pre-design service
what it's about:
Many of our clients have never worked with an architect before, and for many prospective clients that we speak to it’s not immediately obvious how to take the first step.
For this reason we offer a stand-alone first meeting, called our Pre-Design Service. The aim of the Pre-Design Service is to give you a quick dose of architectural thinking and hopefully provide some specific design ideas and advice that you can apply as a foundation to move forward with your project.
It also aims to start your critical thinking and exploration of your own needs and desires for the project, firstly through the questionnaire and then through our collaborative discussions and design investigations.
how it works:
× John calls you to talk over the property and what you have in mind, and takes the names of everyone who’ll live there. If the pre-design service is the right next step for you, you can confirm it after that call, and we send our fee schedule and service scope
× We send you a questionnaire, set up with those names, for each of you to fill out and email back. This gives us an idea of what the project brief might become
× While you’re doing this, we carry out some preliminary research on the property – Council planning requirements, and site and local micro-climate conditions
× We create a quick floor plan (to scale) from a supplied real estate plan or similar, that can be used for sketching ideas
× We review your completed questionnaires and organise a time to meet with you at your property
× A two-hour meeting on site to:
› Discuss your aims and desires for the project
› Do some back-of-envelope type sketches and ideas together with you
› Consider possible budgets
› Discuss possible options and next steps
› And discuss architectural fees for further work
desktop pre-design service:
If the property is a long way from us, or you are – country SA, interstate, or overseas – we offer the same service as a desktop pre-design service. The questionnaire, research and scale plan are the same. The meeting is a two-hour video call on Zoom instead of a visit, working from your plan and photos and our research on the property. The fee is the same.
what it costs:
The fee for the Pre-Design Service is $670, including GST.
It is a stand-alone session, so there is no obligation to proceed past the pre-design meeting. If you do decide to proceed with further architectural service then the Pre-Design Service fee is removed.
We might also recommend that we’re not the right architect for your project, or that a different method of procurement (such as directly engaging a builder) may be more suitable. It’s quite normal at this early stage that your aspirations and resources might not match, and we can advise on approaches to make the project feasible.
ask us to call you:
Tell us where the property is and what you’re thinking about, and John will call to talk it over. If the pre-design service is the right next step for you, you can confirm it after that call.
Email us at predesign@johnadam.com.au with a bit about you, the property, and what you’d like to do – or what you’re trying to work out. Or fill in the form below. Either reaches the same place.
the disclaimer:
The Pre-Design Service aims only to explore possible design ideas and directions, and is great in assisting you to develop your brief. It is very much an idea-based sketching session, not a detailed or conclusive design service.
Any sketches done at the meeting will need to be tested and developed further for functionality, council and other approvals, structural engineering, energy assessment, building code compliance and cost prior to implementation.
The Pre-Design meeting is not a property inspection or building inspection.
Before we meet we’ll need a copy of the existing floor plan of the house. A real estate brochure plan or similar is fine, along with any corresponding photos. If the house is on a real estate website then just email us the link. If you don’t have a plan available then a basic floor plan can be sketched on site when we meet, but this will take up some of the 2 hour meeting time. For the desktop pre-design service we do need a plan before we meet.