30X40 Design Workshop

Building Cost + How It Impacts Design (An Architect's Guide) | Architecture Short Course (Part 3)

Building cost has a direct impact on our design and it's one of the most basic and obvious concerns for architects and clients. In this video Eric will show you how he uses it as a creative constraint that informs our building design.
Length 14:33
Price Free of charge
Subject Architecture
Languages English
Video Transcripts English

About the video

Building cost is divided into two general categories: soft and hard costs. Soft costs are the indirect cost of design: architectural fees, consultant fees, permitting, financing, and legal fees. Hard costs are all the cost directly attributed to the construction of the physical building.
Early on in the design process we know little about the building and so we use square footage as a means for estimating the building’s cost to construct. But square footage alone won’t provide all the information we need to properly describe the cost of a structure, some spaces cost more to build than others. Factoring the square footage provides an added level of precision and allows clients and architects to better plan how design affects the overall budget.
Planning for unforeseeable conditions is important as well and I describe how much of a contingency to add to the project at each phase of the work.
Cost considerations are crucial to realizing both our client’s project and our vision for the work in the world and this video shares the framework I use to get there.

Meet the instructors

Eric Reinholdt is a founder of Thirty by Forty Design Workshop which was established in June 2013 in a home he designed overlooking Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island. In 2016, he designed and constructed the Long Studio to complement the Longhouse and serve as a full-scale model of his design principles and the latest in building science; this is the home for 30X40.
“My work celebrates humble materials, subtle contrasts and finely-crafted details. I have a strong interest in modern regionalist design, local materials and familiar building forms juxtaposed against modern, open floor plans. I employ a minimalist, Shaker-like palette of details inspired by the site and natural surroundings.”

Video syllabus

Real World Architecture
Cost of Architecture (soft costs, hard costs)
Target Budget
Factored Spaces