No Building Contractor? No Problem

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"I was able to get a vision of what they were trying to achieve very quickly, and at the same time it was very functional. I was impressed we were able to hit both levels without involving the middleman."

Without a general contractor taking a cut, and with fewer adjustments being made late in the project, the firm is able to cut costs without cutting corners. This has resulted in yet another shift: The company now concentrates on providing high-end buildings and specialty housing—including affordable housing, inner-city institutions, and residential green initiatives—for clients on a tight budget.

The most stunning example of this is the Little Ajax Affordable Housing project in Aspen, a town where "affordable housing" is an oxymoron. Recently awarded the 2007 Architecture Merit Award by the AIA New York Chapter and an AIA National Green Award, the luxurious-looking family units near ski resorts offer convenience for the service personnel who otherwise could only afford housing miles away. Overall, the 44-bedroom, 17-family complex cost $158 per square foot, an incredible rate considering the high cost of materials in Aspen and its $220-per-square-foot average development cost.

Inside-Out Approach

One of the tricks the firm uses to keep costs down is to design from the inside out. "We have no idea what the exterior of a building looks like, so that's the fast-track aspect of it," says Gluck. "All the stuff that New York architects spend their time doing, that stuff comes last for us. It's not that we don't focus on it, but we focus on it when we know how much money we have and when we really have an idea of what the scope of the project is."

From the client perspective, one of the few potential downsides of the firm's expansion into construction is that it eliminates the "checks and balances" provided when a general contractor is involved. To put some accountability back into their process, Gluck and Partners has launched a password-protected Web site that allows clients to view every piece of paperwork on the project, from the original contract to requisitions.

It's too soon to tell whether or not this model of architectural firm will gain any momentum among competitors of Peter Gluck and Partners, but for now it's certainly keeping the architects, their clients, and their subcontractors happy. "Architects have been relegated to making cartoons that somebody else takes apart and stitches back together to look like Frankenstein," says Gluck. "We know how to do this and we'll never go back to the old way."

Paula Lehman is an editorial assistant for BusinessWeek in New York.