Traditional design-bid-build adds eight to sixteen weeks of dead time between design completion and construction start while the brand runs a bid process, and it places contractual risk at the boundary between the design team and the construction team in a way that almost always shifts cost onto the brand when scope ambiguity surfaces during construction — and design-build collapses that boundary when speed-to-open or budget discipline is more valuable to the brand than the design team's contractual independence.
What we deliver against the contract.
- Architect, MEP, structure, fire and ICT under one contract
- Designer-of-record selection from our partner network, or work with the brand's preferred architect
- Cost and constructability fed back into design in real time
- Single construction contract on completion of design
- Full GC delivery to certificate of occupancy
Three phases. Same on every program.
Joint design kickoff
Brand, architect and Inscape sit down together at week one. The cost plan, schedule and permit strategy are built into the design conversation from day one.
Progressive design with live pricing
Drawings progress with cost feedback at each stage gate — schematic, design development, CD 50%, CD 90%. Value engineering happens inside the design conversation, not after it.
Seamless construction handoff
Construction contract is signed against the agreed GMP. Same team carries through to opening. No design-to-construction handoff gap.
When design-build pays off
The questions buyers ask in the first call.
Do you have an in-house architecture team?
No. We work with a network of US-licensed retail architects in each market. The architect is selected per project against the brand's standards and the local AHJ's requirements.
Can the brand still bring its own architect?
Yes — design-build can run with the brand's preferred architect under our umbrella contract, as long as that architect is comfortable working inside a design-build delivery model.
How does liability split between us and you in design-build?
Single contract, single point of liability. We carry the design errors and omissions exposure as part of the contract, alongside construction liability.
Want a defensible read on what this looks like for your program?
Tell us about the program. We'll come back with a one-page scoping memo inside two business days.