EPISODE SUMMARY
Every design-build owner has lived this moment: an early budget gets a client excited, the design gets refined, and the real estimate lands 20–30% higher. Jason Langkammerer, President of AT6 Architecture + Design Build in the San Francisco Bay Area, walks through the system his firm built to close that gap — the “Design (Un)certainty Contingency.” Borrowed from the commercial construction “cone of uncertainty” and sparked by a conversation with Ian Schwandt of TDS Design Build, the approach bakes a shrinking contingency percentage into every budget from the first proposal through final pricing. As the design firms up, the contingency comes down — and the two numbers meet in the middle. Jason and Greg dig into the mechanics, how to present it to clients without sounding like padding, and what it takes to finally stop dreading the final-estimate conversation.
GUEST
Jason Langkammerer, President, AT6 Architecture + Design Build — at6db.com
Design-build runs in Jason’s family — his father was both an architect and a contractor. Jason grew up between the Craftsman and Victorian homes of Berkeley and a decade immersed in modern architecture in Los Angeles, a dual perspective that shaped his design philosophy. AT6 started as a design-only practice before Jason brought construction in-house to give clients a smoother, more coordinated path from concept to completion. He still personally guides every project’s budget from initial estimate through final pricing.
RESOURCES & LINKS
• AT6 Architecture + Design Build: at6db.com
• Ian Schwandt / TDS Design Build — mentioned for his Substack on production and construction numbers
• Remodelers Advantage: remodelersadvantage.com