Thinking of appointing a designer?
Thu, 7th April 2011 | Working with a designer
Bringing you the benefits of good design
Working closely with you to understand your lifestyle, a good architectural designer offers lasting benefits, creating beautiful and bespoke spaces that match your needs. They will translate your requirements into plans and drawings, assess costs, manage contractors if required and assist you with all appropriate permissions.
If you are thinking of improving your home or business property, what are the issues you need to consider?
First of all try and identify what needs improving. What are your issues? Often more difficult than you may imagine, this is something we can help with. Perhaps you simply need more space, are things in the ‘wrong’ place? It may be a question of better use of your space and improved lighting. Often tricky to identify, as experienced designers we can spot these problems straightaway.
The cost of hiring a designer
You are unique and it follows that your ideas and project will be too, making it impossible for a designer to give you a definitive fee at the outset. For a good ‘rule of thumb’ and aid to initial budgeting, allow 10% of the overall project costs for designer fees. On larger jobs, over £250k, it is likely that this percentage will drop. This is purely a preliminary aid for budgeting, as we’ll see…
After our initial consultation we will provide you with a written fee proposal. This details the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘where’, ‘when’ and ‘how much’. It’s a fact of life that budgets, more often than not, go up rather than down and to protect you from unwelcome surprises we price our projects with a combination of:
fixed fee– agreed fees that won’t rise, and
estimated fees– our best estimate applied to our hourly rate, only increasing when circumstances are beyond our direct control.
The cost of building works
This is important and with a little research will mean you won’t have to abandon your ideas when your appointed designer submits their budget estimates. If you’d like to convert your loft contact a builder direct to obtain an overall price based on a visit to your property. Perhaps you are thinking of an extension. In this instance, contact a building surveyor for a current approximate cost per square foot of a one/two storey extension.
The amount of time it will take
The short answer to this is, “probably more than you imagine.” A more helpful approach is to talk to us about how long, in our experience, your proposed plans make take and we’ll give you a realistic idea.
A house remodel involving a new kitchen and bathroom costing in the region of £100 - £150k will, on average, take a year from initial meetings with a designer to settling the final account. Beware of promises to get it ‘done quick’, you may at best compromise your ideas, at worst live to regret an unsatisfactory outcome. It’s also worth noting for large remodelling projects some building contractors won’t even tender for a job with a sitting client, so moving into a temporary ‘let’ may be a possibility and should be factored into your budget. Rest assured we always give sensible, down-to-earth timetables; it benefits no one to cut corners to unduly spin out timings.
Plenty of food for thought
We know there is a lot for you to consider and in each area you deserve knowledgeable advice and support. Backed by broad knowledge and over 30 years’ experience, rest assured, we offer a safe pair of hands. For great design, effective planning, execution and value for money - if you are thinking of appointing an architectural designer we’d be delighted if you’d think of us.
Brooke Fieldhouse Associates
Call us on 01904 289 887 or mobile 07961 166 195