Design and construct in Bendigo and Melbourne

Under design and construct the owner engages one contractor, usually on a brief and a preliminary design, and that contractor develops the design, documents it and builds it. Design coordination risk sits with the contractor, the programme is shorter because design and construction overlap, and the price is known earlier.

The outcome depends on whether the designer and the builder genuinely work as one team or are two firms under one letterhead. At Silverfox the design is prepared in the same office that builds it, by an in-house registered architect with an interior designer alongside, so the detail resolved on the drawing board carries straight through to site.

• If the design is the point, for example a heritage building or a signature design, a traditional route keeps the architect in the owner's corner.
• If the brief is firm and the deadline matters, design and construct usually wins on time and on who carries the gaps between consultants.
• A middle path works well: an architect for concept and town planning, then novated to the design and construct contractor for documentation and delivery.

Silverfox does both. We tender construct-only on other people's documents and take design and construct contracts, and we will say which route suits a project before we price it.

In-house design covers industrial and process buildings, retail and residential developments, independent living units and new homes. The Bendigo Organics facility at Huntly is the largest current example: the composting tunnels and process infrastructure were designed in house and are being built by Silverfox under a head contract.

• Design and construct or traditional procurement, a builder's honest comparison