Residential services

Architecture

  • If you want some guidance on how to meet your needs in the most budget friendly way, be it with a little tweak here and there or a full renovation, we can do a feasibility study to work out your options and their implications to help you make an informed decision

  • We have had years of experience as an architect, client and project manager and we know that working out the brief and scope of a project might be a bit overwhelming and you might need some help to write it. We sit with you to figure out your needs, budget, timeframes, wants, likes, dislikes, lifestyle, how you want to use the final space and put together a comprehensive brief that outlines the whole project requirements and how to achieve them.

  • Once we have a good understanding of your needs and wants we put together a concept package. See below in the Process section for more information. The concept will take into account your budget and timeframes and other restrictions or requirements that are agreed on in the brief.

  • Any town planning or other approval packages, including the drawing packages, coordination of other consultants and help filling and submitting forms.

  • Full documentation of your project to communicate clearly to the builder how to get your design into a reality

  • Documentation and coordination of other consultants and the builder to make sure your building design and it’s completion are to building code and fulfill all standards and requirements.

  • We have extensive experience in project and design management from both consultant and client side. We build strong relationships with the greater design and procurement teams and pride ourselves in being able to find solutions that satisfy complex technical issues, competing requirements and diverse stakeholder needs. We look at the needs of the project not just to get off the ground but future maintenance and operational needs and make sure these get addressed early in the project design phase.

Services

  • When you reach out to us, we will meet up with you to talk about your aspirations, budget, timeframes, and priorities. We figure out your brief and if we will work well together. It is important that both of us think we are a good fit because we will be working together for a substantial amount of time and I will be helping you put together your dream space. That is a big commitment and a big responsibility! If we both think we are a great fit, we will put together a contract and get started.

    On engagement we will both have a refined brief and contract.

  • Whether a new build or a renovation, I will need to get to know your site. You will share any documents you have on your site or building with me (existing plans, title, survey if available) and we will go through any available council planning information about overlays that might exist on your site.

    Then I will visit your site to get get an understanding of the conditions there: the views, proximity to neighbours, significant features like trees or water bodies. We can talk about the opportunities or restrictions of these.

    Finally, if we are doing an alteration, I will need to do a measure up of the existing conditions to produce a set of drawings that I will be able to work from to create the concept.

    At the end of this stage, you will receive a package of all the collected information about your site as well as some site analysis drawings and existing condition plans (if applicable)

  • Here is the exciting part. I will interpret your brief into a proposed design. You will review the first iteration of this with me to refine further and get to something we are both happy with. At the end of this stage. you will receive a drawing package from me that includes plans, elevations, some key vignettes and a material palette.

  • Once we lock in the concept I will develop the design so that we know it is functional and works. We may need to engage a few subconsultants here such as a structural engineer.

    If the project requires town planning, we will put a submission in for this at some part of this stage.

    At the end of this phase, you will receive : a town planning drawing set (if applicable); drawing set include plans, elevations and sections; material schedule and some fittings and fixture suggestions; any documents from subconsultants that have gone into the development.

  • This is where we document your building to be able to get a building permit and to engage builder to make physically our design. We will select all the products and figure out how the building goes together. There will be building codes and other regulatory requirements that we will need to follow to make sure your building is suitable to occupy. We will need to coordinate other consultants to make sure we fulfil all requirements.

    At the end of this stage you will have: a completed set of drawings, schedules and specifications that outline the quality of build; a building permit and have found a builder.

  • Once you engage a builder you can go off on your own or keep me on as your contract administrator. We will discuss this at the appropriate time. Depending on your level of experience with built works or confidence in project management, you may want to manage the build process yourself. Or, if you want me to keep helping you through the process until your home is ready to occupy then I will manage the building process on your behalf.

Process

I will produce fixed fees for each stage of the project (see process). They will depend on the complexity of the design and how much work is estimated to produce what is needed to complete the stage. They cover the architectural works only. There will be some additional fees for subconsultants, permits and other documentation that may need to be sourced. These will be estimated at the beginning of the project and also again at the beginning of each new stage.

Fees

The budget is what you want to spend on the building of your new home or renovation. We will agree on an estimated budget at the beginning of the project and work to it. At the end of each stage we will get a cost estimate, either from a quantity surveyor or a builder to make sure we are sticking to what you are prepared to pay.

If budgets are tight, we will discuss our options at the brief stage to see how we can keep these lower. Options may be to reduce the build footprint, stage the works, omit built in joinery, opt for off the shelf products rather than bespoke items (for examples, using standard window sizes from a supplier).

Budget