FAQs

Every project begins with a Feasibility Session: a focused first meeting about your site, your goals and what’s realistically achievable. Make an enquiry through the form on our Feasibility page and we’ll offer a free 15-minute Discovery Call. If it’s a good fit, we’ll book your session.

We review your site and the planning controls that apply to it, talk through your goals and how you live, and look at the renovate, extend or rebuild pathways open to you. You’ll also get early, indicative cost guidance and a clear next step, whether that’s now or later.

The 15-minute Discovery Call is free. The Feasibility Session itself is a paid session of a few hours. If you go ahead with your project with us, the session fee is deducted from your project fees once the project is agreed.

No, and most homeowners don’t. A clear brief helps, but part of our job is helping you work out what’s possible on your site before you settle on a direction. That’s what the Feasibility Session is for: understanding your block, your planning constraints and your lifestyle needs, so decisions are made with information rather than guesswork.

Yes. It’s one of the most common questions we work through, and there’s rarely an obvious answer. It comes down to the condition of the existing home, the planning controls on the site, how much space you need long term, and budget. We’ll give you an honest, experience-based view rather than steer you towards the more expensive option.

Most of our work is in Melbourne’s inner west and bayside suburbs, with projects further afield across Melbourne and regional Victoria.

We’re a residential design studio specialising in homes under heritage overlays, contemporary extensions and new homes. Projects range from careful alterations to period homes through to new dwellings and multi-dwelling developments.

1. Feasibility consultation: we review your site conditions, planning overlays and project objectives.
2. Concept design: we explore early design ideas and layouts, with ballpark cost figures. The project is then aligned with builders for preliminary budget estimates.
3. Planning approvals: where required, we prepare and lodge the application for council review and approval.
4. Detailed documentation: construction drawings and consultant coordination are completed, ready for building permit and builder pricing.
5. Construction: the home is built, with our support available as needed.

Typically three to four preliminary floor plan concepts, presented and refined with you, then a final schematic plan. From there we develop 3D massing options, exterior finishes, shadow analysis and final 3D renders, which also support early conversations with builders.

It depends on the scope and how quickly council approvals move. Most renovation and extension projects take four to nine months from initial briefing to completed documentation. Heritage sites and more complex planning overlays can extend that. A Feasibility Session gives you a realistic timeframe for your property before you commit.

That’s normal, and it’s far better at the design stage than once a builder is on site. Design is an iterative process and we expect refinements as the plan takes shape. We’ll always be upfront about how a change affects the timeframe or fee, so you’re never surprised later.

Our construction documentation sets out the layout, but detailed cabinetry, kitchen, bathroom and laundry design is usually done by the builder’s cabinetmaker or, ideally, an interior designer. We work with many good interior designers and are happy to recommend them.

After the Feasibility Session we prepare a written proposal for your project. It sets out each stage, its estimated timeframe and its fee. The main design, town planning and documentation stages are fixed fees. Work that can’t be predicted upfront, such as changes requested by council or objectors, building permit work and support during construction, is charged at hourly rates.

No. Hourly work is always confirmed in writing, with an estimate of hours, before it begins. Our proposal also shows a typical allowance for each hourly stage, so you can budget for it.

We invoice monthly, at around the end of each month, for the work completed. Payment is due within 7 days.

Our fee covers our own design and documentation work. It doesn’t include:

• consultants’ fees, such as engineers, surveyors and energy assessors
• council, authority and permit application fees, including advertising
• attending council hearings or VCAT
• site visits and advice after the building permit is issued, unless agreed

Where we pay a cost on your behalf, such as a council fee or title search, we’ll always email you the amount and details first. It’s passed on with a small administration charge, or you can pay it directly yourself.

Design, planning approvals, consultant fees, engineering and contingency all sit on top of the build cost itself. We give early, honest cost guidance so you understand the likely scale of investment. We then help you get an interim price check during the process, and final building costs come from your chosen builder. Costs vary with the level of finish, fixtures and fittings, structural requirements and site conditions.

Once you’ve accepted the proposal and returned it signed, we schedule your project and the timeframes in the proposal begin.

Yes. We hold professional indemnity insurance as part of our accredited registration. It covers the design advice and documentation we provide, and we’re happy to share the details.

It depends on your site. Zoning and overlays, such as heritage, landscape or built form, often trigger a town planning permit for demolition and building works. We check the planning controls that apply to your property at the Feasibility Session, so you know early whether a permit is likely.

A planning permit is issued by council and deals with how a design fits its site and neighbourhood. It’s more subjective and can involve objections. A building permit is issued by a building surveyor and confirms the drawings comply with the building regulations. Many projects need both: planning first, then building.

Yes. We prepare the planning drawings, arrange a pre-application meeting where useful, lodge the application and liaise with council on your behalf, including any heritage issues. We’ll advise if your project would benefit from an independent town planner.

It varies by council and by the complexity of the application. At the moment some councils are taking around six months to process a planning application, so we build that into your timeline from the start.

Yes, it’s one of our specialisations. Heritage overlays bring their own rules and sensitivities. Understanding them properly before you start, not after, is one of the things that separates a smooth project from a stalled one. Most of our recent projects are within heritage overlays.

It’s a normal part of the planning process. We respond to council requests for information and objector concerns, including any related meetings. That work is charged hourly, and we’ll estimate it in writing before we start. Hearings and VCAT are outside our standard scope; if they’re needed, we can bring in planning and legal specialists.