The True Cost of Doing It In House: What a Burger Can Teach Architecture Firms About Outsourcing
Sometimes, the best business lessons come from the simplest everyday decisions. Take a burger, for example. You have two choices. You can head to your favourite restaurant, order a delicious burger, enjoy your meal and leave the cooking and cleaning to someone else. Or you can make that same burger at home. Sounds simple enough, doesn't it? But before you even take your first bite, there's quite a bit of work involved. You need to decide what ingredients to buy, drive to the supermarket, find everything you need, pay for it, get home, prepare the ingredients, cook the burger, use electricity or gas, clean the kitchen and wash the dishes.
And after all that effort, your homemade burger might not even taste as good as the one you could have ordered at your favourite restaurant. Now think about your architecture firm. Is doing everything in house always the most efficient way to deliver a project? The answer isn't necessarily yes.
The Burger Comparison: What Are You Really Paying For?
When you order a burger at a restaurant, you're not simply paying for the meat, bun, lettuce and sauce. You're paying for the convenience of having someone else handle the entire process. The restaurant already has the kitchen, equipment, ingredients, trained staff and established processes in place. You arrive, place your order and enjoy the finished meal.
When you prepare a burger at home, you take responsibility for every stage. The shopping. The preparation, the cooking, he electricity, he cleaning and of course, your time. Making a burger at home can sometimes be cheaper and some people genuinely enjoy cooking. But the ingredients alone don't tell you the full cost. The real comparison is the total time, effort, resources and expense involved in getting the result you want. And that's where architectural outsourcing becomes interesting.
Architecture Outsourcing vs In House Drafting: What's the Difference?
Architecture outsourcing allows architecture firms to assign defined architectural production work to an external drafting team rather than relying entirely on permanent in-house employees. An in house architectural production team requires ongoing salaries, software licences, computers, office infrastructure, recruitment, training, management and employee benefits. An architectural outsourcing provider already maintains its own production resources, software and working processes. The architecture firm can purchase the additional capacity it needs without employing every production professional directly.
For firms handling changing project workloads, this can provide a more flexible way to manage drafting, documentation and architectural production. The architecture firm remains responsible for its design direction, client relationships, project oversight and professional approvals.
What Does Making a Burger at Home Have in Common With In House Architectural Production?
Quite a lot, actually.
Making a Burger at Home | Managing Architectural Production In House |
Buy all the ingredients | Recruit and hire production staff |
Have the right kitchen equipment | Purchase computers and software |
Prepare everything yourself | Train employees on company standards |
Spend time cooking | Allocate internal time to drawing production |
Pay for electricity or gas | Cover office and operating expenses |
Clean everything afterward | Manage administration and ongoing overhead |
Repeat the process next time | Maintain capacity even when workloads decrease |
There's nothing wrong with cooking at home, just as there's nothing wrong with maintaining an in house architectural team. In fact, both can be excellent choices. But when your priority is time, convenience and managing resources, having experienced professionals handle the production work can be an attractive alternative.
What Does Ordering a Restaurant Burger Have in Common With Architecture Outsourcing?
A good restaurant has already invested in the equipment, people and processes needed to prepare your meal. Similarly, an established architectural outsourcing company has its own production team, equipment and workflows. When your architecture firm needs additional drawing capacity, you don't necessarily have to recruit another permanent employee, purchase another workstation or increase your long-term payroll.
Instead, you can assign an agreed scope of architectural work to an external team. At Lynx Professional Services, this can include:
Concept Design and Schematic Design support
Design Development (DD)
Construction Documentation (CD)
Architectural permit drawing packages
AutoCAD drafting and drawing production
Revit modeling and documentation
Architectural redlines and revisions
As-Built documentation
3D modeling and architectural visualization
The goal isn't to replace the architect, bu it is to give the architecture firm access to additional production capacity while its internal team continues directing the project.
The Hidden Costs of Keeping Every Architectural Task In House
When architecture firms compare in house staffing with architectural outsourcing, the first number they often look at is the salary of another architectural drafter or technician. But salary is only one part of the equation.
Recruitment and onboarding: Finding the right person takes time. Advertising, interviews, recruitment costs, onboarding and training all require resources before a new employee becomes fully productive.
Software and equipment: Architectural production requires suitable computers, software subscriptions, IT support and ongoing maintenance.
Employee-related expenses: Depending on the firm's location and employment arrangements, additional costs may include benefits, paid leave, payroll expenses and professional development.
Workload fluctuations: Architecture firms don't always have the same production requirements every month. One month may involve several projects progressing through Design Development and Construction Documentation. Another may have fewer drawing packages requiring attention. Permanent staffing costs generally continue even when production requirements decrease.
Management time: Internal staff need direction, supervision, project allocation and quality reviews. Outsourcing does not eliminate the need for oversight, but a well-organised external team can take responsibility for managing its own assigned production resources and internal quality checks. The true cost of in-house architectural production includes more than the hours spent drawing.
Is Architecture Outsourcing Always Cheaper Than Hiring In House?
Not necessarily, and that's an important distinction. Just as a homemade burger can sometimes cost less than a restaurant meal, maintaining in-house staff can be more economical when a firm has a predictable, continuous workload. However, architectural outsourcing can be financially attractive when a firm needs additional production capacity without taking on the full costs and commitments of another permanent position.
