We provide an initial consultation to discuss your project. From this meeting we prepare an initial Design Brief and establish a fee for the Concept Design Services for your project. Services can be tailored to best suit the Client, Project and Site needs. Design services can include some or all of the stages detailed:
The Pre-Design research phase is where we collect the information we need to begin design work. We ask many, many questions about how you like to live, what you love and loathe, who will be living in the home, how you’d like to engage with the garden, sunlight, air, the street and each other… Whether you like being in a tree house, or a cave. What materials and colours you like. What are the intangibles you hold sacred, and your dreams for the spaces to be created. The more information the better.
We visit the site to get a feel for its peculiarities, its orientation, views, topography and vegetation. We measure up the existing structure, take loads of photographs and engage a land surveyor to capture the exterior features and levels, trees, fencing and neighbouring houses. We investigate the planning requirements for the site, developing an understanding for its specific zone and overlays. Armed with all this rich information about the project and site, we are now ready to begin design work.
We generally provide a few Concept Design Options for your consideration, on the way towards developing a master plan of development. We refine the initial floor plans based on your feedback into a comprehensive three-dimensional design that considers form, light and materials, along with construction, and regulations. At this stage we advise you to engage a Quantity Surveyor to prepare a Cost Plan Report, in order to check that the wish list and budget are aligned. At the end of this stage, client approval is obtained to proceed to town planning or to construction documentation (depending on the project requirements).
The confirmed sketch design is now ready to be further developed. Refinement of the design is continued, and layered detailing of the building is added to the documents – windows and door treatment, roof form and building mass, materials and colours, cabinetry and wet area layout, energy efficiency design and other services. We address town planning and building approval issues in depth, and verify that siting conditions are met. The project is ready to be documented for planning permit and / or building approval application as required for the project.
*NOTE – Planning activities shall be charged at an hourly rate
The Building Approval Phase is where we prepare the documents needed to obtain a building permit, receive a price from a builder, and begin construction. We translate the Concept Design into a set of construction documents that clearly and comprehensively describe how the building goes together for the authorities and potential builders. We aim to detail the building so that the design intent is fully realised.
We also co-ordinate the input from consultants – the geotechnical and structural engineers, energy efficiency assessor and building surveyor, to meet all building code requirements.
The Exterior and Interior Detail phase is a fun process of developing the layout and details for your cabinetry, built in furniture, lighting and services. Bespoke pieces like staircases, fireplace surrounds, outdoor kitchen and landscape features can be designed. It’s where we develop the finer details of a project – materials, fixtures and fittings selections. We can make suggestions and prepare lists for the selections – tapware, appliances,carpet, tiles, etc.
We ask the Client to focus on what the specific requirements are for each room.
The tendering phase aims to appoint a suitable builder to undertake the works – with a fixed price to complete the confirmed scope of works. We assist with checking the work and references of potential Builders, making sure that the Builder is a good fit for the project and the client. During the construction phase, we allow to visit the site regularly, meeting with the selected builder, his sub contractors and the client. We are available to answer queries, refine details, and attend to the unforeseen issues that sometimes occur in residential construction projects. We make observations, and work collaboratively and creatively to ensure that the design intent is realised.
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