Austin Commercial Architecture & Engineering
Integrated commercial architecture and engineering across Austin and Central Texas: architecture, MEP, and structural under one roof through TCG, with design-build delivery. Texas licensure, Austin Energy Green Building fluency, expansive-clay-soil foundation expertise, and a single accountable team from feasibility through construction documents.
Austin Architecture & Engineering Estimator
Describe your project and get a preliminary design and construction cost estimate powered by TCG.ai, calibrated to Central Texas pricing for integrated architecture and engineering.
Tell Us About Your Project
Include project type, square footage, design scope (architecture, MEP, structural), engineering needs, budget, and timeline. Our AI applies Central Texas indices and local code factors automatically.
Analyzing Your Austin Project
Our AI is evaluating construction costs using Austin market data…
Your Austin Construction Estimate
How TCG Delivers Integrated Design in Central Texas
TCG brings architecture, MEP, and structural engineering together under one roof, paired with construction, so design and build are a single accountable team rather than a chain of separate firms. In Central Texas that integration matters because the things that decide whether a building works here, the foundation on expansive clay, the cooling-dominated mechanical systems, and the energy code, all have to be solved together. We take projects from feasibility and programming through schematic design, design development, and construction documents, and into permitting and construction.
Texas commercial energy requirements are based on the International Energy Conservation Code, and the City of Austin layers on its own amendments and the Austin Energy Green Building program, one of the oldest green building rating systems in the country. Designing for Central Texas means cooling-first mechanical systems, high-performance glazing and shading for intense sun, and envelopes tuned for heat and humidity rather than cold. The foundation is the other defining issue: expansive clay soils shrink and swell with moisture, so structures need engineered foundations, often post-tensioned slabs or piers, designed from a geotechnical report. See architectural design-build, MEP, and structural engineering.
The biggest reason owners choose integrated design is cost and speed. Design-build typically compresses a program 15 to 30 percent against design-bid-build and cuts change orders, because the people designing the building are accountable for building it. We run early budgeting and constructability reviews during design, not after, so the drawings match the budget, which is especially valuable given how slow City of Austin review can be. TCG is licensed in all 50 states, including Texas, and coordinates licensure and stamping through the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners and the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
Austin Architecture and Engineering Fees
Commercial architecture and engineering fees are usually a percentage of construction cost. Full architectural services typically run 6 to 12 percent, MEP 1.5 to 4 percent, and structural 1 to 3 percent, with feasibility and programming often a fixed-fee study. Design-build bundles these under one contract. Use the estimator above and the A and E fees and soft costs guide.
TCG Builds Across Texas
Austin is one of four major Texas metros TCG serves. We deliver design-build commercial construction in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio as well, and reach the rest of the Texas Triangle and all 50 states from there.
Austin Architecture, Engineering & Design-Build Resources
Fee guides, design-build references, sibling Austin sectors, Texas metros, and core services to plan your project.
Austin Architecture and Engineering FAQ
Common questions about architecture and engineering in Austin and Central Texas. See the full TCG FAQ for more.
Commercial architecture and engineering fees are usually a percentage of construction cost. Full architectural services typically run 6 to 12 percent, MEP 1.5 to 4 percent, and structural 1 to 3 percent. Feasibility and programming are often a fixed-fee study. Use the estimator above and the commercial architectural services cost guide.
Architecture, MEP engineering, and structural engineering, paired with construction, so design and build are one accountable team. We take projects from feasibility and programming through schematic design, design development, construction documents, permitting, and construction. See architectural design-build.
Design-build typically compresses a program 15 to 30 percent against design-bid-build and reduces change orders, because the people designing the building are accountable for building it. Budgeting and constructability happen during design, not after, so the drawings match the budget. See the case for design-build and what a design-build contractor does.
Yes. TCG is licensed in all 50 states, including Texas, and coordinates licensure and stamping through the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners and the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Integrated delivery means one team is responsible for the design and the build across the full project.
Texas commercial energy requirements follow the International Energy Conservation Code, and the City of Austin adds its own amendments plus the Austin Energy Green Building program, one of the oldest green building rating systems in the country. In practice that means cooling-first mechanical systems, high-performance glazing and shading, and envelopes tuned for heat rather than cold.
Central Texas has expansive clay soils that shrink and swell with moisture, which can crack slabs and damage buildings if the foundation is not engineered for it. We design foundations, often post-tensioned slabs or piers, from a geotechnical report, and coordinate the structural and architectural design together so the building performs over time.
Feasibility and programming, schematic design, design development, construction documents, and permitting support, with construction administration during the build. We run early budgeting and constructability reviews during design so cost and drawings stay aligned. See preconstruction services.
Yes. We provide feasibility studies, programming, and pre-design pro formas as fixed-fee work, which lets an owner test a site or concept before committing to full design. It is the cheapest place to find a problem.
Schematic design through construction documents typically runs 3 to 7 months depending on size and complexity, followed by permitting, which can be slow in the City of Austin. Feasibility and programming run a few weeks. Design-build overlaps later design with early construction activity to save time.
Austin and Central Texas including Round Rock, Cedar Park, and Georgetown, plus San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston. TCG provides integrated architecture and engineering across all 50 states.
Build Your Austin Project with TCG
From feasibility through construction documents, TCG delivers integrated architecture, MEP, and structural engineering with design-build accountability across Austin and Central Texas. Get a preliminary estimate and a team that designs for Texas heat and clay soils from day one.
Schedule an Austin ConsultationTCG Service Area & Office Locations Nationwide
Terrapin Construction Group is a design-build commercial general contractor licensed in all 50 states. Beyond Austin and Central Texas, TCG builds in these metros and everywhere in between.