Why Design-Build Merits Serious Consideration for Academic Design & Construction
Despite being the fastest growing and most
popular method used to deliver construction projects in America,
many outside of the architectural design and construction
industries are still unfamiliar with the design-build model. But
project owners familiar with design-build recognize its financial
and risk mitigation benefits. Academic institutions, which are
increasingly under pressure to decrease costs and shorten project
schedules, stand to benefit from adopting the design-build
model on their campuses.
What is design-build?
In every design and construction project, unforeseen circumstances
almost always arise – like weather, cost overruns,
product shortages or change orders – often resulting in a delayed
project completion. The design-build method helps keep
projects on schedule, as the client manages one contract with
a single point of contact. Because the designer and contractor
are hired together as a team, decisions are made collectively to
deliver a project that fits the client’s requirements and wishes.
They work together to solve any challenges that may arise, rather
than blaming each other for any setbacks encountered along
the way.
In traditional architecture and construction project delivery,
there is a triangular relationship between the client, architect
and contractor, with the client at the topmost point. Subcontractors
are often hired under both the architect and contractor
points of this triangle – further complicating the relationships
by allowing for ambiguity over who owns the exposure when
problems arise. The client must manage two separate teams and
their subcontractors, which can create an adversarial relationship
rather than a symbiotic one.
Long-considered an alternative method of project delivery,
research from FMI shows that design-build construction spending
is anticipated to grow 18% from 2018 to 2021, and is projected
to represent up to 44% of construction spending by 2021.
Manufacturing, highway/road and education are expected to
represent the greatest percentage of design-build construction.
Before we dive into why these sectors, particularly education,
are prime for design-build project delivery, let’s briefly explore
some of the common misconceptions that have hindered
wider implementation of the design-build approach.
Common misconceptions
around design-build delivery
Because design-build was most commonly adopted in public
works projects such as highways, bridges and other municipal
works, when it was initially introduced, many people thought
that it was only for projects where function outweighs design –
i.e. if you choose design-build, control over design will be compromised.
A contributing factor to this misguided thought is
that teams are typically contractor-led, so the architect or designer
is not in the driver’s seat of the project.
Another misconception about design-build is that it is typically
chosen only for projects with aggressive timelines for completion. While it’s true that speed is a benefit of design-build
delivery, the design portion of the project timeline is usually the
one shortened, as construction is a sequential process and there
is no way to eliminate necessary sequences for sake of time.
When design-build is chosen for speed rather than its overall
benefits, design time is often accelerated as a result.
People who are drawn to design-build for speed and cost savings
are more likely to utilize the project method when they
don’t feel design needs to be particularly original. However, as
we’ll explore below, the academic sector is the perfect use case
for exploring how design-build is the best delivery system for
mitigating risk, increasing the speed of delivery, lowering costs,
and delivering great design – all through a simpler, more collaborative
process.
Design-build benefits
schools can capitalize on
Large-scale construction projects are part of the development
plans at most academic institutions. But tightening budgets are
forcing schools to look for better ways to contain costs and control
their exposure, all while ensuring that building projects are
aligned with campus standards and culture.
One of the biggest problems with the traditional triangular
construction delivery method is that when challenges arise
throughout project execution, it’s common for the triangle’s
base points – the architect and the contractor – to point to each
other as the cause of the issue or lack of solution. Because both
are competing to execute on the client’s goals, be this through
delivering the client’s desired design elements or saving on budget,
both tend to operate relatively independently on finalizing
the project.
The design-build approach offers a more synergetic delivery
system because the architect and contractor hear the owner’s
project goals at the same time and work together to deliver what
is feasible, aspirational or ideal for a given project.
Among others, the primary areas in which schools can benefit
by implementing design-build in their new construction or
renovation projects are:
• Risk Mitigation
Project challenges such as change orders and budget overruns
are less likely because of the way design-build contracts are
typically written. With architects and contractors working
together for the entirety of the design and construction process,
they collaborate better on certain design, material and
construction elements that often drive budget, and timelines,
decreasing the likelihood of unforeseen changes.
