The General Process

However you start the process, whether it by email, phone call  or message i'd be happy to hear from you about the project you have in mind. 

I am approachable and straightforward and I appreciate that clients may never have undertaken a building project before, which can seem daunting. Each stage takes the time it needs for clients to feel comfortable and for them to understand the considerations as much as they need to.

After the initial telephone conversation, to get to grips with what you are after, I can either send out a written fee proposal based on this discussion, or if we feel more beneficial,  arrange to come and see you at your property. 

if a meeting is agreed the initial visit will be free of charge where we would typically have a look at the project or property, talk about your requirements, aspirations and discuss the principal of how we may go about achieving this. we would also touch on guidance of planning requirements along with general considerations of the design and construction. I can then issue a fee proposal thereafter.

Once fees are accepted I would measure survey your property and take a more detailed design brief and discuss any further thoughts you have had from when we spoke intially. I would then set about working to produce survey and proposal drawings, issuing these by email, or hard copies if required, and when ready meet to discuss the designs. after this i would undertake design any alterations required, and re-issue for your approval.

Once the plans are 'client' approved they will be submitted to the Local Planning Authority for any planning approvals required. I will issue all the correspondence received by the planning department, enquire after the application during the determination period, usually around the four week mark, and come back to you with any feedback they may have. There maybe a need to tweak the design to gain approval on contentious projects. Once any approval is issued i would send you the approval notice and fees to progress to the next stage of construction.

From receiving planning approval I would, as a minimum,  produce the detailed construction drawings and specification and submit to Building Control to gain building consent approval on your behalf. Also gaining any consultancy fees required for your approval, which typically are structural engineers fees to design the support elements of the build. this would conclude the process unless you have requested additional services for tendering and project management.

I would always be available to answer queries on the phone or by email once the construction begins on site. However any site visits and contractor meetings would be an additional charge unless further services had been agreed.

The Design Process

To cater for your needs as a client I can provide differing levels of design service.  Fees increase the higher the tier to cover the increased design work required. Whilst the below are guidance I can discuss a more specific requirement if needed.

Any tier chosen comes with my years of experience, design understanding and due diligence as standard, to achieve a scheme that not only meets the clients expectation much exceeds it. Each element of a design i produce has a reason as to why it is there, which could be a design reference or a budget consideration.

Tier One.

This is a a service for the client who knows what they are after but perhaps need a bit of finessing to the design they had in mind.  It also works well for properties that have a clearly defined built form and/or site layout.

Typically, I provide a single design based on the information the client has provided, with scope to fine tune it once the initial design is proposed. This is then enhanced as any other design to meet any planning application requirements.

Tier Two.

For clients who know what they want to achieve but are not sure how, for example they know they need a bigger kitchen, a utility, extra room downstairs and a extra bedroom upstairs but are not sure how that would look or spatially work in the context of the property and site restraints.

This can also work well for a client who like in Tier One know what they want but have a more complex set of site restraints and considerations, for example the existing built form or site is awkward shape or design, or limited on statutory planning considerations such as Greenbelt, Conservation Areas or where Permitted Development needs to be maximized.

In this scenario I would produce two design options, both in external and internal design, for consideration by the client. This then opens up a thinking process about how the space works, the style of design they prefer, what is critical / less critical and considerations on the integration to the existing property. This allows for clients to make a more informed decision to move forward with. It is common to merge the two designs and present a more defined design with the best bits of each option, with the process of final tweaks to follow before arriving at the final design.

Tier Three.

For those clients who simply know they need their property enhancing to accommodate their needs but are unclear  about the what, how, why or if! This is commonplace with client who love where they live and the location provides everything they need, but the property just needs bringing up to speed with family life.

With this situation there is work to be done in getting to grips with what the current property offers, what it does not, what is required of the property, what sort of things the client likes in terms of design, how the family use the property, what restraint the property and site have, etc.

The design work is similar Tire Two, although there is more work behinds the scenes from me in exploring varying options and getting so far and realising they don't perhaps work and parking them for now.......but may come in handy later on in the design process. Fine tuning the internal and external layout to achieve a design that work both in and out, and adding those extra special design gems to make it all work. There will be more design meetings and refining of designs to get to the point of a final design. I can also include 3D drawings that help provide an understanding of the internal layout and external appearance.

Services

Typically the minimum requirement is to provide scheme design drawings, submit the design to the local planning authority to achieve any planning required and then produce the technical build drawings and specification to achieve compliance with building regulations.

However, i can provide additional services to this;

• Project management through the construction phase
• Site supervision through construction phase
• Electrical and lighting layouts
• Tendering drawings and issue to contractor
• 3D visuals