Design cost?

[mjz3348]

What is a reasonable cost for and design firm (concept + architecture) to charge to design a home for a client and create 'blueprints' suitable for construction and permitting ?

I want to build an 8500 square foot two story custom home. I have a rough idea of what I need functionally, but will depend on a design firm to flesh out a concept and then oversee the project architecture (construction documents, etc.).

What should this cost? (range is o.k.)

Thanks!

[lekizz]

To a great extent, that would depend where you are. Professional fees are often worked out as a percentage of the estimated construction costs, which again would be influenced by the location and complexity of the project.

There have been some recent-ish discussions along similar lines in the 'Residential Design' forum on this site, maybe your question will be relocated there by the forum moderators!

[mjz3348]

Thanks ! I'll take a look.

[csintexas]

8500 sq. ft. for a house? Instead of just closing in a bunch of area you may want to consider building a smaller house which would be more friendly to the environment.

[mjz3348]

8500 sq. ft is small for this area. There is already a house of that size on the lot. I am just tearing it down and replacing it with basically the same footprint. And part of the new design is to incorporate the environment.

[csintexas]

Wow, how old is the house which will be torn down?

"And part of the new design is to incorporate the environment."

What does this mean?

[mjz3348]

The original house was built in 1967 - young by European standards, old by Texas standards. The house has old wiring, plumbing and design elements which simply do not allow for today's lifestyle. And worse - it is a flat roof in Houston. Always leaks....

The new house will feature lots of outdoor patio's which open into the natural gardens - including outdoor showers as part of the master bath. The kitchen will extend into a loggia so that in nice weather, the sliding windows/doors can be opened and the kitchen space essentially doubles. Outdoor fireplace and other features including natural running water through part of the living space. It is a neat concept.

[csintexas]

"The original house was built in 1967 - young by European standards"

Young by any standards. Well it sounds like a real dog, it's always ashame to see such waste though. Sounds like a pretty cool house you are planning though.

When I say friendly to the environment what I mean is to build a house that does not waste energy and is not excessive.

[csintexas]

I was just thinking that if you recycled the existing structure that would be better than throwing it into the dump.

[mjz3348]

Probably won't be my choice on recycling. The bricks are fabulous and they certainly will be re-used.

[lekizz]

Ah, of course the obvious clue - 8500 sq ft - should have told me you were from the States

For a recent project I have had to design 1100 sq ft 2 bedroom houses and 600 sq ft two bedroom apartments. That is what the first time buyer has to squeeze into in the UK.

[Kevin]

FYI...
Recycling Construction Debris, by Adam Davis

"With $100 billion in new construction each year in the United States, and $126 billion in renovations, the recovery of materials from construction and demolition (C&D) has important economic and environmental implications.

"To the extent that the debris from construction and demolition can be reused or recycled rather than thrown away, demand for virgin resources is reduced, the embedded energy in these materials is recaptured, and the need for increasingly limited landfill space is reduced.

"In addition to these environmental benefits, C&D recycling may also yield economic benefits by providing an additional source of revenue for companies engaged in construction and demolition."

story continues...
http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/0926/environment_1-1.html

[csintexas]

"Ah, of course the obvious clue - 8500 sq ft - should have told me you were from the States"

Hey, it could have been Dubai, they aren't much concerned about the environment either.

[88]

How much design fee for 8500 Ft2 house ? A lot of 8500 ft2 house here in Los Angeles and Orange county are just crap ! All foam, cheap window , cheap hardware, lousy paint ,.. and no substance in term of material or design.. for that you can get a draftman to design for around $15K to $25K and you will be very sorry for the details later if you know what to look for. But for a very well thought out design with very good details and with care to the context and environment it might cost you $100K just to design a 1500 ft2 house here. Of couse all these do not include site with any tough planning and environment sensitive issues.. as that will cost you way more. Try to do a 2000 ft2 house at Santa Monica Beach or Laguna Beach.
You probably need $100K just to pass the design review stage.

[RSCarcht]

As with everything else you will generally get what you pay for. The average design fee is approximately 10% of construction cost but this goes down at the projects get bigger. Let say you cut the house size to 8000 (still enormous by most standards) x $200 x 8% yields $128K. This is for a "beginning to end" process including permitting, design development, construction drawing, a full specification manual, help with the bidding and construction administration. This will be paid out over 18 months, which is how long a project of this size will take if you really want to work out the details.

If you get a good architect the fee will be a bargain since you are likely to save 5-10% on the construction through competitive bidding, which is possible only with a detailed set of documents. Otherwise you may get a contractor who will take you on the slow boat to china until you are down to your last nickel. The longest way to the destination in construction is trying to take a shortcut. You will also have an expert helping you through the labyrinth of the construction process and giving you years of design experience, which will help make your project infinitely better.