We only do residential renovations, mostly for mums and dads who want a bit more space for the kids or grandparents - this isn’t a stepping stone to “bigger” and “better” things.

We have flexible engagement options. You can do a little or a lot with us.

We offer fixed design fees for concept design, no confusing percentage fees or hourly rates.

We offer ‘pricing bands’, so just like with your Netflix subscription, you have choice in what you pay for.

We love working with builders and get them in early to offer their ideas for your project.

We put client education first - we run workshops so you know where you’re going and how to make informed choices.

We do stand alone briefing engagements so that you can get some good, practical ideas on your brief before deciding to work with us.

Here at Guide Architects we work exclusively with small to medium sized renovations, generally with clients that are looking for a bit more space for their family or to make some changes to their home so that it’s a better fit for how they live. We choose to work in this world because it’s a world that we can relate to and we know we can make a difference in. For us its not a stepping stone to “bigger” or “better” things, it’s about making a difference in the lives of our clients.

Because we have a clear focus on the type of work we do and who we choose to work with, over the years we‘ve been able to slowly refine how we do our concept design stage so that it delivers for our clients.

Note that in addition to the extension work we do, we also have a focus on designing homes for neurodiversity and designing homes with high sustainability goals.

We always design with individual difference and climate responsiveness in mind, however we bake in slightly different processes when clients have specific requirements for either.

First because we’ve already met a few times and clearly defined your brief we can offer you fixed price concept designs that don’t change. Before we put pen to paper, we’ll walk you through our fee proposal.

We offer three pricing options. Just like when you choose your Netflix subscription package you will see exactly what you’re getting in each option and the price that it corresponds with.

We know from experience that we can offer more value and better deliver on your vision when we meet more times, we have more design tools at our disposal and we have the opportunity to create more options and so our fees are structured according to the amount of value we can deliver to your project. Some other architects might work on hourly rates or a fee that is a percentage of construction.

We choose a fixed fee because it is transparent and, well, fixed, so you know how much that phase will cost you before you sign anything with us. In a percentage based fee, if the project increases in cost, your fee goes up too. That doesn’t happen with our concept fees.

Once we’ve formally kicked things off (and signed the agreement that will protect you and your rights through the project) we won’t get straight into design. That’s because its important that we understand the planning framework, site restrictions and other important constraints before we start running off in a direction with your design. We’ll do some initial work just to get things in place for us to put pen to paper. This includes:

We’ll coordinate a surveyor to get a really accurate map of your property and your existing house

We’ll come around and do some site measurements and draw up your existing house and property on our computer programs (generally in 2D and 3D)

We’ll make some initial inquiries to your local planning department just to make sure we aren’t missing anything from their perspective

We’ll send our Welcome Page which will explain the ins and outs of how we meet, where and when (read more about our pre-engagement phase here).

For the first session we’ll generally work in plan and diagram, more often than not keeping with pencils and trace paper. This is because we can generate lots of different ideas (we’ve got a reel on our Instagram of creating over 25 different plans for one project in a week). A lot of these will end up in the recycling bin, but we’ll focus in on the best of them.

We also like to work in 3D model on the computer. Where the hand drawn plans are generally to check the relationship between spaces and how they relate to the site, the 3D model will start exploring the form of the building, its height, bulk and shading. We might spot something in the 3D model that we didn’t realise in the sketches and then go off in another direction in the handrawings.

Don’t worry, we don’t see ourselves as crazy minded creative geniuses – we’ve always got practical considerations like your brief, budget and buildability at the forefront of our mind.

We think that its very important that understand what we’re showing you, so we work in lots of sketches, drawings and 3D images. We have detailed and informative discussions where we talk about the implications and ideas behind our design proposals. We answer your questions during the session and get your initial feedback. Then we give you some time to mull it over. We provide a framework for you to give us clear and direct feedback and we act on your feedback, making changes to your design between sessions.

So, once we’ve gotten your feedback from the first session we’ll start the process again – moving forward with what you loved about all the ideas we explored in session one and binning the things that you didn’t like. We generally find that a few key design ideas stand out and these will be the things we focus on. For example, in a recent project the client loved the amount of north light in one study and loved the courtyard arrangement in another so we started to try and marry the two ideas together. They also loved the idea of going up two storeys to reduce bulk on the site which allowed for a larger central courtyard so we explored a few different ways this could work.

