Builder or Banker? Don’t Get Caught in the Middle!
Two Paths to Building a Branch
Building or renovating a branch is about creating a modern space, reflecting the brand, meeting the community’s needs, and enhancing the experience for both employees and consumers.
Before the doors open, however, the institution must make a critical decision: how will the project be managed?
Design-Bid-Build: Owner Heavy, High-Risk
In this model, the financial institution must contract separately with a design team (architects/engineers) and a construction team (general contractor) and manage both. The process includes two phases and two separate bidding processes:
- Design Phase: The financial institution hires a design firm to create plans, specifications, and preliminary budgets.
- Construction Phase: Using those plans, the financial institution solicits bids from contractors to build the project.
This approach places substantial responsibility on the financial institution. Banks and credit unions are required to coordinate multiple contracts, mediate between teams, and navigate design and construction challenges as they arise. Because designers focus on plans and contractors focus on execution, the owner often becomes the middleman—responsible for aligning priorities, resolving conflicts, and keeping the project moving forward.
What’s often overlooked is the internal commitment required to make this model work. In many cases, a dedicated team member must spend 15–20+ hours per week over the course of the project, often for a year or more, managing communication, decisions, and day-to-day activities. That amount of time and level of commitment comes at the expense of their primary role with the institution. The result is a hidden cost that rarely shows up in the project budget: lost productivity. When key personnel are pulled away from their core responsibilities, it can impact operations, slow internal initiatives, and create ripple effects across the institution.
In addition to time investment, the financial institution also assumes the majority of the risk for delays, cost overruns, and misalignment between design and construction—making the process not only more demanding, but also more difficult to control.
Design-build streamlines both design and construction under a single contract with one experienced, trusted partner. Architects, engineers, and builders collaborate from the start, aligning design, schedule, and budget in a unified process.
However, not all design-build models deliver the same level of integration and performance. True integration goes beyond coordination. The most effective partners bring architecture, interiors, furniture, branding, and digital solutions together under one roof—ensuring every element is aligned from day one. This eliminates the gaps that often occur when multiple outside firms are simply managed under a “design-build” label.
The financial institution’s role remains strategic, not managerial. During the design phase, leadership defines goals, reviews plans, and sets priorities. Once construction begins, the integrated team manages coordination, problem-solving, and real-time adjustments—keeping the project moving forward without requiring constant oversight.
This approach reduces risk, minimizes delays, and limits costly change orders. Just as importantly, it removes the burden of managing multiple vendors and navigating competing priorities. Instead of acting as the middleman, the financial institution works with a single, fully aligned team, staying informed and in control, without getting pulled into the day-to-day complexity.
Successfully delivering a branch project comes down to working smarter, not harder, and often involves three key considerations:
- How quickly does the institution need the project completed?
- How much coordination and potential conflict management is the institution willing to assume?
- Does the institution have the time and expertise to manage the process directly?
While both methods can deliver results, many financial institutions today are choosing integrated design-build delivery to simplify and reduce the day-to-day burden of project management.
Branch projects are high-stakes, and your reputation and success are on the line. Leave the management to the experts and take the burden off yourself, so you can focus on what you do best: serving consumers, strengthening the brand and running the Bank (Credit Union).
The Numbers Speak:
Research shows that design-build consistently outperforms traditional design-bid-build:
- Faster delivery: Up to 36% faster construction, 102% faster from design to completion
- Lower cost growth: Approximately 0.3% less per sq. ft. and 3.8% lower cost growth
- Top performance: Ranked best overall for cost, schedule, and efficiency (200+ projects)
