key criticism with design-bid-build is that each phase tends to happen in a silo of information; the design phase is completed without valuable input from the construction professionals to optimize constructability, and the construction phase is lacking adequate involvement from the architects. In this approach, opportunities are missed in the design phase to save costs, reduce waste, optimize and innovate for efficiency; and on the build side, critical design elements are cut out or missed, including opportunities to improve aesthetics.
The Historical Roots of Design-Build
Unified design-build is not a new concept; in fact it’s the most ancient form of project delivery in the construction industry. Originally coined ‘master builder’, design-builders and their unified teams have created some of the world’s most significant architectural works. The most renowned buildings in Rome were designed and built by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini, geniuses of design-build who defined the Roman Baroque era with great works, such as the Piazza San Pietro and the church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza. Their design-build brilliance came from their artistic passion for creating inspiring work to elevate the human spirit and an instinctive drive to set and raise the highest standards. It’s this essence of Bernini, Borromini, and countless others in the great history of design-build that inspires the culture of our unified team.
Optimizing for Modern Living
The world has much evolved since the days of Bernini and Borromini, and now it’s not enough to create functional masterpieces of art. Today, we must also optimize for indoor air quality, energy efficiency, water conservation, comfort, and durability. We must design and build faster and more cost effectively than ever before. We must eliminate waste and toxins, simplify our processes, and source locally. At Green Hammer, we are a design-build team of artists, engineers, craftsmen, and facilitators with a passion and innate drive to inspire, create, perfect and continually elevate the results of our work. As a unified design-build team, we create the greatest value for our clients while we build prosperity for life.
The Best Results for Clients
Worldwide, the design-build approach has proven to be the fastest, most cost effective way to create the best results for construction clients.
Faster Delivery:
- Independent studies show that unified design-build delivers buildings 33% faster overall and for 6% less cost than the standard design-bid-build method.
- By integrating expertise in architecture, construction, building science, and conservation from project inception, unified design-build teams streamline decision-making and more rapidly mobilize project implementation and completion.
- A singular contract process reduces time spent in negotiations.
- The Design-build approach can overlap design and construction phases with more concurrency to optimize project completion.
Lower Overall Project Cost:
- The design-build process reduces cost by saving on the amount of time spent on the overall project.
- A singular contract means less money is spent on administrative overhead.
- Early integration of multidisciplinary experts in the design phase allows for optimal value engineering to reduce project costs.
Improved Quality:
- The continuous involvement of the design team throughout the project improves quality control and quality assurance execution on the intended design and helps discover and work through potential enhancements.
- Innovations in the design-build process are more effectively implemented because they are fashioned for the building team’s expertise and capabilities.
Reduced Liability:
- Clients in a single contract design-build process are not placed between the contractor and the designer if an issue arises. Errors or omissions in a unified design-build process clearly land on the design-builder who is accountable for all associated risks. This relieves the client of any responsibility to manage conflict or legal burdens.
- The potential for errors or omissions is reduced by streamlining communication and feedback from the build team during the design phase of the project.
- Prior to project completion, any and all concerns are clearly resolved by the design-build team therefore reducing the potential for claims and litigation due to negotiating liabilities in a multiple contract process.
An Enjoyable Process:
- We can’t speak for all design build firms, but with Green Hammer you get the same sharp, fun, and easy folks from beginning to end.
- We delight in making construction projects fun and simple for our clients to transition them into raving fans and lifetime members of the Green Hammer family.
- Learn more about our values, our purpose, our principles, our interests, our expertise, our inspiration, and us.