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the
newsletter of tbd consultants - edition 7, 3rd qtr 2007 | ||||||||
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Printable PDF version
Fly Me to the Moon | ||||||||
Construction
Management Specialists | ||||||||
Fly Me to the Moon
You've been on a world tour, now where do you go on vacation? How about a trip into space? That has become a reality for a privileged few, but it is likely to become available for many more of us in not too many years, and that is leading to the development of space ports around the world. | ||||||||
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Cost Estimating & Cost Management
What is the difference between cost estimating and cost management? How are they carried out, and what are they used for? Should you care? Niall addresses these issues in this article.
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The TBD Bid Index is showing bid prices having risen in the Bay Area by over 50% in the past few years, with annual rates of escalation up to or exceeding 15%. Is this kind of thing unprecedented? Can we learn anything from the history of escalation? In this article we look back over the decades and see if we can get any idea of how escalation of construction costs will progress.
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Embassies
An ambassador is a representative of a state, and an embassy is the same in many ways. Also like a state, an embassy needs to protect its borders. At first glance an embassy could be considered similar to a prestige or headquarters office building, but in addition to providing office space for the ambassadors and staff, an embassy requires public areas for visitors who require information or assistance, accommodation for ceremonial functions and private secure areas for political operations. Thus, there are contradictory needs for the building to be open and inviting to the public, yet secure and secretive for diplomatic purposes. Design can be more complex when the embassy compound includes the ambassador’s residence and staff housing; this is not typical. Normally, an embassy would be a one-off/stand-alone facility located in the capital city, but it might be an existing office building that has been renovated, or even leased space in an office building. Security covers a number of issues, including: The embassy is a visual and public representation of the home government in the host country, and this is often reflected in the design through a combination of the styles and materials in both the home country and the host country. By their nature, there is not a large market for new embassy building design. They often involve architectural competitions which awards the design commission to a respected design firm. Such projects tend to move slowly because they are subject to exhaustive reviews and interaction with key embassy and ministry staff, and other interested bodies from both states. There are many factors that drive the cost of embassy construction costs far higher than regular prestige office construction, including:
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Design consultant: Katie Levine of Vallance, Inc. |