Why We Build What We Design
The case for keeping design and construction under one roof — and what gets lost in the handoff.
The most expensive moment in a project is the handoff — when a set of drawings leaves the designer and lands with a builder who wasn't in the room when the decisions were made. Intent gets flattened into instructions, and the parts that made a design special are the first to be value-engineered away.
Keeping design and construction under one roof removes that seam. The person who drew the detail is the person who sees it framed, so a change in the field becomes a conversation instead of a compromise.
Fewer Surprises
It also changes the budget conversation. When the team estimating the work is the team that designed it, the numbers are honest earlier, and there are far fewer surprises once walls are open.
← Back to the Journal