My app is a development / master planning calculator tool. The app will take user inputs like project name, gross square footages, project type (renovation, demolition, or new build), use (academic, research, retail, housing, etc..), project cost, and funding type. The app will then output the assignable square footage and price per square foot of each project.
The inspiration for this project was the 30 year master plan implementation tool I worked on this summer with Sasaki Architects. We were building this functionality into the tool so that the user could visualize campus development over the course of the 30 year timeline. The only problem was that it was after the design work had been completed that the user would input this data and receive ASF and cost per square foot. This is what lead me to develop a tool/ calculator that can be actively used while the design team or developers are working through their master planning exercise. This will help teams understand better where their projects are at without having to keep extensive Excel files to maintain a laundry list of ASF's and cost per square foot.
The app will be aimed for architects, developers, and planners, but the app should be simple and straight forward enough that anyone working on the project could use the tool to understand certain project proposals. The app should be able to be used by financial teams, maintenance management teams, as well as facility managers.
There are currently no full scale version of this tool out for public use. Typically this functionality is either wrapped up inside of a larger tool such as the Implementation Tool, or is just held within an Excel file and only accessed when data is needed on specific projects. The development calculator tool would be particularly powerful to assist design and development teams during the design process rather than in post production. Typically when a designer or developer is drawing out the master plans layouts, they are not going back and forth between a computer to input Excel data as they draw. The calculator app would be easily access and allow for quick estimations of costing and ASF while the team is drawing up their plans.
Calculating the assignable square footage can be done by taking the gross square footage and multiplying it by the assumed percentage of unusable space (maintenance and HVAC sf) which typically lands at 30%. Then the cost per square foot can be calculated by taking the project cost and dividing it by the gross square footage.