Time To Treat Design-Builders As Important Industry Clients

By William J. Angelo

	DADY

The number of design-build firms is growing steadily and so is their purchasing power. But a fundamental disconnect, possibly due to competition and profit, still exists between design-builders and traditionally minded architects. This could crimp the designers’ future earnings.

In traditional design-bid-build project delivery, architects are used to a direct relationship with their client and to being the creative focus of a project. But on many design-build jobs, architects feel that they are relegated to the role of a subcontractor. For some, the position chafes.

"When a corporation uses an in-house facility manager or project manager to supervise a new project, the architect looks at that person as the client," says Patrick S. Dady, vice president, design-build project management, Opus North-west LLC, Minnetonka, Minn. "But if that same firm brings in a design-builder as project manager, the architect seems to think the design-builder was hired to keep him from meeting the clients needs rather than viewing the design-builder as the client....And that can cause problems."

Dady knows the score because Opus Corp. is a big-league design-builder. Founded in 1953, the firm started doing design-build projects in 1960 and now is ranked 14 among Design Build magazine’s Top 250 design-builders, with 2003 revenue totaling $707 million. Last year, Opus provided clients with about $25 million in design services–$15 million from internal sources (Opus Architects & Engineers Inc.) and $10 million through a wide range of independent design firms. And more design work is on the way. The integrated design-build real estate development firm now has about 25 million sq ft of commercial building space in planning or development.

When Opus serves as a developer-led design-builder, architects seem to have no problem in treating the firm as a client, says Dady. A problem arises only when Opus is hired to represent a client. "Many architects don’t want to be treated as a subcontractor," says Dady. "But we have wonderful collaborations with subs because design-build fosters a different kind of working relationship. We only want to procure quality professional services in a timely manner so what’s the problem with being a sub? We’re professionals and so are the architects and they should learn that design-build firms make wonderful clients. We’re demanding and we set the bar high."

Subjective Service
Dady believes the source of architects’ ire does not appear to be ill will, but more a misguided desire to serve the end user directly. And he says the problem is more pronounced in architectural services than engineering. "I suppose it is because architectural services are more subjective and that many design-build project managers come from an engineering background and can speak a common language and measure performance against a common objective criteria," says Dady. "Also, in traditional design-bid-build, engineers are used to having someone between them and the end user. Engineers [also] are energized to find innovative solutions to meet performance and budget criteria, but architects may view the same challenge only as finding cheaper solutions and thereby restricting their creative energies."

Dady says that better planning and team interaction helps overcome obstacles. A project manager must manage the entire design-build team, including architects, as well as the expectation levels of the owner in order to effectively maximize project value, he explains. "If we don’t carefully articulate the end user’s goals and if we don’t engage the architect early in the design process, then it gets negative. The bottom line is that we need to make informed decisions between attractive alternatives and architects are a critical part of that process," he says.

Losing Out
If the architect and design-builder bond as a team, then the likelihood of repeat business for both firms is greatly enhanced. If not, the architect is likely to be out in the cold. "At Opus, the project manager is charged to get the most from every team member, ideally by fostering a spirit of mutual respect and professional collaboration," says Dady. "Architects who mistakenly view the design-build project manager as a construction administrator rather than as a client, however, will likely have difficulty both in finding professional satisfaction from the design-build collaboration and in finding future business with the design-builder."