How accurate is the office fit-out cost calculator?

It gives a preliminary budget range based on your office size, condition, layout, finish level and selected services. It is an early planning estimate, not a formal quotation — final costs are confirmed after a site assessment.

Is the calculator free to use?

Yes. The calculator is completely free and there is no obligation. You provide your project details and contact information and receive an instant estimated budget range.

What does the estimate include?

The range covers construction and fit-out works for the scope you select — finishes, internal layout, and any additional services chosen. Furniture is included only if you select it. Prices exclude VAT.

Does the estimate include VAT?

No. All figures are shown excluding VAT.

What happens after I get my estimate?

Your details are sent to the First Gate team and we respond quickly — typically the same business day — to discuss your project and arrange a site assessment for an accurate quotation.

Which areas does First Gate cover?

First Gate delivers office fit-out, refurbishment and relocation projects across Cape Town and surrounding areas.

Do you handle heritage and council approvals for older CBD buildings?

Yes. Compliance sits in-house: the same team that does the design prepares the building plan submission, manages the occupancy certificate application, and coordinates heritage clearance where older stock requires it. Listed buildings are the exception — those need a specialist heritage architect leading the conservation process, and we collaborate rather than lead.

How long does a CBD office fit-out take?

For an office between 200 and 1,000 m², the design phase runs four to eight weeks: brief, space plan, concept, 3D renders and technical drawings. The build follows from there. A council submission extends the timeline, which is exactly why it gets scoped at the start, not discovered mid-project.

What does a CBD office fit-out cost?

Most of our commercial work sits between R500,000 and R5 million in total project value, priced on a per-m² rate against one of four quality tiers. All estimates exclude VAT. The Office Cost Calculator gives you a realistic starting figure for your floor in about two minutes.

Location · Western Cape

Office Fit-Out — Cape Town CBD

Design, construction and council compliance under one team, for offices from the Foreshore towers to the converted blocks on Bree and Loop. Free initial assessment — and a fixed-scope price within two business days.

Calculate your budget

Scope

What a CBD office fit-out covers

Three tracks, one team. The same group that draws the office builds it and signs it off with the City — and in the CBD's older stock, the third track is rarely optional.

01
Design
Space planning against your headcount and working patterns, concept and finishes, lighting, branded environments, and the technical drawings a contractor can price without ambiguity.
02
Construction
The build itself: trades, programme, site management in occupied buildings, sub-contractor coordination, quality control, snagging.
03
Compliance
City of Cape Town building-plan submissions, occupancy certificates, fire and electrical sign-offs — and heritage clearance where the CBD's older stock requires it.

15+

Years in Cape Town

40+

Municipal submissions since 2016

Level 1

BEE Contributor

Business days to a fixed-scope price

Process

How a CBD fit-out runs

01
Step 01
Measured survey + working session
An accurate base of the existing floor, and a working session on how your business operates: headcount today and twelve months out, meeting-room demand, client-facing requirements, hybrid-day patterns.
02
Step 02
Space plan options
Two or three layout options that test how the floor actually performs — especially useful when you're still choosing between CBD buildings.
03
Step 03
Concept, 3D and technical drawings
Materials, finishes, lighting and design intent, visualised before procurement starts on long-lead items, then documented submission-ready for the City.
04
Step 04
Build to occupancy certificate
The construction programme, the compliance sign-offs and the occupancy certificate application, carried by the same project lead through to handover.

Scope

Where First Gate fits in the CBD — and where it doesn't.

When it fits

When First Gate is the right fit in the CBD

Corporate offices between 200 and 2,000 m²: professional services, legal, fintech and BPO teams between 30 and 400 staff.
Landlords and building owners preparing a CBD floor for a tenant changeover, or commissioning a test fit on vacant space.
Projects where design, construction and council compliance need to land as one engagement, not three appointments.

When it doesn't

You want a decorative refresh only
Paint, new finishes and loose furniture without layout or compliance work — a smaller interior decorator is the better fit. We work at the architectural level.
Formally listed heritage buildings
Listed buildings need a specialist heritage architect leading the conservation process. We collaborate but don't lead on those projects.

Sounds like your project? Get an estimate →

The Cape Town CBD holds the deepest pool of commercial office space in the Western Cape — and the widest spread of building ages. That spread is the real story of CBD fit-outs: a P-grade tower floor and a converted heritage block are different briefs entirely. One is a fast, clean build; the other is a compliance project before it is a design project. Reading the building right at the start is most of the battle.

Design, build and refurbishment in the CBD

The building you take decides the engagement you need. A converted block with a heritage past calls for design and build — the full engagement, where space planning, technical drawings and the compliance track run together from day one. A modern floor with approved drawings already in hand needs office construction: the build itself, programmed and managed. And where the bones of the office are right but the space is tired, office refurbishment upgrades the floor without the cost of starting over.

Whichever building you're weighing, put numbers on it first. The Office Cost Calculator gives you a defensible fit-out estimate for your square meterage and quality tier in about two minutes — before you commit to a lease or a layout.

Why First Gate

Why First Gate in the CBD

Design, construction and compliance under one delivery team — and the CBD is where that combination earns its keep.

01 / Single-team delivery

One roof, one project lead

When the City queries a drawing mid-build, the people who drew it and the people building from it sit at the same desk. The query gets answered without three consultants reconciling versions — and the programme keeps moving.

02 / Council fluency

The layer CBD projects live or die on

SACAP-registered, with 40+ municipal submissions since 2016: drawings prepared the way the City of Cape Town actually reviews them, and occupancy certificate applications scoped before they can stall the programme.

03 / Procurement-ready

Points on your procurement scorecard

First Gate is a verified Level 1 BEE Contributor. For corporate tenants and landlord-side projects with preference scoring, that is a material differentiator, not a logo.

Selected Work

Recent First Gate fit-outs

First Gate's completed Cape Town work. Click any project to view the full gallery.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

: Yes. Compliance sits in-house: the same team that does the design prepares the building plan submission, manages the occupancy certificate application, and coordinates heritage clearance where older stock requires it. Listed buildings are the exception — those need a specialist heritage architect leading the conservation process, and we collaborate rather than lead.
: For an office between 200 and 1,000 m², the design phase runs four to eight weeks: brief, space plan, concept, 3D renders and technical drawings. The build follows from there. A council submission extends the timeline, which is exactly why it gets scoped at the start, not discovered mid-project.
: Most of our commercial work sits between R500,000 and R5 million in total project value, priced on a per-m² rate against one of four quality tiers. All estimates exclude VAT. The Office Cost Calculator gives you a realistic starting figure for your floor in about two minutes.

Get an instant estimate

Price your fit-out in two minutes.

Tell us the space, the headcount and your timeline. Get an on-screen budget range instantly — no phone call, no obligation.

Instant on-screen estimateNo obligation

Calculate your budget

Office Fit-Out — Cape Town CBD

What a CBD office fit-out covers

How a CBD fit-out runs

Measured survey + working session

Space plan options

Concept, 3D and technical drawings

Build to occupancy certificate