Design process
Four stages, and you know what happens in each one.
We quote each project on what it actually needs, so the fee follows the first conversation rather than a price list. That conversation is free, and you decide whether to carry on after every stage.
- 01
Initial Consultation
A free initial consultation to understand your needs: the site, the brief, and an honest conversation about budget before anything is drawn. Designing a home is a project we work on together closely, so it matters that we’re the right fit for each other.
Don’t worry if you’re not sure where to start with the design. Depending on where you are in the country this could be in person, on the phone or a Zoom call. If we carry on from there, our engagement is formalised in a contract covering payment, timeframes and the services provided, and we bring in any other consultants the project needs, such as surveyors and geotechnical engineers.
A clear brief and a fee proposal for the work
- 02
Concept Plans
We explore your design brief and turn it into a basic set of concept plans, tested against the site and what you want to spend. We visit your site to gain a deeper understanding of the localised environmental considerations, then prepare an initial set of concepts for your consideration.
Once you’re happy with those, we prepare a more detailed set that can be used for indicative build pricing and early co-ordination with the structural engineers. At this point we also apply for a Project Information Memorandum (PIM) through your local council, which identifies whether a resource consent will be required as part of your application.
Concept plans you can react to
- 03
Detailed Design
We work with other consultants such as engineers to develop your detailed drawings and consent documentation. These drawings form the bulk of the plan set, and they provide the builders and other tradespeople with all the information they need to construct your home.
Depending on the complexity of your design these details could range from a few dozen pages to well over a hundred.
A set a builder can price
- 04
Consent Application
Once we have completed our design work and received all of the information from engineers and other consultants, we submit the building consent application to your local council and navigate the approval process, answering their questions as part of the stage.
Depending on the outcome of the PIM a resource consent may also be required. We will engage a specialist planning consultant to apply for this.
A granted building consent
What a fee covers
Our design and documentation time, and the coordination around it. Council fees and levies, engineering, survey and geotechnical reports sit outside it. We tell you when one is needed, and roughly what it costs, before you commit.
Additional services
Project supervision
As part of the quality assurance process we can visit the project at key milestones during the build. This ensures that your home is being built as per the specifications, and allows us to work with the builder to solve any problems or variations that may arise.
We can also certify payment claims made by the builder, to ensure what’s being claimed is in line with what has been built.
Start with a conversation.
The initial consultation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. It’s how we both find out whether this is a good fit.
Book your free consultation