The design and build process.
Twelve stages in four phases, the same order for every home. Two prices before you sign anything, and one contract. You always know what happens next, and what it costs.
Define.
Before a line is drawn, we need two things. How you live, and what the house will allow. The first price arrives here, not at the end.
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01
The brief.
How you live, who with, what the home has to do. In your words, written down.
- Who is on it
- You and Nick
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02
The site.
We walk the house together. Light, neighbours, structure, services, what can move and what cannot.
- Who is on it
- You, Nick and the design team
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03
The budget estimate.
A first price from the brief and the property, before any drawing is frozen.
- Who is on it
- Our own quantity surveyor
Design.
Concept, then detail, in the open. Plans, visualisations and samples you can hold. Every decision that moves the price is made here, while it can still change.
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04
The concept.
Proportion, light, structure and the one move that makes the home. Drawn, then visualised.
- Who is on it
- The architects and the interior team
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05
The detail.
Layouts, joinery, stone, lighting and furniture, decided before the price is fixed.
- Who is on it
- The interior team, with you
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06
The cost plan.
A detailed price built line by line from the drawings. Provisional sums named, not buried. Then one contract.
- Who is on it
- The quantity surveyor and Nick
Consent.
Planning and building control are our job, not yours. While they run, the drawings become the ones a builder can build from.
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07
The consents.
Planning, building control and party wall notices prepared, submitted and handled for you.
- Who is on it
- The design team, on your behalf
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08
The coordination.
Structure and services resolved with the engineers before anyone is on site.
- Who is on it
- The engineers and the MEP team
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09
The programme.
A fixed programme and a site plan, agreed before the first delivery arrives.
- Who is on it
- The project manager and the site foreman
Deliver.
One programme, one contract, one call. The people who drew the home build it. You see what we see, every week. We stay after the keys are yours.
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10
The build.
One site team, one point of contact, first day to last coat of paint.
- Who is on it
- One site team, one point of contact
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11
The reports.
A report every week, with photographs, so nothing on site is a surprise.
- Who is on it
- Your project manager
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12
The handover.
A handover pack, then a defects period and aftercare, with the same team.
- Who is on it
- The same team that built it
From the journal257 notes, free to read
The stages, one at a time.
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3 min read
Stage payments on a London renovation
How stage payments and valuations work on a London renovation, what retention holds back, how provisional sums differ from contingency, and what to ask.
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3 min read
Planning permission for a London extension
A decision date is not a start date. What sits either side of the council decision, plus pre-application advice and refusals.
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6 min read
What a contractor owes an architect at tender
Six things a tender return should give an architect. Bill of quantities, method statements, shop drawing sign off and subcontractor detail.
Stage 01 starts here
Book the first call.
Stage 01 is a free call with Nick. Leave your name and one way to reply.