The cost of designing a new facility for Douglas County’s Public Works Department could cost an additional quarter of a million dollars in architectural fees.

County commissioners will be asked Wednesday to approve a contract amendment with the design firm clark-huesemann that would increase the total design cost to $773,500, or about 6.5 percent of the construction cost.

Commissioners will consider that change when they meet at 4 p.m. at the courthouse.

The new facility will combine all the county’s Public Works operations into a single facility in southeast Lawrence, near the soon-to-come interchange of Kansas Highway 10 and the South Lawrence Trafficway.

Originally, the construction cost was estimated at around $6 million, and the design fees were estimated at about $529,000, or 8.8 percent the construction cost.

Since then, however, the scope of the project has grown, most notably by calling for designs that will meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED standards. Those involve features such as passive solar lighting to reduce electricity costs, the use of recycled building materials, and water-efficient landscaping.

The total project cost, including construction, design fees and a 3.5 percent contingency, are now estimated at about $13.9 million.

Current plans call for letting bids in December, with construction expected to start in February 2014.