Charleston Commercial Architecture & Engineering

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. Coastal, seismic, and historic complexity push fees toward the higher end, and feasibility is 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. In Charleston, where wind, flood, seismic, and historic review all interact, that single point of accountability is especially valuable. See the case for design-build and what a design-build contractor does.

Yes. TCG is licensed in all 50 states, including South Carolina, and coordinates licensure and stamping through the South Carolina Board of Architectural Examiners and the South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. Integrated delivery means one team is responsible for the design and the build.

The Charleston area carries unusually high seismic demand for the East Coast, a legacy of the major 1886 Charleston earthquake. That raises the Seismic Design Category for many buildings, so structures are engineered for seismic loads in addition to coastal hurricane wind, and the two are coordinated in the structural design from the start.

The coast is a high hurricane wind and windborne-debris region, so buildings are designed to elevated ASCE 7 wind loads with impact-resistant detailing. Many sites sit in a FEMA flood zone, which drives finished-floor elevation and flood-resistant construction. We coordinate wind, flood elevation, and the structure together rather than as afterthoughts.

Soft, compressible Lowcountry soils, marsh, clay, and fill, frequently cannot support a conventional slab, so buildings often need deep foundations such as driven or auger-cast piles, designed from a geotechnical report. The foundation is one of the first things we evaluate because it can move the budget significantly.

On the peninsula and in other historic districts, the Charleston Board of Architectural Review governs exterior design, materials, windows, signage, and additions. We design to the historic guidelines, prepare the BAR submittals, and plan the review into the schedule so it does not stall the project.

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.

Schematic design through construction documents typically runs 3 to 7 months depending on size and complexity, followed by municipal permitting and, where applicable, Board of Architectural Review. Coastal and geotechnical work can add time. Design-build overlaps later design with early construction activity to save time.

Charleston and the metro including North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and Summerville, plus Columbia, Charlotte, and Raleigh. TCG provides integrated architecture and engineering across all 50 states.