New Build Workshop

If you’ve already written down a list of room types, you might wonder what value you’d get from this service. The secret is that a great design starts with putting the right words on paper.

Your Architect GP will add value by “interrogating” your list. (Sorry, that’s Archi-jargon) What we mean is that we’ll check your list against your actual values, needs and ideas of budget. Take a look at the FAQ What is a Brief and why do I need one? to see what “interrogating” the idea of Dining Room might sound like.

Working through your list of ideas enables you and your Architect GP to really dig into what each space really means for you. The words in the Brief will ensure that every space is placed in the right location, next to the most suitable spaces, and that it won’t eat up more of your budget than it should.

Roll out this type of guided interrogation across your whole house and you’ll create a really purposeful, personalised and delightful description of your future home, that your designer or draftsperson can translate into a plan. A well thought-out Brief is the first step to getting exactly what you want.

Great projects start with great briefs, and an architect can help you reduce the size of your house by thinking carefully about how to achieve all of your goals in a smaller footprint.

Smaller footprints = less cost to build, less house to clean, and a lower mortgage over 30 years.

So there are lots of good reasons to nail your brief, right from the start.

If you are going to talk to a draftsperson about getting plans drawn up, you need a brief to accurately and explicitly tell them what you want in those plans. A draftsperson is excellent at drawings and compliance, and may have good communication skills too. BUT they expect to follow your instructions. The Brief gives you the confidence to spell out what you want, and what you don’t want, so you get the building you can visualise in your mind.

Builders, building designers and draftspeople can be really, really good at knowing how to build a house, but only you can define what, how much and why to build. Your Architect GP works with you to get these fundamentals right from the start, to save you money down the track.

You are probably also part of a mini client team. What if you and your partner have different goals, different childhood memories of home, different priorities?! Ironing out these differences at the start - so you can agree on what you want to create for your future together - will save you so much stress, time and heck, maybe even your relationship. (Have you seen those episodes of Grand Designs where the couple nearly break up during the course of their project??)

A pre-workshop Questionnaire to articulate your goals, “must-have” inclusions and “nice-to-have” options.

A 2-hour workshop at your home, or nominated address, where you’ll get:

• The undivided attention of your Architect GP

• A workshop agenda to structure the discussion and enable you to prepare, so you get the most out of it

• A prepared Architect GP who has read your questionnaire and is ready to start interrogating your wishlist

• Tim Tams, brought by your Architect GP, to keep our brains alert!

• Architectural sketches to illustrate and “interrogate” the developing Brief, explore site and climate influences and/or test design strategies in real time. This is done with you and to show you (not just tell!) the value of design thinking

• An initial exploration of your budget and how it will potentially affect your Brief, and a realistic “ball-park” indication of what you can realistically build for your budget

• A real experience of what it takes to achieve an “integrated” project. (More Archi-jargon: this refers to how one decision has the potential to impact 10 other things, and how you can manage those flow-on effects without detrimentally affecting the final result)

• The confidence and reassurance you need to champion your own needs and defend your interests throughout the design process. This document - your Brief - is powerful because it sets the vision for your project that can refer back to every time things get complicated or challenging over the course of your design and build

• A verbal summary of the key outcomes of the discussion and possible next steps

After the workshop, your Architect GP compiles the Brief Document. This is really important and takes time to complete.

• You can then take your Brief to any designer and feel empowered to say, “this is what I want”. Then, if they present a design that doesn’t reflect your Brief, you have authority to say, “no, that’s not what we agreed” and you can reasonably expect them to refine the design until it aligns with and realises the goals stated in your Brief.

$1,999 +GST

You can book additional consultations with your dedicated Architect GP anytime via the Architect On-Call booking window.