New Beach House Made Easy - Peninsula Papagayo Costa Rica

Real Estate

Design-Bid-Build

Building Your Next Home Away, Papagayo Style

Designed by Iconic Costa Rican Architect Ronald Zurcher & Built by Pacific Coast Construction

Have you been dreaming about elsewhere lately, thinking about your next home away? You have a pretty good idea of what you want in terms of architecture and design, but what about the rest of the development process? When the time is right, it’s best to know what you’re getting into before designing, permitting, and construction starts.

By Danielle Finnegan | August 23, 2023 | Guanacaste

Real Estate

Design-Bid-Build, Design-Build, or Turnkey

What’s the best delivery method for your next home away?

We’re sharing the recent experiences of three Papagayo members to help you decide. After securing their ideal homesite on the peninsula, each family opted for a different delivery method, tailored to individual objectives. There is, of course, no right answer. Ultimately, family interests, priorities, and time will guide your decision. If you want to be actively involved in the development process, however, and have the time and inclination to manage multiple consultants and contracts, this design-bid-build case study is likely to resonate.

Case Study #2 – Design-Bid-Build

Grojean Residence
Architecture: Zürcher Architects
Interior Architecture: Zürcher Architects
Landscape Architecture: GREENPLAN
Interior Design: Martha Dayton Design
Builder: Pacific Coast Construction

The traditional design-bid-build method tends to be preferred by owners who want more creative control and involvement in the development process. With this approach, design and construction services are split into separate contracts that are managed simultaneously by the owner/developer. It works well if you have the time and desire to manage the different players, and prefer each of them to stay in their lane. While it tends to be less time efficient than other methods, the tradeoff was worth it for owner/developer Tom Grojean.

We wanted to be closely involved and were comfortable managing the separate teams. Zürcher Architects and Pacific Coast Construction made it easy.

Tom Grojean

Owner/Developer

For architecture, Grojean chose renowned Costa Rican architect Ronald Zürcher. They shared a deep interest in local culture and natural design. Zurcher’s local expertise and refined sensitivity to environment would prove invaluable.

Playa Prieta is known to be an ecologically-sensitive area and the landform architecture of the Grojean property presented unique challenges that extended beyond the usual landmark trees and articulating topography. “We wanted to work and live with nature to create a more sustainable and livable home away for our family,” Grojean said. “The design brief was to optimize the relationship between the physical construction and outside world to create an enriched state of sensory and cognitive engagement.”

Martha Dayton Design - Papagayo Peninsula, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica

Architect Ronald Zurcher said, “The physical architecture evolved directly from the land and the place itself, fusing into a shared vision.”
The interior design firm Martha Dayton Design from Minnesota was added to the team to create a special atmosphere for the Grojeans and help streamline the procurement of FF&E.

When the construction drawings, bid documents, and approvals were ready, Grojean had planned to put the project out to bid and compare contractor prices. In the end, however, he decided to negotiate directly with Pacific Coast Construction. “Pacific Coast was very transparent with us throughout the budgeting process,” Grojean said. “Their pricing was fair, and expectations were clear. It was the right fit for us.”

From an administrative standpoint, Grojean retained control over direct and indirect construction costs, accounts payable, and cash flow.

“Martha, Ronald, and Jeremy were great team players and worked well together, solving all the usual issues that arise during construction,” Grojean said. “Building our new beach house on Papagayo was an exciting and rewarding experience.”