Depending on the scale and scope of your project, it can take anything from two months to a year to complete the design phase sufficiently to price. The average time for the design process of a typical residential project is ten to twenty weeks from inception through to the end of the initial design phase; however, this is a very personal process to each individual architecture firm, and is a direct result of the project size and complexity. The deliverable of this phase is normally schematic drawings that give an overview of the project in sufficient detail to start the pricing process. Most reputable general contractors can take schematic design drawings and provide a price for you in two to four weeks. This will often be an estimate for the purposes of establishing a projected baseline budget that corresponds to your wish list.
This may align with your expectations and available funds, which means the project can move on to the next phase. It may not, and the project may come full circle. You will then need to have a meaningful conversation with your architect about all the decisions and choices that have been made to date.
Let us assume that all is well, and your initial price estimate is within the limits you set yourself. How do you calculate if saying yes, green-lighting the project, and making the investment in the build will pay off? The answer is to consider a return over the project’s full lifecycle for you and your family. Every project will have a lifecycle and it’s important to have this discussion upfront. Each project type, be it a house, an office, a retail project, or an institutional project will vary. For now, let’s consider a straightforward residential project built for the owners to occupy. We can immediately discount turning over the home for sale or to another new owner. That value proposition is quite straightforward, and you could base any decision-making on the likelihood of making a profit.
If you are planning for longer-term use, you could use the current real estate value as a baseline target, but What if you plan to live in the home for ten, twenty, or fifty years? If you are building a home to live in, you perhaps should base investment decisions on future real estate projections. This is notoriously difficult and represents a significant risk. It also ignores the fact that properties, and homes specifically, are more than investments. Can you put a price on years of living in your dream spaces? At the end of the day, only you can decide what that is worth.
Architecture has the power to create new and wonderful experiences but it is important to maintain an awareness of where the cost lies in any project. Time and an efficient schedule are also of great importance. There is an intrinsic relationship and balance between these three factors in each project. The three may ebb and flow during the project, directed through dialogue between you and your team. It’s important to maintain this dialogue and make sure that the architect and general contractor remain on the same page. Understanding how to speak to both about money so that they are aware of your position is essential. Keeping a project on budget so you are not out of pocket depends on it.
This journal entry has been distilled from our book Speaking Architecture: From Concept to Construction to Completion which is a client-focused field guide to the architectural process. If you’re preparing for an upcoming project, pick up a copy of the book to get a more comprehensive look into the process.
