Four stages
and what is in each
Written down before the contract is signed, not after. If a stage is unnecessary in your case, we strike it out and recalculate.
The order of work
What you receive
in hand
After the concept
Plans of every level, elevations, sections, the footprint sited on the terrain, a massing model and two or three plan options with an explanation of how they differ.
Plus a preliminary area schedule and a construction budget guide — not an estimate, an order of magnitude.
After the technical drawings
A drawing set: structural details, wall sections, floor, ceiling and tiling layouts, bathroom and kitchen elevations, window and door schedules.
If building services are commissioned — heating, water, electrics and low-voltage systems as separate sets.
During supervision
A weekly site report: what has been done, where the build departed from the design and what to do about it. Photographs of details that are about to be covered up.
The contractor talks to the architect directly. You do not have to translate between the site and the drawings.
What we do not do
We do not build and we do not take on contracting. We do not sell furniture and take no commission from suppliers — that is the only way to advise honestly.
We do not do interiors inside someone else's shell. Without our own plan it is an argument with other people's decisions at your expense.
About the process
Can I commission only the concept?
You can, but we advise against it: you cannot build from a concept. At best the contractor invents the details; at worst he does what he is used to, and you find out once the walls are up.
Why do approvals take up to six months?
Because that is not our speed but the authorities'. We handle the correspondence and chase them, but we do not offer to speed up a review with money and never will.
What if the build stops?
Supervision pauses and so does payment. We resume when the build does. We charge nothing for the standstill.
Do you work with your own contractors?
We will recommend three we have worked with. But you choose, and your contract is with them, not with us. We take no commission from contractors — otherwise a recommendation is worthless.
What does construction cost?
At concept stage we give an order of magnitude; after that the contractor prices our drawings. An architect who promises an exact construction cost is promising someone else's work.
Can changes be made along the way?
At concept stage, as many as you like — that is the point of it. During technical drawings you can, but every change drags details with it, and we will show exactly what has to be redone.
The timings and prices in this mockup are invented for demonstration.