• Speed
The coordinated effort of the architect and contractor in
delivering on the client’s wishes expedites the speed of a design-build project. Synchronous teamwork proactively directs
the work to the most efficient parts of the project team, such
as subcontractors hired to complete the final detailing for
review by the design team.
• Cost Reduction
With reduction in risk and increase in speed comes cost
savings. Design-build’s cooperative nature between architects,
construction managers and subcontractors means that
all parties are involved in both the design and construction
phases of the project making the most efficient use of labor,
materials, and constructability input. This helps to eliminate
many of the unknown factors that drive the size of
project contingencies at all levels of the supply chain, thus
minimizing the initially projected cost.
• Quality Control
Since design-build promotes collaboration, streamlines communication and brings about more efficient workflows,
academic institutions gain greater quality control and assurance
that their vision will to come to fruition. Designers and
builders are working together with high quality standards at
every stage. With the two entities working together as one,
each brings out the best in the other, thus creating a better
building.
Case Study - UNH
DiMella Shaffer has extensive design
experience in the academic sector, spanning
from primary/preparatory institutions,
to secondary and higher education.
We’ve been thrilled to see a greater
adoption of the design-build method of
project delivery in the academic space,
as these schools and institutions have
come to better understand the process’
benefits and its application in an academic
setting. One school with whom we’ve delivered several
design-build projects is the University of New Hampshire
(UNH).
At UNH, the addition of two new residential buildings
to the existing 600-bed Gables community was the first of a
two-phase 1,000-bed expansion project. After nearly a year of
preparatory work, the university had clear expectations on the
program and quality of work desired for two additional buildings
adjacent to this 15-year-old community. The school chose a design-build approach as they believed it would be the most
efficient, and because it would allow simultaneous control over
both budget and design.
The Gables project was one with a short timeframe – the
design-build process kicked off on December 15th with a project
completion and student move-in by August, 19 months later.
As a client, Doug Bencks, University Architect and Director
of Campus Planning at UNH, feels that design-build affords a
higher level of comfort, largely because
of the minimal cost variance from predesign
to project completion and lowered
costs associated with time and labor
saved. But for Bencks, the commitment
of the design-build team to having onsite
representation throughout the process to
make quick, collective decisions as needs
arose was where the sense of support and
ease stemmed on this project. Onsite
design staff accelerated the decisionmaking
necessary in the field, allowing for faster project
completion.
Bencks states there has been significant growth in the awareness
of design-build as a delivery option in the past five years,
particularly in the academic sector. Since 2006, UNH has completed
17 design-build projects, with a total of 50 design-build
projects to date. This approach has accounted for over 34% of
projects over $3M at the university since the same year.
Design-build will only
grow in years ahead
Back in my college years, several friends
and I created and successfully ran a design-build company, completing a number
of residential projects over the course of six
years. In the years since, it’s been incredible
to watch this process take off. In 2018, design-build construction in place spending
totaled $274.2B. By 2021, this number is
forecasted to reach $323.6B, $49B of which
will be educational construction.
Like UNH, many schools are learning
that utilizing the design-build delivery
method for both renovation and new
construction projects on campus yields a
smoother process, adherence to budget and
schedule (if not savings on both fronts),
and better final product. Institutions such
as Brown University, Tufts University, and
Wheelock College are among many adopting
this approach. This method is well on
its way to becoming the go-to method for
construction across a variety of sectors.
The most important elements of a
successful academic design-build project
are having the parameters carefully and
thoughtfully established by the school
and picking the right team. Doing so
will undoubtedly provide an opportunity
for design-build to prove why it’s the
best method for academic construction –
and as our UNH project manager said at
project completion, “I never want to go
back to the traditional process!”
This article originally appeared in the July/August 2020 issue of Spaces4Learning.