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Calcimator

Exhibition Design Budget Calculator

Estimate exhibition design and fabrication budgets by gallery square footage, complexity level, and duration.

Inputs

%

Results

Estimated budget (mid)

$302,500.00

≈ 7 Teslas

Budget (low estimate)$220,000.00
Budget (high estimate)$385,000.00
Cost per sq ft (mid)$151.00
Design & planning$51,425.00
Fabrication & construction$121,000.00
AV & media$45,375.00
Graphics & labels$30,250.00
Lighting$24,200.00
Cost per month$25,208.00
Est. cost per visitor$37.81
How to Use This Calculator
  1. Enter Gallery area (sq ft), Complexity level, and Exhibition duration (months).
  2. Set Contingency (%).
  3. Review the Estimated budget (mid) ($) result.
  4. Use Budget (low estimate) ($) and Budget (high estimate) ($) to inform your decision.

How the result changes with Gallery area (sq ft)

Gallery area (sq ft)Estimated budget (mid)
10,090$1,526,113.00
35,065$5,303,581.00
65,035$9,836,544.00
90,010$13,614,013.00

What each input means

Gallery area (sq ft)
Total square footage of the exhibition gallery.
Complexity level
1 = Basic (art on walls, $50-80/sq ft); 2 = Standard (built environment, $100-175/sq ft); 3 = Immersive (heavy AV, $200-400/sq ft).
Exhibition duration (months)
How long the exhibition will be open to amortize costs.
Contingency (%)
Budget contingency percentage (industry standard: 10-15%).

What each result means

Estimated budget (mid)
Midpoint estimate including contingency.
Budget (low estimate)
Low-end estimate including contingency.
Budget (high estimate)
High-end estimate including contingency.
Cost per sq ft (mid)
Mid-range cost per square foot with contingency.
Design & planning
Budget allocation for design and planning.
Fabrication & construction
Budget for physical construction and fabrication.
AV & media
Audio-visual and digital media budget.
Graphics & labels
Graphic design, printing, and label production.
Lighting
Exhibition lighting budget.
Cost per month
Amortized exhibition cost per month.
Est. cost per visitor
Estimated cost per visitor based on typical museum attendance.

How this is calculated

Worked example, using the default values

  1. Identify Input Parameters
    4 parameters
    Gallery area (sq ft) = 2000, Complexity level = 2, Exhibition duration (months) = 12, Contingency (%) = 10 = 4 input(s) provided
  2. Calculate Estimated budget
    Estimated budget = baseBudgetMid * contingencyMultiplier
    302500 = $302,500
  3. Calculate Budget
    Budget = baseBudgetLow * contingencyMultiplier
    220000 = $220,000
  4. Calculate Budget
    Budget = baseBudgetHigh * contingencyMultiplier
    385000 = $385,000

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