A look inside the six stages, from a feeling that something about your home isn't working, to the day you move in.
Start with the first ten steps. Everything before Stage 01 happens before you hire anyone, and most of it you can do on your own.
Start where you are and read forwards. The steps you might encounter mid-project are twenty-six through twenty-eight.
Every step sets out what can happen without an architect and what happens with one.
Think about how you want your life to feel. I'll think about how design can help you achieve that.
Before Stage 01 there is no project, there are questions about what the real problem is, what it might cost, whether this house is worth it. These are the questions I want to help you answer in this guide.
Getting the facts straight before anyone designs anything: what is there, what is allowed, what you are aiming at, what it is likely to cost. Successful projects are built on good foundations.
Where the design actually gets decided. People feel this as the fun part, because the shape of the house settles here.
Refining the design, and understanding council permits and regulations.
By the end of this phase, you have comprehensive, detailed construction drawings that a builder can work from, all building approvals are in place, and we're ready to move to site.
Staying with it while it is built. It’s inevitable that questions arise during construction and an architect will be there to work through these with the builder.
Most people arrive with a feeling rather than a brief. You do not need to have worked out what you want before you talk to me, working that out is the first thing I do, and it is the part that changes the outcome most.
If you would rather start small, Step 07 is a two-hour session at your place for a small fee. You keep the sketches. There is no obligation after it.