Our Approach
Our unique approach is focused on revolutionizing the design and construction process and significantly reducing both upfront building costs and long term maintenance and operation expenses. We believe that reducing the cost of construction is a process that must begin at the earliest stages of design through a highly coordinated effort between the architect and general contractor. Our process seeks to transform the job site by reducing conflict, scheduling delays, and change orders, and has proven to significantly lower construction costs.
Our 5 phase process will take your organization from preliminary design through the completion of construction and occupancy of the building. The timeline covers each phase of the project with all the major milestones that need to be accomplished in the proper sequence for a smooth running project from start to finish. When a project begins, this process is transformed into a schedule with milestone dates and task assignments to track and monitor progress.
Our unique approach is focused on revolutionizing the design and construction process and significantly reducing both upfront building costs and long term maintenance and operation expenses. We believe that reducing the cost of construction is a process that must begin at the earliest stages of design through a highly coordinated effort between the architect and general contractor. Our process seeks to transform the job site by reducing conflict, scheduling delays, and change orders, and has proven to significantly lower construction costs.
Our 5 phase process will take your organization from preliminary design through the completion of construction and occupancy of the building. The timeline covers each phase of the project with all the major milestones that need to be accomplished in the proper sequence for a smooth running project from start to finish. When a project begins, this process is transformed into a schedule with milestone dates and task assignments to track and monitor progress.
Our Process
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Phase 1
PRELIMINARY DESIGN
Our process begins with a unique spin on an age-old architectural exercise called a “charrette”. This highly collaborative approach effort takes place over a 3 day period at the ministry site, resulting in floor plans, site plans, elevations and exterior renderings that will help you cast your vision in a powerful way.
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Phase 2
PROJECT POSITIONING
This intermediate phase is all about preparing the project to move into Construction Documents and can include fundraising, planning department approvals, coordination of civil engineering survey, A/V/L design planning, feasibility studies, and zoning or planning department approvals. The BGW Team walks with you, providing expert guidance and connecting you with valuable resources in each of these areas.
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Phase 3
CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS
A robust set of construction documents is compiled to be used for bidding and permitting, including architectural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, and structural drawings, as well as coordination with AVL and Civil. The documents cover an extremely high level of detail from exact type of door hardware to exterior wall construction, to duct configuration and beyond.
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Phase 4
PERMITTING & PRE-CONSTRUCTION
While working with local jurisdictions to coordinate permit approval, BGW also works to finalize a Guaranteed Maximum Price for the project and engages in a unique process called “Pre-Construction Stewardship” to explore the architectural drawings with subcontractors at a much deeper level and then incorporate valuable input into the final drawings.
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Phase 5
CONSTRUCTION
The ministry’s representative and the project architect are involved in weekly phone calls with the Builder throughout construction, and the project architect makes monthly project site visits. The BGW Team continues to monitor the budget and seek value engineering in order to reduce costs even further. The Ministry of Construction program is launched on the building site to impact the lives of construction workers through simple acts of service.
Preliminary Design Charrette
Our design process begins with a unique spin on an age-old architectural exercise called a “charrette”. Unlike typical design methods in which the architect works separately with little “back and forth” input from the owner, this highly collaborative effort takes place at the client’s site, allowing design solutions to evolve quickly with real-time adaptations by the architect, based on the feedback of key client leaders and the General Contractor.
We have found that this kind of collaboration builds unity and momentum quickly. Clients who have participated in this process with us find it energizing as they think through how they will utilize space to the greatest advantage both now and in the future. Matters that are not entirely clear going into the charrette have a way of becoming more clear as vision and ideas are discussed between all representatives. The visual tools that are created, including floor plans, site plans, elevations and exterior renderings, will help to bring your vision into focus.
The involvement of the general contractor is also critical during this early stage of design, to help keep projects grounded from a cost perspective as we launch ideas and explore solutions. Even the best designers can often go down the road of cost-overrun with little difficulty as ideas and forms begin to emerge in the early stages of design. Builders can play the role of “reason” in an environment that often times requires balance of approach.
Following the charrette, BGW Architects and the general contractor work together to develop a preliminary cost estimate, taking into account all potential site costs, fees and other soft costs that could be involved in order to provide the client with a realistic financial forecast for the project.
Pre-Construction Process
Unlike most standard design and construction approaches in which the architectural plans are completed and then sent out to contractors for bid, BGW engages in a unique process to explore the plans at a much deeper level with each of the contractors bidding on the project prior to receiving their final bid.
Our goal is to break the pattern of conflict and miscommunication that is normal in the construction industry between contractors and architects by asking the contractors to take our drawings, review them, and then come back to discuss each trade in more detail.
In addition to value engineering and cost saving ideas, this process allows the BGW team to make the necessary changes to the construction documents that can clear up any confusion and significantly reduce or eliminate change orders during construction.
Factory-Direct Purchasing
Many of the products that are specified in our construction drawings are supplied through our strategic partner, Cornerstone Building Supply. This non-profit company has negotiated factory-direct pricing with leading manufacturers nationally. By partnering together and leveraging our large volume of projects nationally, we are able to maximize our purchasing power through direct national accounts, eliminating layers of mark up on everything from HVAC equipment, lighting, flooring, doors, seating, furnishings, and much more.
When selecting manufacturers to partner with, Cornerstone researches the most innovative and high quality products that can deliver not only the best up-front savings, but also the lowest long term “lifecycle” costs. Together, our goal is to ensure that ministry buildings remain affordable to operate and maintain, so that these dollars can be invested back into ministry Objectives.
