the city council of kent is planning on suing snohetta to recoup design fees spent after the project nearly doubled from £30 million to £50 million.
kcc spent nearly £6 million for the original proposal, which was scrapped due to skyrocketing prices and brought in david chipperfield to save face.
full story
snohetta's original scheme:
chipperfield's recently revealed scheme:
5 Comments
It would be interesting to know why the costs skyrocketed. Material prices, or simply poor budgeting?
yeah, i think we could see more suits like this as prices continue to skyrocket and institutions get cash-strapped and look for quick $$$. i'm worried about some of my projects that i budgeted over a year ago. i KNOW that they won't be possible for that money - and not because the design has changed!
The question is then - do they actually have a case?
I had the pleasure of taking professional practice with professor (and principal of Snohetta) Craig Dykers. They can bring suit against him and perhaps prove that developers can hire better lawyers than architects but I'd be willing to bet that Snohetta warned about escalating costs all along the way. Architects can not and should not try too hard to predict what the market and the construction profession will charge.
"Architects can not and should not try too hard to predict what the market and the construction profession will charge."
um, although difficult, that is part of your job as an architect. $30 million versus $50 million is tough though, I'd say once it got to twice the original budget they may have a case.
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