Choosing an architect is more than just looking at previous work. There needs to be a rapport and understanding between architect and client. Meeting face-to-face is the only way to see if there is the necessary connection.

If you have a plan you have drawn up and some photos of elevations that you want, in all honesty, you probably don’t need an architect.

Not knowing exactly what house design you will get is daunting, and seeing a photo of something you like is so reassuring, but trust the process… let NOBY architects make something unique and special just for you!

Have you got an idea of what you want but still looking for a block, have complex planning controls on your property or not sure if you can afford your ideas? Get us involved pre-purchase or pre-briefing to see if what you have in mind is even feasible.

If we are all excited, on the same page and have decided to move forward to creating something truly amazing together… what next? I get stuck straight into finding more out about:

• You: how you want to live; what you like/dislike about houses you have lived in; what you need/would like/don’t want; is this a fix up and move on or is it your family or forever home; are you allergic to anything?

It can get personal, but we want the house to allow you to live the way you want, so understanding the things that bug you will hopefully mean they can be eliminated, controlled or made efficient. A kitchen that makes washing dishes easier is one example.

• The site and (for renovations) existing House: Is there: views; overlooking to/from neighbours; lovely summer sea breezes or wild winter storms; hard rock or lovely diggable sand; a water course, a protected tree; an existing house that is heritage listed; how deep is your sewer and stormwater connections?

We need to define as much as we can, so a survey is commissioned, lots of dial before you dig plans are sort, soil tests/site classification ordered to try and eliminate as many assumptions as possible, but there will always be unknowns at this early stage.

If there aren’t drawings for an existing house, it will be measured up and drawn in REVIT as a base to start designing from. If roof spaces are accessible, finding our where structural roof members are for instance can dictate the design options the best suits the budget.

• What’s allowed: Restrictions; Covenants; Council Overlays (flood, fire, environmental… to many to describe); Does your site allow a Confirming Development for what you want to build, or; must it go through a DA? A planning certificate is bought (nom. $125 form Northern Beaches Council… TBC from others) that details your sites restrictions.

• What process and how complicated: Height restriction, setbacks, easements, protected tree zones, all those built form constraints define what’s called a maximum building envelope. In some cases, conforming to prescribed requirements means that your neighbours and the Council have very little influence over the design. This is called a “Conforming Development” (CD).

Some sites, or because sticking to the “prescribed requirements” won’t give you a house you want, must go to Council for Development approval. This democratic planning process makes things less clearcut, as the local community, especially neighbours and the planning officers at Council add the human factor to this process.

In most cases, logic and a sensitive, well explain proposal prevails and can be a relatively straight forward process. Understanding the sites surrounds, engaging early neighbours and navigating through the complex planning requirements and explaining the design in simple, clear ways is NOBY Architects skill.

All these ‘opportunities and constraints’ and the Client’s wants and needs, including budget is all documented in the project brief.

The skill of the architect is to understand and all those brief requirements to carve out a house design that balances all those aspects.

Start Designing:

NOBY use pen and butter paper (like tracing paper) to start sketching a design, critiquing it and testing it against the brief, and through overlaying more trace to redo this section, that one, move this, test that further, delete that, the 3 dimensional “Chinese Puzzle” of a complex web of influences falls into place … creating – “Sketch Design 1”.

The sketch design is presented to the Client, feedback is taken on board and the design amended for another meeting until the design is approved by the client to move on to the next stage.

At this stage we get the consultants on board and together, work up the different aspects of the design. These can include the structure, drainage, energy efficiency, flood mitigation and bushfire consultants as well as others.

The design is worked up using a 3D drafting package called Revit, allowing all those aspects to be built in the computer to identify coordination issues to be resolved.

Butter paper is still an important medium in this stage, which is overlayed on CAD printouts, and the most minute detail, such as the offset of a bolt, or how 2 materials interface, or ensuring your bathroom has NO vertical tile cuts is worked out. The clean, simplicity we aim for in our architecture takes a lot of thinking through and explaining to get it delivered correctly.

