Design Aesthetics · Since 1996
What you receive
The drawings, the coordination and the supervision included on a project, and the things that are not included.
A fee is easier to judge when you can see what it buys. Everything below is something the practice delivers today, on every project, in the order it is delivered. Nothing on this page is aspirational.
Included
Presentation drawings
Plans, elevations and the proposed layout, presented for your approval and revised until the plan is right. This is the stage the advance covers, because this is the work that is done before there is anything to build.
Working drawings
The set a contractor builds from: dimensions, levels, sections, details and the specification. The intent is that the contractor never has to interpret what was meant, which is also what keeps the site time down.
Structural drawing coordination
The structural design is prepared with the practice’s structural partner and coordinated against the architectural drawings rather than bolted onto them. Structural work is not produced in house and is not presented as if it were.
MEP services drawings
Electrical, plumbing and services layouts coordinated against the structural and architectural set, so services are resolved on paper before they are resolved on site.
Site supervision through construction
The principal himself, in person, checking the work against the drawings and meeting you at the site as it progresses. In the district that is twice a week; for a project further out the visit schedule is written into the fee for the supervision period, and it is agreed before work starts. Not a supervisor standing in for him and not a phone call.
Closure and a handover file
A final review against the drawings, a record of the finished building, and the drawings and correspondence for your own records.
Not included
Stated before you commit rather than discovered in month four. A scope that hides its edges is the reason projects turn into arguments.
Construction, labour and materials
The practice does not build and does not take on turnkey engagements. Labour rates and material procurement sit with you and your contractor. This is stated because it is the most common misunderstanding at the first meeting.
Structural and MEP drawings produced in house
Both are produced with partners and coordinated by the practice. The coordination and the review are the practice’s; the specialist drawings are not.
Photorealistic renders and 3D walkthroughs
Visualisation is outsourced, and it is not offered as a standard deliverable today. Offering it before it has been delivered once would be a promise made ahead of the capability.
Site visits beyond the supervision window
Visits are built into the fee for the supervision period the engagement defines. After that window ends, site visits are charged separately and the rate is stated before work starts. The fee accounts for distance and duration; it is not used to refuse the work.
Contractor selection and payment management
The practice advises on the drawings and the work against them. It does not appoint your contractor or manage their payments.
Who is on site, and when
The principal architect takes the brief, produces the drawings and stands on site. There is no team between you and the work and no account manager. If you call about your building, you are calling the person who drew it.
In the district every project is visited twice a week while it is being built; for a project further out the visit schedule is built into the fee for the supervision window. The number of concurrent projects is deliberately held at 8 to 12 so that this stays true rather than nominal.