Why Design-Build is So Good

We’re often asked about the advantages of design-build compared to the traditional system of hiring an architect and a general contractor separately. It’s a great question—and with decades of design-build experience under our belts, we think it’s a good time to share our top ten reasons why the design-build model is so effective.

1. Everybody is on the same team:
We’re all in this together with one shared goal—to deliver a successful project that meets or exceeds the client’s expectations. When challenges arise on a project (and they always do), pointing fingers isn’t an option. Everyone rolls up their sleeves and works together to find solutions.

2. Total accountability:
One entity is responsible for everything—including the final result, the budget, and the timeline. When the same team designs and builds the project, there’s naturally greater attention paid to pricing and scheduling during the design phase. All costs are considered early in the process: fees, construction, utilities, landscaping allowances—everything.

Unfortunately, we often hear from people that “their remodel cost twice as much as the architect said it would.” That kind of outcome is entirely unacceptable in the design-build world. Design-build is focused on results, not excuses.

3. Continuity:
A design-build firm is involved from start to finish, which creates a built-in efficiency. The likelihood of things slipping through the cracks is significantly reduced.

4. Expertise:
Design-build firms are experienced in both design and construction. The principals should be licensed architects with formal architectural training and field experience. They should also have hands-on knowledge of construction—pricing, sequencing, and how buildings come together. If they’re anything like us, they’ll also have structural engineering experience.

In today’s market, we’ve seen architects trying a bit too hard to look like design-build firms without any field experience. We’ve also raised eyebrows at contractors suddenly claiming to be accomplished designers.

There’s a major advantage to working with architects who think like builders and builders who think like architects. But design-build isn’t a trend—it’s a career-long commitment, not something to adopt just when convenient.

5. Professional guides:
We’ve all heard the stories of chaotic, stressful construction projects. But it doesn’t have to be that way. A design-build firm serves as a steady guide throughout the process, refining a clear system from start to finish and transforming potential chaos into manageable, orderly steps.

6. Involvement:
Design-build assumes that the client wants to be actively involved in the design and construction of their home. This involvement ensures the final outcome aligns with their goals and brings a greater sense of satisfaction. We’ve found that this hands-on participation inspires lasting pride in the finished home.

7. Collaboration:
Design-build eliminates the big egos that are often found in the design industry. In this model, the client retains full control, while the team is there to support and empower them.

8. The best kind of communication is open, honest, and frequent:
Design-build is transparent because we believe clients deserve to understand the process and stay informed. The best partnerships thrive not on saying what people want to hear, but on saying what they need to hear. With open communication, the budget is defined early and becomes the roadmap for the entire project.

9. Time is of the essence:
Design and construction involve managing hundreds of interconnected timelines. Design-build enables clients to take their time with important decisions, ask questions, and explore options—without unnecessary delays. The system is highly adaptable in the field. Big decisions can be revisited during construction without change orders or extra fees. In the traditional model, making changes often means more cost—but not necessarily in design-build.

10. Cost savings:
The design-build approach inherently leads to savings of approximately 10% on project costs. We’ll dive deeper into that in a future post, but here’s the quick takeaway: efficiency saves money.

Disclaimer: It’s possible to achieve many of these benefits with the traditional architect-and-builder model—it’s just that we rarely see it. Typically, it takes decades of collaboration between architect and contractor to build the level of trust, communication, and efficiency that design-build offers from the outset.

Happy weekend and cheers from Metamorphosis.