When a level of comfort is reached that the design can meet the legislative requirements and can be built (ie floors or roofs are thick enough and sit within the building envelope), when a Development Application (DA) is required, a set of drawings is created to go to Council for approval. This is done with a Town Planner who writes or requests the required consultant reports (organised by the Architect) and coordinates the application.

Once approved, further details are developed and worked out which avoids this work needing to be redone if the design needed to be changed to get DA approval.

Depending on the procurement model chosen, a Builder might be asked to be involved early, to assist with preliminary costing advice and to work through the details and constructability issues.

NOBY Architects usually undertakes the interior design for our projects as well. This involves some preliminary sketch perspectives or elevations and some ideas of materials for the rooms with joinery elements, and then continues on to visiting suppliers in the local area to select the final materials.

This stage interior design stage usually happens in conjunction with Detail Design, as the plan often is tweaked so that room dimensions work to tiles, or interior wall/ceiling panel sizes. Considering the coordination between the material modules on walls, ceilings and floors to create a simple interior takes skill and patience to crack the ‘Architectural Nut’, to create a beautifully simple end result.

This stage sets out how the house will go together in paper plan form with a specification and BASIXs report for the Certifier to issue a Complying Development Certificate (CDC, if a DA not required) then a Construction Certificate (CC) to allow the house to go to site.

But the CC set is often kept to the least detail required to allow flexibility with how things go together on site. Another set of drawings, often up to 50 or 60 A3 sheets forms the Contract Documents (or Working Drawings) which goes into the detail required to get the design built to meet the design intent. This set includes plans, elevations, sections, details, window/door schedules as well as interior elevations of all joinery and electrical/lighting plans.

Getting a suitable Builder on board can be a challenge, especially with the labour shortage and trades being in high demand.

Depending on the economic climate and the project’s location, tendering the project to 4-6 Builders may be possible, but generally with high-end Builders having 9-18 months of project work book in ahead of time, a list of local Builders is approached to determine their workload and willingness to take on another project, and 1 is usually selected to move forward with.

They price the job, provide a quote, and some negotiation happens before arriving at a price. Then the contract is prepared and signed, and that “Builder” becomes the “Contractor”.

Cost plus is becoming more and more common, and is sometimes the only way to get a preferred Builder on board. Tendering projects costs Builders a lot of time and lost revenue over the year, so tender prices usually have that “overhead” amount added for all the tenders that Builder has lost. Often Builders say they simply aren’t interested in tendering, or put is a massively escalated price so if they get it, all good… if they miss it, they haven’t spent a lot of time on it.

Cost plus is where the Builder passes on all their Trades and Suppliers invoices with a percentage administration fee on top that is then paid direct by the Client. The Builder and their team’s hours are also sent through as an invoice every month, again with an agreed margin on top. A maximum construction price is agreed, and contractually, the Contactor must be within 10% of that price.

The Contractor is signed, now what?

This is an interesting stage of the project, because the scope of works is now defined in a contract, down to the paint type of the doors, tapware etc, to how long and how much the project will cost to Build. The Architect now by law has become “impartial” between the Contractor and Client to make sure what is in the Contract Documents is in fact delivered.

This stop situations where say the Client says “those taps were custom made, solid gold, made in Mona Vale” but the finishes schedule clearly says “brushes nickel, designer brand X made in Italy”. The Architect must say no, they aren’t included, but if you want them, we will need to ask the Contractor for a variation.

Vice versa, if the Contractor has installed tapware that looks exactly the same, but is not the same brand as the schedule (less warranty, not to Australian Standards etc), the Architect must tell the Contractor to remove and install as per the contract. If the internal linings, waterproofing and tiles have all been installed, the demolition and rectification of those elements must be borne by the Contractor. This is an extreme example, and rarely happens, but picking up defects and instructing the Contractor to fix them is part of the Architects role in Administering the Contract.

Whilst the Architect must be impartial, the Contracts do recognise that Clients are (generally) inexperienced with building, so the Architect also acts as the Client’s agent under the Contracts to give them advice to ensure this process is fair.