Responsive relationship

an active client partnership to bring together client needs, site and budget

Individual, contextual, personal. We start with desires, hopes and dreams.

Residential design could be described as a process of mediating the initial desire with the particular project constraints.

We prefer to start by presenting a few options based on the client’s brief that show the implications of the major design decisions. From that point on it is full consultation, early morning meetings and feedback. On any residential project there are many decisions that need to be made.

At the project’s conclusion success can be judged by the extent of incorporation of those initial dreams.

Resolved design and planning

a contextual, integrated and site specific design process resulting in aesthetically attractive architecture

A design for a new house on a large site allows considerable architectural freedom.

In most inner suburban cases, and increasingly for suburban sites, there are often considerable constraints: the dimensions and orientation of the land, the proximity of neighbours and the requirements of any planning permit overlays.

The authority approval process often involves advertising the proposal to neighbours and extensive negotiation with any objector, whether or not they have valid concerns. Any external change to the design once a planning permit has been issued requires reapproval often with readvertising and renegotiation. Its best to get the design right first time around.

Whatever the constraints design comes back to the traditional architectural concerns of light, space and the use of materials.

Responsible construction

a design informed by sustainability, life cycle costing, access and safety principles, and efficient building methods

Building as green as we can get it, for the long term.

An architecture like sushi. That’s an apt analogy.

90% rice, the vernacular building part, for footings, walls, flashing etc. The functional bits built using well known and understood technology.

10% a topping of your choice, the special bits, kitchen joinery, bathroom tiles or the windows, the extra money spent where you see it and use it all the time.

Then a splash of wasabi, the spice that often reveals itself over time, something memorable and that resonates.

Resolution

on time, on budget cost management, realistic budgets and agreed deadlines met

Time and money, these are perennial client concerns.

Building, particularly with complex projects with a high labour component such as housing, often costs more and takes longer than you might think. We like to be professional in dealing with them.

We recommend using the expertise of a quantity surveyor to give a realistic cost plan from the sketch design drawings. Each future decision with a cost implication can then either be a potential cost saving or added to the mortgage.