Design-build
One firm designs and builds. One contract, one point of accountability.
**What's good about it:**
- **The cost feedback loop is immediate.** When the person drawing it also builds it, a decision that adds $30,000 gets flagged in the meeting instead of at bid time.
- **No gap to fall into.** In a split model, when something doesn't work, the architect says it's a construction issue and the contractor says it's a drawing issue. In design-build there's nobody to point at.
- **Faster.** Design and pre-construction overlap. Long-lead items get ordered while drawings finish.
- **Constructability is baked in.** The details drawn are details the crew actually builds.
**What's not:**
- **No competitive bid.** You're trusting one firm's pricing. Mitigate by asking for an itemized estimate you can interrogate line by line.
- **Design ambition is bounded** by what the builder is comfortable building.
- **Switching costs are high** if the relationship goes wrong mid-project.
**Best for:** kitchens, bathrooms, additions, whole-home remodels — the large majority of residential work.
Architect-led
You hire an architect to design and produce construction documents, then bid those documents to contractors, then hire one.
**What's good about it:**
- **Design quality.** For a spatially complex problem — a difficult site, a significant addition, a house that needs rethinking rather than updating — this is what architects are trained for and it shows.
- **Competitive bidding.** Multiple contractors bidding identical documents gives you a genuine price comparison, which no other model does.
- **An advocate during construction.** Many architects offer construction administration — reviewing the work against the drawings on your behalf.
**What's not:**
- **Cost is unknown until late.** You can spend months and a substantial design fee before finding out the project prices at twice your budget. This happens often enough that a preliminary contractor cost check partway through design is worth insisting on.
- **Slower.** Design, then documents, then bidding, then contracting, then permitting.
- **Two fees.** Architect plus contractor.
- **The gap.** When something doesn't work in the field, accountability is genuinely contested.
**Best for:** significant additions, second stories, structural reconfiguration, difficult sites, and projects where the design itself is the goal.
General contractor, direct
You know what you want. The contractor prices it, permits it, and builds it, using in-house drawings or a designer they work with.
**What's good about it:**
- **Fastest and cheapest to start.** No design phase.
- **The right model for a defined scope.** A bathroom, a kitchen in its existing footprint, a deck, a restoration rebuild that returns a space to what it was.
**What's not:**
- **You're doing the design work,** whether or not you realize it. Layout mistakes are yours.
- **No documents to bid.** Comparing contractor quotes without common drawings compares different scopes, which is why bids on the same job can vary by 40%.
**Best for:** clear, contained scopes and restoration work.
When you need an engineer regardless of model
Independent of which model you pick, a **structural engineer** is required for:
- Removing or altering a bearing wall
- Adding a dormer or a second story
- Any addition
- Foundation work
- Building on a lot mapped as an environmentally critical area — Seattle's SDCI requires full plan review for exterior and foundation work on ECA sites, and typically a geotechnical report
The engineer's stamp is what makes the permit possible. This is not optional and not something a contractor can substitute for.
How to actually choose
Answer three questions:
**1. Does the project need design, or just building?**
No design needed → GC direct. Design needed → the other two.
**2. Is the design problem complex, or practical?**
"Where does the primary suite go on this difficult lot?" → architect. "Open the kitchen to the dining room and rebuild both bathrooms" → design-build.
**3. How much do you need a competitive bid?**
If a hard price comparison is essential, only the architect-led model gives you one on identical documents. Otherwise, an itemized design-build estimate you can interrogate line by line serves the same purpose with less time and fee.
A hybrid worth knowing about
Hire an architect for **schematic design only** — the layout and the big moves — and then bring in a design-build contractor to develop the construction details and build it.
You get the architect's spatial thinking on the decisions that matter most, without paying for a full document set, and you get the builder's constructability and cost feedback on the details. For a lot of complex-but-not-monumental Seattle projects, this is the best value in the three models.
How Fortress Build & Finish works
We work design-build on most residential projects, and we work from an architect's drawings when a project warrants one. Either way the estimate is itemized so you can see what each decision costs and adjust the decision rather than the whole project.
When a project genuinely needs an architect, we say so. A second story on a sloped Magnolia lot is not a design-build project, and pretending otherwise costs the client more than the referral does.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an architect for a kitchen remodel?
Usually no. A kitchen within the existing footprint is a design-build or GC-direct project. An architect becomes worth it when walls move significantly or the project extends the house.
Is design-build cheaper than hiring an architect and a contractor?
Usually, because there's one fee instead of two and less time in design. The trade is that you lose the competitive bid on identical documents.
What does an architect cost for a remodel?
Commonly 8–15% or more of construction cost for a full-service engagement, depending on scope and the level of construction administration.
Can a contractor do the design?
For kitchens, bathrooms and straightforward additions, yes — that's design-build. For complex structural or spatial problems, an architect and a structural engineer are the right people.
Do I need a structural engineer?
Yes, for bearing wall removal, dormers, second stories, additions, foundation work, and exterior work on a lot mapped as an environmentally critical area. The stamp is what makes the permit possible.
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**About the author.** Ryan Watt is the marketing director at Fortress Build & Finish, a Seattle-owned finish contractor with more than 25 years in residential and commercial remodeling, custom carpentry, tile installation, and fire and water damage restoration.
*Fortress Build & Finish —
(206) 426-2067 · Licensed, bonded and insured — License No. FORTRBF756KA · Serving Seattle, Ballard, Magnolia, Queen Anne, West Seattle, Capitol Hill, Wallingford, Bellevue, Kirkland, Renton, Shoreline, Edmonds and the surrounding communities ·
fortressbuildfinish.com*