We always offer to bring a builder along to one of the design sessions. We acknowledge that as architects we can benefit from a builder’s experience and we know our clients get a lot out of it too.

Bringing a builder to a design session means that they can add their advice into the mix at an early enough stage for it to make a difference. If you wait right until the very end of a project for them to have a look at it all of the design decisions have been made. When you bring them into the conversation earlier key budget and structural discussions can happen while there’s still enough time in the project to make some small adjustments.

There are a few builders that we work with regularly that are always eager to come along to consult.

As the key objective of this phase is to get a realistic project budget, once we’ve explored a range of approaches and settled on the best fit between brief and budget, we capture the design in a concise set of drawings that a builder or QS (another cost consultant) can use to base their cost on. We will issue them to the builder and follow up and answer any of their questions over this period before we all meet up again to wrap up the design phase.

Depending on the specifics of your project you might be in a great position to roll on through with the builder and have them take the project on. In many others you might like our design skill to lead the project and help get it through planning, focus on the interiors, make final decisions about the plan and help you tender the project.

In our experience its best to get a realistic budget before getting something in front of planning. We generally design within the planning guidelines, and if we’re veering away from these we will discuss the reasons and the implications in detail with you before going too far down that path. While our concept design package doesn’t include planning drawings, we have three check ins with planning during this phase.

1. A phone call when conducting due diligence before we’ve put pen to paper

2. If required we’ll meet with the planners over a set of preliminary drawings during the design phase to take their temperature. This allows us to discuss any specific questions we might have with them

3. At the end of the concept design phase we will attend a ‘pre-lodgement meeting’ which is a good way to wrap up this stage

If you continue to work with us through the Small Design Decision phase (also known as Design Development) we will be ushering your project through planning. If not, a reputable builder with a drafting team should will have a report of our planning discussions to guide them.

How long does this phase take: Because we generally work on a 3 week cycle (two weeks for us to work and one week for you to give us feedback) the length of the engagement is based on how many times we meet. It’s fairly typical that our clients will choose to meet three times, which means this stage will probably take about 12 weeks. However, you’ll be involved at specific times and we’ll check in with you every two weeks to tell you what we’ve been working on.

How much does it cost: Our fees are fixed and we offer three bands of prices. We’ll explain what our fees are in our first phonecall so that you will have a good idea from the get go where you fee might sit.

What type of projects are best suited: we’ve found that moderate sized renovations between 15-75m2 are a good fit for us.

What budgets are best suited: It’s hard to put a budget figure on it because projects in that range could vary widely, but in the past year we’ve worked on projects from the low $200,000s to the high $800,000s

Do we pay upfront: We take a deposit of around 25-30% that allows us to get started on your project and then we invoice monthly based on the percentage of your project we’ve completed that month. If we have completed 50% of the work in that month, we’ll invoice 50% of the fee. Note that the deposit is not an additional fee.

We want help designing our renovation, are you a good fit: yes, we pride ourselves on our design skill. It takes a lot to balance client’s desires, planning restrictions and realistic budgets and we have a track record for that

We know exactly what we want in our design and just want someone to draft it up, is that something you can help with:
Our practice is set up for client education and concept designs. We can recommend some good draftspeople or other architects that might be able to help you with a job like this. Better yet, why don’t you come to one of our workshops to find out more about what you can do before deciding one exactly the service you want.

We like the sound of your Embark Workshop, but we don’t think we want any design work done. Can we still come?

Absolutely. We aim to be independent and offer practical advice during this session. We’ve found that both clients and interested renovators both get a lot out of this workshop.

If you’d like to know more about how we can help, or you’re thinking about getting started on a renovation, here’s how you can contact us.

Contact Us

If you want to know how much we’d likely charge for your project and to get a copy of our Client Guide which has lots more info, contact us through the website.

Briefing Questionnaire

If you want to start telling us about your project and get a little bit of clarity on your brief we suggest you do the Briefing Questionnaire and we’ll follow up with a phone call.

Embark Workshop

One of the first things we recommend for clients is to attend our Embark Workshop which tells you more about the process, how to set a budget and who else is involved in a project like this.