Colony Construction is a full-service design build construction company Canada-wide, delivering single-source industrial projects from concept through commissioning. With 40+ years of experience and more than 700 completed projects in mining, oil and gas, hydroelectric, and forestry, we compress schedules, control cost, and eliminate the gaps that plague traditional design-bid-build work.
What Is Design Build Construction?
Design build is a project-delivery method in which one contractor owns both the design and the construction of a facility under a single contract. Instead of the owner contracting separately with an architect, an engineer, and a general contractor – and managing the interfaces between them – a design build construction company integrates all three roles. The result is faster delivery, tighter cost control, fewer change orders, and clear single-point accountability.
Colony Construction has delivered design build steel construction across Canada since 1985, completing more than 700 projects on some of the most remote and demanding industrial sites in the country. Our in-house engineers, detailers, project managers, fabricators, and erectors all work for one company under one schedule. That single-source construction model is why mining operators, oil sands developers, and utilities trust us with turnkey scopes from Brucejack to Kearl Lake.
When the owner’s priority is a working facility on a locked date and budget – not an academically perfect design process – design build is almost always the right answer.
Key Benefits of Design Build Steel Construction
- Faster Schedule: Design and construction overlap, shaving 20-40% off total delivery time compared to traditional design-bid-build on industrial projects.
- Cost Certainty: Fixed-price and GMP contract structures lock budgets early, with Colony absorbing the interface risks that owners usually carry.
- Single-Source Accountability: One contract, one project manager, one point of accountability – no finger-pointing between designers and builders.
- Constructability from Day One: Colony’s designers work alongside our erectors every day, so every design decision is informed by how the building actually gets built.
Industries That Rely on Design Build
Design build steel construction is particularly valuable on industrial projects with aggressive schedules, remote sites, or complex process requirements:
- Mining – turnkey process plants, mill buildings, and camps on remote open-pit and underground sites across Canada and internationally.
- Oil & Gas – Alberta oil sands facilities and BC LNG support structures where schedule and cost certainty are mission-critical.
- Forestry – sawmill and pulp-mill facilities where process integration with building structure demands a unified design-build team.
- Hydroelectric – powerhouse and substation buildings in remote northern locations.
- Plus cross-cutting experience in manufacturing & warehousing, agriculture, aviation, sports & recreation, and data centers.
Featured Projects
Brucejack Gold Mine
At this remote BC gold mine operated by Pretium Resources, Colony delivered design build steel construction for the main process and support structures. The site’s fly-in-only access made single-source construction essential – every piece had to be engineered, fabricated, and installed as an integrated package.
LNG Cedar Valley Lodge
Colony acted as the design build construction company for the steel scope of this large BC LNG workforce lodge. Engineering, detailing, fabrication, and erection were all managed under one schedule to meet the accelerated LNG project timeline.
Dockside Green Biomass Energy Facility
This BC biomass energy plant was delivered under a design build model. Colony coordinated structural, cladding, and specialty industrial scope through one integrated team, producing a facility tuned precisely to the process and operating environment.
Our Design Build Process
- Step 1 – Pre-Construction & Budget: Colony’s engineers, estimators, and project managers develop the concept, budget, and schedule collaboratively with the owner.
- Step 2 – Design & Fabrication Overlap: Detailed design, procurement, and fabrication proceed in parallel under a single schedule, compressing the critical path.
- Step 3 – Construction & Commissioning: Colony crews erect, integrate, and commission the facility, providing single-source accountability through turn-over.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does design build compare to traditional design-bid-build?
Design build puts one firm in charge of both design and construction under a single contract. Design-bid-build separates these into sequential contracts with separate firms. Design build is typically 20-40% faster and provides better cost certainty; design-bid-build offers more owner control over design but usually costs more in schedule and interface risk.
What cost savings can a design build construction company deliver?
On industrial projects, design build typically reduces total delivered cost by 5-15% compared to design-bid-build, primarily by eliminating coordination inefficiencies and value-engineering late in the process. The savings are larger on remote or schedule-driven projects where every week of compression translates to lower indirect cost.
What schedule advantages does design build steel construction offer?
Because design and fabrication overlap – Colony can begin fabricating foundations and primary steel while detailing is still finishing on secondary members – single-source construction compresses the critical path substantially. Industrial design build projects routinely deliver 4-8 months earlier than comparable design-bid-build.
How does design build reduce project risk?
Design build consolidates interface risk in one contractor. When the same firm designs, fabricates, and erects the building, there is no ambiguity about who owns a mistake. Colony provides stamped engineering, CWB-compliant fabrication, and certified erection under one warranty umbrella.
What contract structures does Colony offer for design build projects?
Colony works under lump-sum, guaranteed-maximum-price (GMP), and progressive design build contracts, selecting the structure that fits each owner’s risk appetite and project maturity. On complex or fast-track projects we often recommend progressive design build so scope can be locked stage-by-stage.
Ready to Start Your Design Build Project?
Send us your scope, schedule, and site details. A Colony estimator will review your project and reply within one business day.