We are often in New York for business and are happy to help visit prospective office spaces to review for possible unforeseen capital expenditures and discuss design opportunities.

Below are some recent completed medical offices we designed in NYC.

408 W 14^th Street; completed Fall 2011

515 Madison Ave; completed Spring 2011

Parekh Residence

To answer your question:  Our firm works on a fixed fee basis for each of the typical design phases of a project.  Once design is wrapped up and construction drawings are completed we move into hourly services for the contractor selection and construction phases, providing you estimates of our time as things proceed.  The costs for each of these phases will vary with the level of services needed and amount of the design to be provided.  We are happy to discuss specific projects in more detail and provide additional information regarding pricing as it pertains to your particular set of circumstances. Feel free to our office any time at 415-346-9990.

Below is a brief summary of the typical design phases and how our services may vary in each.

Pre Design: In this phase we document the existing building, generate background drawings for use throughout the project, and perform the initial code studies to determine the parameters around which the project must be designed. Fee ranges depend on whether the intended scope of work includes an addition and the size and complexity of the existing conditions to be documented.

Schematic Design: In this phase we’re providing initial layout drawings for your home remodel. We typically provide 3 different directions initially, present them to you for your reactions, and based on the feedback, generate one additional design scheme that takes into account your feedback on which layouts best fit your lifestyle. Fee ranges vary depending on scope of work complexity of the design solutions needed.

Design Development: In this phase we are establishing the overall look and feel of the residence and our services will vary greatly from project to project. For some clients, we’ll perform very little design development services as they wish to work with a contractor they trust on choosing all of their interior finishes and fixtures and aren’t interested in creating a custom environment. For other clients we’ll make recommendations for every finish and fixture to go into the home, creating a unique design solution to craft a custom home that speaks directly to the owner’s tastes and unique lifestyle. We’ll walk you through all the options when we first meet and make sure our contract reflects the appropriate amount and level of design consideration for you and your budget.

Construction Documents: In this phase we generate the “blueprints” which will be used to apply for permits, solicit bids or proposals from general contractors, and ultimately used to construct your home remodel.  You can read more about selecting a contractor in a previous post. Fees will vary greatly with construction documents based on the amount of detail and design put into previous phases.

Please feel free to contact us directly to discuss price specifics regarding your home renovation project.

From the perspective of construction costs, taking a space with an existing kitchen would be a huge advantage. The major costs to build a kitchen from scratch add up quickly as it includes electrical, gas, plumbing, and the hood (including ducting/venting and fire suppression).  At its most extreme, the kitchen can cost up to 3/4 of the overall budget. For a 1,500 square foot space, the kitchen would be about 600 square feet and the dining room about 900 square feet. The cost of a new kitchen is typically $300-500 per square foot, putting the cost of the kitchen at $180K to $300K.

If you are looking at a space that has an existing kitchen, it will dramatically reduce construction costs. But be aware you might have to bring some items up to code or make other improvements to suit the menu.  Pay close attention to the type of hood and the ducting as correcting these items can be expensive and are often out-of-code.

The square footage costs for the dining room are lower, but can still add up.  They tend to range between $100-200 per square foot, which is $90,000 to $180,000 for a 900 square foot dining room.  If your design aesthetic can support a more “rustic” look, then we can work to lower those figures.  A past project had a very limited budget and we were able to reduce the cost to $50 per square foot.  However, a number this low is very rare.

You can find some more responses to typical restaurant questions at our Restaurant Q&A.

Creating Construction Documents

As architects, it is our pleasure to work closely with you to understand your goals for the project and then design accordingly, taking into account codes, legal restrictions, and budgets. The end product we create is a detailed set of Construction Documents which will be reviewed and permitted by local jurisdictions and then provided to a general contractor to construct the project.

Selecting a Contractor

You have a few options when it comes to selecting a general contractor. One option is to wait until the completion of the construction documents and solicit competitive bids from multiple general contractors for the full scope of work.

A second approach is to hire a general contractor early in the design process and make them a member of the team as the project develops. In this scenario, the project team evaluates different design options regarding price and we can track the budget closely as things develop.  When Construction Documents are complete, the general contractor solicits bids from a variety of subcontractors to get competitive prices from those trades and negotiates with you on their fees and markups.

In either scenario we will be more than happy to introduce you to qualified candidates for the construction and guide you through the process, staying on board through the completion of the construction as your advocate.

Yes, we have designed several dental offices, our largest being a high-end 10 operatory dental office in the historic 450 Sutter Building in downtown San Francisco.  We currently have three dental and one orthodontic office in design right now.

For lower-end custom home construction you should budget $200-$250 per s.f.

Quality mid-end construction is more like $300-400 per s.f. and we find man projects will fall somewhere in that range.

High end projects start to get the most variation in cost as there can be a very steep cost increase as your make certain finish and equipment  choices. For preliminary budgeting purposes you can start with $500-$600 per s.f. in this market but be aware that you still need to stay on top of things to keep it from escalating to $700-800 or more.

In addition these numbers you should also budget about $100 per s.f. for exterior hardscape construction. (driveways, walks, patios, decks, etc.)

We recommend you include at least a 10% contingency in your budget to address any unexpected costs that may arise during construction.  With quality, accurate drawings and a good team managing the project you can stay on top of a lot of these unforeseen issues and stay on target with your budget.

Good luck with your parcel search. Be aware that there are some neighborhoods with strict CC&R’s so look into those before making any final decisions and adjust your plans accordingly.