Design Aesthetics · Since 1996
How we work
Eight stages, the same order on every project. What you receive at each one, and what triggers the next payment.
Eight stages, in this order, on every project. The sequence is the same whether you are building a house or extending a factory.
The stages
Read down the right-hand column. That is the whole payment structure. Nothing else is charged and nothing is charged off it.
- 01
Consultation
We look at the site, hear what you want to build and what it is for. You get a clear view of what is possible on the plot and what the work involves.
What triggers payment
No payment. This stage is how we both decide whether to proceed.
- 02
Presentation drawings
The design put on paper: plans, elevations and the layout as we propose to build it. This is the drawing set you react to.
What triggers payment
An advance is taken against this stage. It is what covers the drawing work before it is done.
- 03
Working drawings
The drawings the contractor builds from: dimensions, levels, sections, details and the specification.
What triggers payment
Released once the presentation drawings are signed off and the stage payment is made.
- 04
Structural drawings
Coordination of the structural design with our architectural drawings, prepared with our structural partner where the structure requires it.
What triggers payment
Where the project needs it. Not every project does.
- 05
MEP services drawings
Electrical, plumbing and services layouts coordinated against the structural and architectural drawings, so the services do not fight the building.
What triggers payment
Released before services work starts on site.
- 06
Site supervision
The principal supervises the site through construction, checks the work against the drawings, and meets you at the site as the build progresses. In the district that is twice a week; for a project further out the visit schedule is agreed before work starts.
What triggers payment
Staged through the construction period. Site visits are built into the fee for the supervision window the engagement defines; site-visit charges apply after it ends.
- 07
Closure
A final review against the drawings, a record of the finished building, and the handover file for your own records.
What triggers payment
The final stage payment settles the engagement.
Why the terms are published
In this district the usual sequence is that drawings get done first and the conversation about money happens later, or does not happen. That arrangement costs the practice the drawing work on a proportion of every year’s projects, and it leaves the client with no clear idea of what they are buying at any point.
Publishing the structure changes the default. You know before the first meeting what you receive at each stage and what triggers the next payment, so the advance is a stated term rather than a negotiation about trust in the room.
It also means a first meeting costs you nothing, because most of what it would have been spent establishing is on this page.
What this is not
Not a package price
The fee depends on the scope of your project, so it is settled with you rather than published here. What is published is the structure: what you receive at each stage, and what triggers the next payment.
Not turnkey
The practice does not take on construction, labour or material procurement. The scope is design, drawings, structural and MEP coordination, and site supervision. Factory and commercial clients in this district generally buy it that way.
Not an open-ended supervision window
Site visits are built into the fee for the supervision period the engagement defines. Beyond that window, site-visit charges apply, stated before work starts. The fee accounts for distance and duration; it is not used to refuse the work.
Not for every enquiry
Work is declined when the stages and the advance cannot be agreed. That is a filter, not a judgement about the project.
What you receive at each stage
The promise is not only the drawings. It is the sequence, the supervision and the written record of what was delivered.