OAKLAND, Calif. — What if you could bring nearly all your key subcontractors on board during the Conceptual Design phase of a major project — before most drawings are finalized, and while many systems are still theoretical? Layton Construction has proven it’s not just a theoretical exercise but a viable approach to managing risk, streamlining delivery, and achieving cost certainty.
In a recent large-scale hospital project located in a rural Montana market, Layton managed to onboard 78% of trades by cost volume during the earliest design phase. By the Design Development milestone, that number climbed to 90%, significantly ahead of industry norms.
“At Conceptual Design, we onboarded all the major trades–including mechanical, electrical, glass, drywall, elevator, pneumatic tube, steel,” said Michael Blasingim, Director of IPD and Design Build at Layton. “We had the curtainwall and the metal subcontractor and their manufacturer in the Big Room with us,” he added, referring to the collaborative co-location space used during project planning.
Leveraging IPD, TVD, and the Join Platform
This unprecedented early trade onboarding was made possible by Layton’s use of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Target Value Design (TVD) methodologies, in conjunction with the Join collaborative software platform. These tools allowed Layton to engage stakeholders, make rapid design decisions, and lock in system-level pricing long before final construction documents were in hand.
“This early engagement allowed design assumptions to be quickly vetted with the subcontractors, their vendors, and even the manufacturers,” Blasingim noted. This process helped align everyone — from designers to trades to material suppliers — around shared project goals early in the process, reducing risk and minimizing costly redesigns later.
Achieving Early GMP and Funding
Thanks to this tight integration of cost and design, Layton was able to deliver a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) at the Design Development stage, rather than waiting for the more traditional Construction Document (CD) phase.
“Because of this early cost certainty, the Board was able to get early project funding,” said Blasingim. That early funding proved critical for maintaining the project’s schedule and momentum in a competitive healthcare construction environment.
Addressing Competitive Pricing Concerns
Naturally, the owner raised questions about how competitive pricing would be ensured if subcontractors were bought out so early in the process. “Did the Owner have questions about fair pricing in the light of this very early onboarding? They absolutely did,” Blasingim acknowledged.
Layton addressed those concerns through transparent procurement strategies, clear documentation of pricing logic, and open-book collaboration. By involving trades early, the team ensured more accurate cost forecasting, avoided late-stage change orders, and improved design alignment.
A Playbook for Future Projects
The project didn’t just achieve its cost and schedule goals — it also generated a repeatable playbook for other STO Building Group (STOBG) teams. The approach shows how advanced collaboration methods can break traditional silos between design and construction to improve outcomes across the board.
Layton’s successful implementation of TVD, IPD, and early trade buyout strategies in a challenging rural market stands as a proof point that even in smaller construction ecosystems, sophisticated preconstruction planning can pay dividends.
About Join
Join is an enterprise platform trusted by over 40% of the ENR Top 50 contractors. Its collaborative tools help owners, contractors, and design teams streamline decision-making from preconstruction through closeout. Whether managing a single project or an entire portfolio, Join empowers teams to make better, data-driven decisions. Learn more at www.join.build.
Originally reported by Join in Construction Dive.