Design & build - one contract, one accountable partner
NASH develops the design and builds the works under a single contract. Design development, value engineering, technical coordination, and construction are integrated in one team - so cost is controlled from the first sketch, the design is buildable by definition, and responsibility for the result sits in one place.
The typical client requirement
On a traditional project the client appoints a designer, waits for drawings, tenders them, and then appoints a contractor - and if something proves unbuildable or over budget, the designer and contractor point at each other while the client pays for the gap.
Design & build removes that gap. Clients choose it when they want a faster route to site, a price that develops with the design rather than after it, and a single party who cannot pass responsibility elsewhere.
Speed to site
Design and procurement overlap: long-lead items are ordered and approvals lodged while detail design completes, shortening the overall programme.
Cost certainty earlier
The builder prices the design as it develops, so the budget shapes the design - instead of a tender revealing the design is unaffordable.
Single point of responsibility
Design intent, coordination, and construction quality are one party's obligation. A design error and a build defect have the same address.
Fewer appointments to manage
One contract to negotiate, one relationship to manage, one programme - valuable for clients without in-house project teams.
How NASH delivers design & build
Single-source only works when the design process is as disciplined as the site. We fix the brief and budget first, then develop design, cost, and programme together - in the open.
01 - Brief & feasibility
Requirements, budget, and constraints documented; the site or unit assessed; a realistic cost and programme envelope agreed before design begins.
02 - Design development
Concept to construction-level design developed with continuous cost feedback and value engineering - options priced, not just drawn.
03 - Approvals & procurement
Landlord and authority submissions prepared from our own drawings; materials and specialist packages procured as the design fixes.
04 - Construction & handover
Built by the team that designed it - coordinated, inspected, tested, commissioned, and handed over with complete documentation.
What a design & build appointment covers
One contract carrying the project from brief to handover. The functions below are integrated, not subcontracted around a gap.
Design development
Space planning, interior design, and technical design developed from your brief - or from an existing concept you already hold.
Value engineering
Materials, systems, and details assessed for cost, availability, and life-span while the design can still change - savings engineered in, not cut out.
Technical coordination
Architectural, joinery, and MEP information coordinated within one team, so interfaces are resolved before they become site problems.
Approvals documentation
Landlord and authority submission packages produced and managed as part of the design programme.
Construction
The full fit-out delivered by NASH as contractor - architectural works, MEP, joinery, and specialist finishes under the same contract.
Testing & handover
Commissioning, snagging, as-built information, and warranties handed over by the party who both designed and built the works.
Approvals built into the design programme
Because the design and the construction sit with one party, approval packages are produced once, correctly, from information the builder actually intends to build. Comments from landlords and authorities are answered by the team that drew the details - not relayed between separate firms.
In occupied buildings and trading environments, the design itself is shaped around access, permitted hours, and phasing from the start, rather than adapted on site at cost.
Landlord submissions
Fit-out guideline compliance designed in from concept; submission drawings, permits, and conditions managed to closure.
Authority approvals
Municipality, civil defence, and utility requirements incorporated in the design and sequenced in the programme.
Occupied premises
Phasing, protection, and out-of-hours strategies designed into the delivery plan before mobilisation.
When design & build is the right route
D&B suits projects where speed and single-point responsibility matter most: offices, restaurants and cafés, retail units, clinics, and villa projects where the client wants one partner from brief to handover.
The traditional route - an independent designer, then a tendered contractor - remains the better choice where the client wants competitive tension on a fully completed design, or where a signature designer is central to the project. Where the works will be built by others, our PMC service provides the independent control instead. We advise honestly on which route fits before any appointment.
Concept & developed design
Layouts, visualisations where required, material boards, and construction-level drawings and specifications.
Cost plan & contract sum
A transparent cost plan maturing into a defined contract sum as the design fixes - with changes controlled thereafter.
Integrated programme
One programme covering design, approvals, procurement, and construction, reported against throughout.
Handover file
As-built drawings, test and commissioning certificates, warranties, and maintenance information.
Design & build - common questions
What is the difference between design & build and the traditional route?
Under the traditional route, the client appoints a designer, the completed design is tendered, and a separate contractor builds it - with the client holding the gap between the two. Under design & build, one party develops the design and builds the works under a single contract. The programme is shorter because design and procurement overlap, and responsibility for design errors and build defects sits with the same party.
We already have a concept design. Can NASH take it forward under design & build?
Yes. A common arrangement is for NASH to adopt an existing concept - from your brand designer or architect - and carry responsibility for developing it into coordinated technical design and building it. The scope of what we adopt, and the design responsibility that transfers with it, is defined clearly in the contract.
How is cost controlled when the builder also controls the design?
Through transparency and a fixed baseline. The cost plan is open and updated at each design stage; once the design fixes, the contract sum is defined against documented drawings and specifications. From that point, any change is priced and approved in writing before it proceeds - the same variation discipline we apply on every contract. The client is never asked to accept a price for work that is not documented.
What does value engineering actually mean in practice?
Reviewing the design for cost, availability, and performance while it can still change - substituting materials or details that achieve the same result at better cost or lead time, and flagging specification choices that would cause programme or maintenance problems later. It is done with the design team in the room, priced option by option, and decided by the client. It is not quiet downgrading after award.
How does design & build shorten the programme?
Activities that run in sequence on a traditional project run in parallel. Approvals submissions, long-lead procurement, and early site works can begin while detail design completes, because the designer and builder are the same team working to one programme. There is also no tender period between design and construction, and no re-pricing cycle when tenders come back over budget.
Request a design & build proposal
Tell us about the space, your brief, and your timeline - whether you are starting from a blank unit or an existing concept. We will respond with a considered view on scope and a proposal to match.
From brief to handover, under one contract.
Submit a structured brief and we will advise honestly whether design & build is the right route for your project - and what it would take to deliver it.
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