How Is a New Campus Building Like an Iceberg?

The latest edition of DesignIntelligence features an article about the true costs of buildings, offering a useful metaphor: the building as iceberg.

“On average, only about 12 percent of an iceberg’s volume sits above the water line. What’s visible is quite small compared to the whole,” writes Scott Simpson. “Studies have shown that over a building’s useful life, the original capital cost accounts for only about 12 percent of the total — just like an iceberg. The true cost (and the real value proposition) lies below the waterline  — out of sight and out of mind. It’s territory worth exploring.”

Architects tend to focus on aesthetics and give too little attention to how a building works, how it uses energy, or how it utilizes space, Mr. Simpson writes. But those are the qualities that make for great design.

“Capital cost matters a great deal, of course, because it’s most often the gating issue that determines whether or not a project gets built in the first place,” he writes. “But it’s only a small part of the overall picture and, considered by itself, tells us relatively little.”