Development Yield
Net-to-gross efficiency, unit count, core placement and wasted area.
Independent owner-side design review
Better buildings begin with a second look.
We review your design before construction, find the few issues that cost money or put approval at risk, and show how to fix them while changes are still cheap.
01Cost
02Value
03Approval
Elevation under review
01
Fresh eyes on the drawings, before they’re built.
Planning
Envelope
Experience
Envelope
Experience
What we review
Six areas where design decisions cost or make money.
Design teams work to deadlines, budgets and approval schedules. We check the areas where a small change, repeated across the project, pays off.
Product & Market Fit
Unit mix, layouts and amenities, checked against the people who will actually buy or rent.
Experience & Circulation
Entrances, lobbies, elevators and corridors, and how easily people move through the building.
Cost & Constructability
Structural, geometric and façade complexity, and whether each piece is worth what it costs to build.
Identity & Market Appeal
Street presence, the ground floor and public space, and what sets the building apart from nearby competition.
Risk & Long-Term Performance
Approval risk, maintenance and running costs, and decisions that get expensive later.
Our method
A thorough review, delivered as a short report.
Four steps, ending in a ranked list of changes the owner and architect can act on.
Understand
Read the brief, plans, renderings, zoning and public filings.
Diagnose
Find the design decisions that cost money or put approval at risk.
Reframe
Draw a better option for each one, and explain why it’s better.
Prioritize
Rank the changes by value, so you know what to do first.
Engagements
Three ways to work with us.
Pick the depth that suits your project’s stage and what’s at stake.
Opportunity Brief
A quick first look to see whether a full review is worth doing.
- 3–5 priority findings
- Marked-up diagrams
- Summary for the owner
- Recommended next questions
Design Optimization Audit
A full review of the decisions with the biggest effect on cost, value and approval.
- Document and plan review
- Drawn alternatives
- Changes ranked by value
- Presentation to the owner
Optimization Sprint
A short, intensive stretch of work with you and your architect to develop and test the changes.
- Design workshops
- Alternative studies
- Team coordination
- Decision package
Start with one project
Send us a project.
An address, a public filing or the design package is enough to start. We’ll tell you whether a review makes sense and what it would involve.