Services
You know...all the awesome skills we can provide to help you make your town better.
LEED Accredited Professionals
Comprehensive Planning
GIS Mapping
Research and Studies
Architectural/Landscape Designs
Photorealistic Renderings
Meeting Representatives
Website Creation
Branding
Event Organizing
Videos
Consulting
Pricing
We here at UD4U believe that good design doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. We put aside our greed for the benefit of helping those who need it. Now every project is unique and many factors, such as project size, complexity, and level of involvement all effect the final price. However, we have thrown out the standard firm model of tiered billing rates for that of one, low-cost, flat-rate of $100/hour per person, across the board. No matter who is working on your project it will always be $100/hour, no more, no less. "Why do that?", you may ask. The reason is simple. One flat rate allows all of our project members to be equally involved on a project and also creates a more creative and collaborative environment, that produces an invested interest into the projects from all of our employees. Scroll down to learn more about this new pricing model.
Principal: $100/hr
Project Manager: $100/hr
Designer: $100/hr
What our averaged flat rate is: $100/hr
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What this really means:
A hands ON approach!
This means that everyone is on a level playing field. It means that everyone is involved on a daily basis and everyone is coming up with ideas and doing the work necessary to create the design. It means that the principal is working on the project, just as much as the youngest designer is. It means that there is more collaboration and dialogue. It means that the work load is divided equally amongst the project team members, instead of one person doing the majority of the work and getting little pay and recognition, compared to the management above them that are doing less work while getting almost all of the credit. This equals a hands on approach and in turn, a superior, more well thought out, product and design.
We are able to maintain this structure by never taking on more projects than we can handle. This limits the amount of profit that we could potentially make, but results in better projects, and is what differentiates us from traditional design firms whose main priority is profit.
Principal: $190-$200/hr
Project Manager: $140-$150/hr
Designer: $90-$100/hr
What their averaged flat rate would be: $145/hr
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What this really means:
A hands OFF approach!
This means that all of the work is delegated down the corporate ladder, resulting in the majority of the work and involvement on a project coming from the cheapest employee, as to not go over budget. In this model, Principals are not regularly and actively involved on projects. They are mainly there for initial designs and then when the project manager needs help with the project. This model is great for time management of several projects and delegation is necessary in any company, but by having the pay structure be tiered it creates a stand off culture and a lack of collaboration. The higher up in the pay scale you go, the less involved and more reluctant the managers and principals are to get involved in a project because of how expensive their time is.
This method is typically used in large firms because it helps them deal with the large number of projects that they take on. That's the main purpose of the tiered structure, to create the most profit possible, not to maximize the design and product that is being delivered. This method allows principals to take on more projects than they could ever have the time to work on. This is why the projects are delegated down to other employees in this method and why, inversely, UD4U chooses to never take on more projects than the principals and all the staff below them have the time to devote to them. We would rather sacrifice or delay profit, to ensure a quality product, rather than take on as many projects as we can to make money, but deliver subpar results.
Fundraising
The main goal of UD4U is to bring Urban Design to everyone, even if it seems like you can't afford it. That's why we have come up with unique ways to help you raise the funds necessary to bring your idea to life. If you are a community group or other small commercial or government entity that doesn't have the funds to hire us for our services or implement the plan/design that we created for you, we can help show you ways of raising the funds necessary to bring your dream to fruition through our website. Please scroll down to see how all of this comes together to bring your idea to life and create a wonderful project.
Our process
Now that you've read through all of the information, below is a nice little infographic to help give you a better understanding of what it would be like to create a project with us.
