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.

What's the difference between corporate interior design and an office fit-out?

Interior design is the design work: space planning, concept, materials, lighting, technical drawings. A fit-out includes the construction that turns those drawings into a finished office. First Gate offers both as a single service, but you can engage us for the design on its own if that's what you need.

How long does the design phase take?

For a Cape Town corporate office between 200 and 1,000 m², the design phase runs four to eight weeks: first brief, space plan, concept, 3D renders and technical drawings. Larger or more complex projects, or projects that include a council submission, extend that. Client review cycles drive the timeline, not drawing time.

Can we use First Gate's design and have someone else build it?

Yes. Design-only is a standalone service. The drawings belong to you, and you're free to take them to whichever contractor you choose. Some clients run the design with us and tender the build separately. That's a normal way to use the service.

Do you handle the council approvals as part of the design?

Where the project needs them, yes. The same team that does the design prepares the building plan submission, secures the occupancy certificate, and handles the supporting approvals (heritage, fire, electrical compliance). The design is drawn submission-ready from the start, not adjusted after a council comment.

What size of project does First Gate take on?

Most of our commercial work sits between R500,000 and R5 million in total project value, with office footprints between 200 and 2,000 m². We work across professional services, fintech and BPO operations, and landlord-side test-fit and refurbishment work.

How is the design priced?

Design-only engagements are priced as a fixed-scope package against the deliverables: measured survey, space plan, concept, 3D renders, technical drawings. Where the design feeds directly into construction we run it on a per-m² rate against one of four quality tiers (basic through bespoke). All estimates exclude VAT, and furniture is calculated separately.

How quickly do you respond to enquiries?

Within two business days. We come back with an assessment of what your project requires, a clear scope, and a fixed price. The initial assessment is free.

Service · Cape Town

Corporate Interior Design — Cape Town

Workplace planning, design and full build under one team. Cape Town corporate interiors run as a single design and build engagement, from first space plan to signed-off occupancy certificate.

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Scope

What corporate interior design covers

Sometimes called commercial interior design or office interior design in Cape Town buyer language. The design work that turns a commercial space into a working office sits alongside two other tracks. When the same team handles all three, the design is drawn buildable and approvable from the start.

01
Design
Space planning, layout strategy, the look and feel, finishes and materials, lighting design, branded environments, and the technical drawings the build runs from.
02
Construction
The build itself: trades, programme, site management, sub-contractor coordination, quality control, snagging.
03
Compliance
Council submissions, occupancy certificates, fire and electrical sign-offs, heritage clearance for older buildings.

15+

Years in Cape Town

40+

Municipal submissions since 2016

Level 1

BEE Contributor

Team, one contract

Process

How First Gate runs the design phase

01
Step 01
Measured survey + working session
A First Gate engagement opens with an accurate base of the existing space and a working session on how your business operates: headcount today and twelve months out, the split between focus work and collaboration, meeting-room demand, client-facing requirements, hybrid-day patterns.
02
Step 02
Space plan options
That conversation drives the space plan: two or three layout options that test how the floor performs under different working assumptions.
03
Step 03
Concept + 3D visualisations
From there we develop a concept: the materials, finishes, lighting and design intent that tie the space together. 3D visualisations follow at the point a decision has to feel real, before procurement starts on the long-lead items.
04
Step 04
Technical drawings
Once the concept is signed off, the design moves into technical drawings: the documentation a contractor builds from, and the documentation the City reviews if a council submission is required. The design is finished when a competent contractor can price it and a compliance officer can read it without ambiguity.

Scope

What this service is, and isn't.

When it fits

When the design carries the project

Cape Town corporate offices between 200 and 2,000 m²: professional services firms, fintech, tech teams, BPO operations between 30 and 400 staff.
Building owners and landlords commissioning a test fit on a vacant floor or preparing a building for a tenant changeover.
Projects where space planning + concept + compliance need to land as one engagement, not three appointments.
Design-only engagements where you keep the drawings and choose your own contractor.

When it doesn't

You want decorative refresh only
If the scope is 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.
Heritage-sensitive work on a listed building
Listed buildings need a specialist heritage architect leading the conservation process. We collaborate but don't lead on those projects.

Why First Gate

Design + construction + compliance under one team

That's the gap in the Cape Town market. Competitors design, or build, or handle compliance. First Gate does the three.

01 / Single-team delivery

One roof, one project lead

Design, construction and compliance sit under one roof. The same project lead carries the file from the first sketch to the signed-off occupancy certificate. No hand-off, no hand-off losses.

02 / Procurement-ready

Level 1 BEE Contributor

Verified. For corporate tenants and landlord-side projects with procurement preference scoring, this is a material differentiator, not a logo.

03 / Compliance in-house

15+ years in Cape Town

SACAP-registered, 40+ municipal submissions since 2016, and direct working knowledge of how the City of Cape Town reviews building plans and issues occupancy certificates.

Selected Work

Recent projects in this category

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

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

: Interior design is the design work: space planning, concept, materials, lighting, technical drawings. A fit-out includes the construction that turns those drawings into a finished office. First Gate offers both as a single service, but you can engage us for the design on its own if that's what you need.
: For a Cape Town corporate office between 200 and 1,000 m², the design phase runs four to eight weeks: first brief, space plan, concept, 3D renders and technical drawings. Larger or more complex projects, or projects that include a council submission, extend that. Client review cycles drive the timeline, not drawing time.
: Yes. Design-only is a standalone service. The drawings belong to you, and you're free to take them to whichever contractor you choose. Some clients run the design with us and tender the build separately. That's a normal way to use the service.
: Where the project needs them, yes. The same team that does the design prepares the building plan submission, secures the occupancy certificate, and handles the supporting approvals (heritage, fire, electrical compliance). The design is drawn submission-ready from the start, not adjusted after a council comment.
: Most of our commercial work sits between R500,000 and R5 million in total project value, with office footprints between 200 and 2,000 m². We work across professional services, fintech and BPO operations, and landlord-side test-fit and refurbishment work.
: Design-only engagements are priced as a fixed-scope package against the deliverables: measured survey, space plan, concept, 3D renders, technical drawings. Where the design feeds directly into construction we run it on a per-m² rate against one of four quality tiers (basic through bespoke). All estimates exclude VAT, and furniture is calculated separately.
: Within two business days. We come back with an assessment of what your project requires, a clear scope, and a fixed price. The initial assessment is free.

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Tell us the building, the headcount and the deadline. We come back with a fixed-scope proposal within two business days.

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Corporate Interior Design — Cape Town

What corporate interior design covers

How First Gate runs the design phase

Measured survey + working session

Space plan options

Concept + 3D visualisations

Technical drawings