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Labor cost certainly drives construction prices in San Francisco
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If cost is driving the planning process have a look at https://www.marmol-radziner.com/category/architecture/prefab/ I think its an interesting alternative to hiring a practice with a good outcome. I've been in the Desert House and it was impressive.Yours is indeed a very broad question, too broad to answer with any useful specificity, but: excluding land costs the low end of construction costs for a single-family standard FFE (tract-level Furniture/Fixtures/Equipment) nationally (so not a very useful number) in the USA was approximately $120/sf in 2020. The attached link, while far too average to be locally useful, does at least indicate a useful breakdown of all the contributing categories. Call that average more like $100-$175/sf depending, just to start.
That number is then incredibly affected by location (zip code), site accessibility, project size, contractor/labor availability, materials prices, soils conditions, etc. Any "added features" will balloon costs very quickly, on-site project revisions as well. Timing is also a huge variable: for instance the sf cost in Texas and the Frozen South last month was certainly not at all what it will be (much higher) in the coming months.
The most accurate method by far will be to check with at least several local contractors/architects/builders first...then to much lesser degree online for "residential building costs per square foot in [12345 zip code]", RSMeans Construction Data, and other similar resources.
MR are excellent architects (and acquaintances as well). Their work is indeed impressive, very coherent, extremely well-developed, and they have a long and legitimate track record. But I highly doubt their work is near the cost tier the OP mentioned; it is not exactly "lower-end" in terms of budget.If cost is driving the planning process have a look at https://www.marmol-radziner.com/category/architecture/prefab/ I think its an interesting alternative to hiring a practice with a good outcome. I've been in the Desert House and it was impressive.
MR are excellent architects (and acquaintances as well). Their work is indeed impressive, very coherent, extremely well-developed, and they have a long and legitimate track record. But I highly doubt their work is near the cost tier the OP mentioned; it is not exactly "lower-end" in terms of budget.
In general, ironically, prefab has rarely resulted in the overall reduced costs that are so often envisioned/purported/promised, and certainly not on sites that MR, Michelle Kaufmann, et al typically build on. One issue among many others is that often local contractors are not authorized by prefab builders/designers to erect the structures, since many of the systems are of course partially factory-pre-installed by the companies' own M/E/P etc fabricators...so pricing reductions via different (non-affiliated) contractors is typically not an option.
That said your suggestion to the OP is definitely a very valid option for them to research: if there are nearby pre-fab builders, then on more normal sites, with much more standard FFE than MR etc clients desire, lower-cost prefab shells are certainly a type to investigate. A friend built very cost-effective single-family housing using quonset huts/silo structures, dirt-cheap stuff, and the result is beautiful imo...but then again certainly not most people's cup of tea.
Is anyone in this thread an actual architect?
Yes.Is anyone in this thread an actual architect?
There in Sydney you also have Glenn Murcutt, one of the greatest modern architects ever. So very fortunate, Sydney. ?Here in Sydney you are looking at 6-10 K AUD per sqm. This is high level etc but you don’t save a lot underspec’ing finishes.
For reference the builders on a recent project were on $700 AUD a day cash per person. This is labour only and ex materials. Not a bad gig if you can get it.
Yes, he is one of the greats. You might enjoy some of his students work, Peter Stuchbury is worth a look for example.There in Sydney you also have Glenn Murcutt, one of the greatest modern architects ever. So very fortunate, Sydney. ?