The study focused on the Mie Gacoan Sorong–Nangka restaurant project in Southwest Papua and offers practical insight for developers operating in regions where logistics costs and material availability remain major constraints.
Construction Costs in Eastern Indonesia Remain a Structural Challenge
Commercial construction projects in Eastern Indonesia face a different economic reality from projects in major western urban centers. Materials are more expensive to transport, procurement cycles are longer, and supply chains are less predictable.
Sorong Regency, located in Southwest Papua Province, has been identified as one of Indonesia’s higher-cost construction regions due to elevated logistics and delivery expenses.
These conditions create pressure on developers to find efficiencies during planning and design stages rather than during execution.
Against this backdrop, the research team from the Master’s Program in Civil Engineering at Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya examined whether architectural specifications could be optimized while preserving functional performance and visual identity.
Evaluating Cost Without Sacrificing Function
The researchers analyzed architectural finishing materials used in the Mie Gacoan Sorong–Nangka project, a one-story commercial restaurant covering approximately 509.4 square meters and designed to accommodate 180 seats.
The total architectural budget reached IDR 849.7 million. Of that amount, floor, wall, and ceiling finishes represented IDR 633 million, or approximately 74.5 percent of architectural expenditure.
The research applied a descriptive quantitative approach using the six-phase Value Engineering framework developed by SAVE International.
Rather than asking which materials were cheapest, the team evaluated whether each material delivered value proportional to its function.
Project budget data, local construction pricing standards in Sorong, and national retail ceramic and tile market data collected in 2025 were used as the primary sources.
The analysis identified granite tile specifications as the strongest candidates for optimization.
Researchers then compared existing materials with nationally available alternatives based on:
- Functional performance
- Visual compatibility
- Market availability
- Ease of installation
- Cost efficiency
- Long-term maintenance requirements
To strengthen decision-making, the team also conducted a 10-year Life Cycle Cost analysis using projected maintenance expenses and purchasing costs.
Granite Alternatives Delivered Significant Savings
The findings showed that all six granite tile categories reviewed contained additional costs that were not directly tied to functional performance.
Cost-to-Worth ratios ranged from 1.24 to 1.50.
The highest ratio belonged to Roman Merbau Walnut, indicating that its market price was approximately 50 percent above the minimum value required to perform the same architectural function.
The researchers proposed alternative materials that maintained the restaurant’s modern industrial appearance while reducing procurement costs.
Recommended alternatives included:
- Asia Tile Brown Oak
- Granite Tile Grey Matte Lokal
- Arna Wood Plank Brown Walnut
- Essenza Absolute Black
- Asia Tile Outdoor Wood Brown
Among them, Arna Wood Plank Brown Walnut received the strongest evaluation due to its close visual similarity to the original specification and its strong cost performance.
The project-level results were substantial:
- Total savings reached IDR 12,665,548.50
- Savings represented 21.81% of the reviewed granite tile budget
- Material-level savings ranged from 19.44% to 33.33%
- Ten-year life cycle savings ranged from 25.55% to 26.81%
The lower long-term cost resulted from both reduced initial procurement spending and lower annual maintenance requirements.
More Than Cost Reduction: Lower Supply Chain Risk
The implications extend beyond budget efficiency.
According to the researchers, selecting nationally distributed materials can reduce exposure to procurement delays and logistics uncertainty that often affect construction projects in Eastern Indonesia.
The study suggests that imported premium materials are not always necessary to achieve architectural consistency in franchise-based commercial projects.
Putri Dwi Rahayu and colleagues from Universitas 17 Agustus 1945 Surabaya concluded that value engineering should not be viewed as cost cutting alone, but as a structured decision-making method that balances function, aesthetics, procurement reliability, and long-term ownership cost.
Their analysis indicates that commercial developers may improve financial performance while maintaining design standards by reassessing specifications during the planning phase.
The researchers also recommend expanding future value engineering studies beyond flooring to include wall systems, ceiling finishes, exterior paving, and sanitary components to unlock broader project optimization opportunities.
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