The right comparison should include total staffing expenses, software, equipment, recruitment, management time, project volume and the amount of production work required. Outsourcing should be evaluated on the overall value delivered, not simply the lowest hourly rate.
What Happens When Your Architecture Firm Suddenly Gets Busy?
Imagine your architecture firm has three active projects. One is moving through Schematic Design while another another needs a complete Design Development package. The third has reached Construction Documentation, with permit drawings and revisions requiring attention. Your internal team is already busy, and the deadlines aren't moving. Do you immediately hire another permanent drafter? Do your senior architects spend more time producing drawings themselves? Or do you add architectural production capacity for the projects that need it? This is where architecture outsourcing can make a practical difference.
Lynx Professional Services supports architecture and interior design firms across the USA and Canada, providing architectural drafting and production assistance across project stages. Firms can use additional resources for a specific project, a particular stage or ongoing production requirements.
Why the Right Outsourcing Partner Matters
Of course, ordering a burger from just any restaurant doesn't guarantee a great meal. You choose a restaurant because you trust its food, service and consistency. The same applies to architectural outsourcing. An outsourcing partner should understand your project requirements, follow your drawing standards, work with your preferred software and deliver documentation that meets the agreed scope.
At Lynx Professional Services, we work from the client's templates, markups, drawing standards and project instructions. Our team supports production across AutoCAD, Revit and other architectural platforms, with internal quality reviews before deliverables are returned to the client. The objective is to provide dependable architectural production support that fits into the way your firm already works.
Try the Burger Before Ordering the Whole Menu
You probably wouldn't book a restaurant to cater an important event without first knowing whether you liked its food. So why commit to a large architectural outsourcing arrangement without seeing how the team works? At Lynx, new clients can begin with an agreed small portion of an actual project at no charge. This allows your architecture firm to assess the quality of the drawings, communication, understanding of your standards and overall working process before deciding whether to expand the relationship. It's a practical way to see whether Lynx is the right fit for your firm. Start with a project, build a team and scale when you need it.
The Best Choice Is the One That Makes Business Sense
There will always be times when cooking at home makes sense. And there will always be times when maintaining an in-house architectural team is the right decision. But when you're short on time, juggling several projects and trying to manage costs, sometimes the smarter decision is to let experienced people handle the production work. Architecture outsourcing gives firms another option for delivering projects without automatically increasing permanent staffing and operational overhead.
So the next time you're enjoying a restaurant burger, consider everything you didn't have to do to get that meal onto your plate. No shopping, no cooking, no cleaning and more time to focus on what matters to you. Your architecture firm deserves that same opportunity to focus its time where it creates the most value.
Ready to Take Some Architectural Production Off Your Plate?
Lynx Professional Services provides architectural drafting, documentation and modeling support to architecture and interior design firms across the USA and Canada. Whether you need assistance with one project or ongoing production capacity, we can discuss how our team can support your requirements.
Real Architectural Production Experience Behind the Comparison
Lynx Professional Services has more than 15 years of architectural experience, supporting architecture and interior design firms across the USA and Canada.
Our production teams work across Concept Design, Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documentation, permit documentation and As-Built requirements, using software including AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp and ArchiCAD.
A real project example:
On a mixed-use residential and commercial development, Lynx produced a complete Design Development drawing package, including architectural plans, elevations, sections and revisions. The documentation was prepared according to the client's standards and project requirements.
This demonstrates how architectural production can be assigned to an external team while the architecture firm maintains control of its design and documentation requirements. Explore the Mixed-Use Development Project in our case studies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is architecture outsourcing cheaper than hiring an in house drafter?
Architecture outsourcing can reduce fixed staffing and operating expenses when a firm needs additional production capacity for particular projects or workload peaks. Actual savings depend on the scope, duration, outsourcing rates and total cost of employing additional staff.
What are the hidden costs of in house architectural drafting?
Beyond salaries, costs can include recruitment, benefits, software licences, computers, training, office space, IT support, administration and management time.
What is the difference between architectural outsourcing and in-house drafting?
In-house drafting uses employees directly employed by the architecture firm. Architectural outsourcing assigns defined drafting and production work to an external team while the architecture firm retains project direction, client responsibilities and professional oversight.
Can architecture firms outsource construction documentation and permit drawings?
Yes. External architectural production teams can assist with construction documentation and permit drawing packages under the direction of the responsible architecture firm. Final professional review, code responsibility and required approvals remain with appropriately authorised professionals.
Does Lynx Professional Services only provide Revit outsourcing?
No. Lynx supports architectural production using AutoCAD, Revit, SketchUp, ArchiCAD and other architectural software, depending on the project's requirements.
Can an architecture firm outsource only part of a project?
Yes. A firm can outsource a defined drawing package, particular architectural stage, revisions or other production work without outsourcing the entire project.
Is an outsourced drafting team suitable for long term projects?
Yes. An external production team can support ongoing projects and become familiar with the architecture firm's drawing standards, software, templates and working processes over time.
When is keeping drafting in house the better choice?
In house staffing may be more suitable when a firm has a steady, long-term workload, requires continuous direct supervision or needs permanent staff for particular responsibilities. Many architecture firms use a combination of in-house professionals and outsourced production support.
