Before we begin we will discuss your requirements and advise you on the best strategy to achieve your vision for the project. By listening to your ideas and needs we can then formulate a design brief. We can advise regarding statutory requirements that need to be met and if necessary, whether additional consultants may need to be appointed during your project.

We will workshop a variety of designs, exploring concepts of mass, light, materials and texture. We will use a range of media to illustrate the layout, form or space being created. We will explain to you why and how the ideas have developed.

We want you, our clients to be active participants in the design process. Through feedback and discussion together we will refine and hone the design until we have a final scheme that you are happy with.

If required on your behalf we will submit the final scheme design for planning. Sometimes more than one is required or we use a pre-planning for advice to ‘test the water’ with the planning authority.

Almost all forms of building work require legal approvals such as building control certification which once successfully obtained ensure that your building is safe, insurable, and legal. The planning drawings are enhanced in more technical detail to ensure the scheme is compliant with Building Regulations. At this stage it may be necessary to appoint other consultants such as Structural Engineers and Party Wall Surveyors. We will advise you as to other consents you’ll need and will carry out any necessary negotiations as well as submitting all required documentation. Along with the drawings, we prepare a written specification which forms a tender package for contractors to price.

Once a contractor has been appointed and a price agreed we will set up a contract between yourselves and the main contractor. When the time comes for work to start on-site the pressure on you as a client increases and there are lots of little decisions that need to be made. We can guide you through the entire project and administer the contract. This is not limited to but includes site meetings, ensuring the project is being built to the drawings and specification, resolving design queries as they arise, providing additional information and issuing certificates for payment. Good communication ensures that the vision created is realised. We have found the best looking and most interesting projects are those that have befitted from more architectural input from start to finish.