Imagine for a moment that you are preparing for a wedding.
You meet with a planner who goes over your options and works to give you exactly what you want for your big day while staying within your budget. The planner helps you rest assured that your wedding will be as you imagined and a plan you can actually achieve.
Believe it or not, architects think in the same way. When planning your commercial architecture project, they will take a variety of factors into consideration to design the type of building you are requesting while looking for ways to save you money.
According to the Turner Cost Index construction costs have increased by nearly five percent in the past year. This increase can be attributed to a number of reasons, but one of the main causes is an increase in material costs.
The type of material you wish to use will obviously impact the cost of your project. For instance, timber and bamboo may be interchangeable in some aspects of your design, but they will cost different amounts to obtain, install, and maintain.
Also, consider if your selected material is raw or engineered. Using flooring as an example, raw hardwood generally will cost more money per square foot than a similar engineered product.
The source of your material plays a major role in its cost, and that price can fluctuate daily due to supply and demand.
For example, if a union strike at a quarry depletes the available supply of granite, or flooding shuts down a lumber facility, the cost of those raw materials will rise.
The location of your material will also play a role in its cost due to transportation. If you have a project in Los Angeles and you are importing materials from South America, your transportation costs will likely be higher compared to transporting similar materials from the United States.
Sustainability and usage play a large factor in your overall material cost. As you might expect, materials that are more resistant and have a longer expected life cycle will generally cost more money than materials that will not last as long. However, in the long run, you may end up spending more money to replace a cheaper, less resistant product compared to the initial higher cost of a more durable product.
Architects are experts regarding which materials will work best for your commercial architecture project. They will present you with options and pricing points, and guide you to make the best decisions to prevent cost overruns on all aspects of your project based on your specific requirements.
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We are a small Design-Centered Practice Studio that promotes cost effective Green Building technologies.
We provide a wide range of services, and no job is too big or too small for our experience. With over 15 years of commercial experience, we can design a wide variety of architectural styles that can fit most needs or tastes.
