Working with an Architect

The process can be broken down into five stages.

Briefing

It's important to me to get to know my clients goals and dreams. My aim is to understand my client so we can both feel as though we are pulling in the same direction. If the project is your home, you must feel that the design is centered around you, and it is not some architect imposing their own design ego upon you. Together, we can form the project brief that considers your needs, lifestyle, budget and taste. With a strong brief that you believe in, we can both move forward with confidence.

Concept Design

This is where we begin testing designs against the project brief. It is a period of unlimited possibilities and creativity, of which we all participate. We will be working through multiple sketch options and discussing how they match up against the project brief. I will be using my experience to help guide the process, sharing my design knowledge, and offering creativity in looking at your project from a different and informed perspective. Our goal is for our collective efforts to arrive at the perfect design that satisfies your brief and inspires to go beyond the ordinary.

Development Approvals

The concept design is then developed into a schematic design. Essentially, we are taking our conceptual sketches and ideas and making them real. We are determining the buildings materials, adding structural principles, defining heights, analysing overshadowing and more. This is all in the aid of communicating hard information to the council for their assessment.

As your architect, I manage the drawings and documentation required for a development application submission. Depending on the size of the project, this can also involve acting in a project managerial capacity, coordinating a consultant team (eg. engineers, surveyors etc) and liaising with the local council. During this stage you would be regularly updated with the progress of the submission and provide feedback on the design at key milestone points.

Tender Documentation

Once we have received development approval we can progress the design to Tender documentation. This stage is about fully understanding the total project in order to take it to builders for a competitive tender. With clear and detailed information, prospective builders can confidently submit a competitive quotation.

As your architect, I would manage the drawings and the documentation required for a tender issue. I also project manage the consultant team ensuring everyone's documents are fully coordinated. When the architectural and consultant packages are complete, I oversee the tendering process and will present the builder submissions to you for selection.

There are a lot of decisions to be mad in this stage, with regards to finishes, fixtures and equipment. During this stage your involvement can be flexible. Some clients wish to have options presented to them or they enjoy selecting each item themselves. Others prefer that I make the decisions for them to sign off on. At this stage every tap, tile, sink, oven and so on, is nominated and scheduled for the builder to price

Contract Administration

Builders will issue their tender quotations for you to decide who you'd wish to proceed with. The tender documentation forms part of that built works contract. As the architect, my role is to finalise architectural drawings for a construction certificate, assist the builder in any onsite queries, and inspect the built work for defects and workmanship.

As an architect administering the contract I will be your eyes on site providing you with an independent and informed opinion on the works.

At the end of this process the built works would be successfully realised. I experience a lot of joy in observing my clients in their new space. It can be a long process, but it is the greatest thrill to inhabit a space that for months only existed as ideas on paper. The strength and clarity of those ideas that we developed at the start of the process, present themselves in the final product. In the end, the project team will leave, but you get to experience the daily joy of waking up in a delightful, sophisticated, considerate and functional space. You will be able to trace that all the way back to the start of the design process.