In the world of commercial fit-outs, clients often find themselves choosing between two dominant delivery routes: the Traditional Approach and the Design & Build Approach. Each offers distinct advantages, but also carries significant drawbacks.
At Metirium, we’ve redefined the process through our Metirium Methodology — a hybrid model that blends the best of both worlds. By doing so, we deliver faster, smarter, and more transparent projects that consistently outperform industry standards.
The Traditional Approach: Rigorous, But Restrictive
The Traditional Approach is built on clear separation between design and construction. Clients appoint consultants, designers, and contractors separately, ensuring transparency and competitive pricing.
Advantages include:
- A-grade personnel involvement
- Competitive tendering process
- Transparent decision-making
- Dedicated client-side representation
However, this separation often becomes its downfall. Coordination between multiple parties can be poor, leading to cost risk, extended timelines, and inefficiency. The process can feel over-consulted, where too many stakeholders slow down delivery and inflate budgets.
The Design & Build Approach: Speed, But at a Cost
By contrast, the Design & Build Approach merges design and construction under a single team. This creates one point of accountability and typically results in faster delivery and cost certainty which is ideal for clients with tight timelines or fixed budgets.
Advantages include:
- Speed and efficiency
- Clear accountability
- Coordinated delivery teams
- Early cost certainty
But, with this simplicity comes compromise. The D&B route can lead to B-grade design personnel, conflicts of interest, and reduced transparency — as the contractor controls both the budget and the design intent.
The Metirium Way: The Best of Both Worlds
The Metirium Methodology bridges these two worlds. It retains the transparency and client advocacy of the Traditional Approach while harnessing the speed, cost certainty, and integration of Design & Build.
Our model is built on key pillars:
- Shorter Timeframes: Our structured RCP model and parallel workflows accelerate delivery — often 36% faster than traditional methods.
- Value-Engineered Design: Every project is designed with function, performance, and cost-efficiency in mind from day one.
- Early Budgeting: We implement early-stage cost planning with our in-house Quantity Surveyors to eliminate surprises later on.
- Design Management: Our design team works in tandem with delivery specialists to maintain both aesthetic intent and technical excellence.
- Reduced Liability: Clear accountability reduces client-side risk and simplifies project management.
- Lower Costs: Efficiency at every stage ensures better value without compromising quality.
In short, the Metirium Methodology delivers speed without shortcuts, quality without cost inflation, and transparency without complication.
See For Yourself
Want to hear how our methodology has resulted in us working with huge businesses like Jotun and DAZN? Contact us using the form below and we’ll get you up to speed.