Preliminary Design Analysis
The Problem:
It’s not uncommon for people to know they want to do a project, and to have thought about it quite a bit--yet have no idea how best to start. Or worse—they launch into an expensive design service without establishing a relationship or worse still, without carefully establishing the groundwork for the project.
The Promise:
Just as a surgeon wouldn’t operate without a proper diagnosis, the Preliminary Design Analysis (PDA) works on the same principle. It will allow you to start an exploration to precisely understand your requirements and potential roadblocks, then it will provide you with:
Findings and recommendations
A preliminary Action Plan to move forward
A timeline and rough cost estimate
The Process:
I developed this strategy after many years of working with clients on houses, apartments and gardens. Renovating and adding on to a house, renovating an apartment, building a new house, or rehabbing a garden can be a complicated process.
I often saw that people started design and construction before they had fully done their homework and research and before they had critiqued their ideas and established their true priorities.
The consequence of inadequate research is like building a house on bad foundations. The foundations are the most important part of the house because everything is built on top. It’s very expensive to change the foundations once you’ve built upward. But they’re very simple to change when they're just lines on a plan.
There are six important steps in building and renovating:
The Preliminary Design Analysis
The Schematic Design Phase
The Design Development Phase
The Construction Document Phase
Construction
Completion and Sign-offs
When considering renovations or new construction, the high level PDA is the first step. Why?
It starts a strategy designed to precisely understand your requirements, and then gives findings and recommendations, and a plan to move forward with a timeline and a rough construction estimate to establish your budget.
You will have the benefit of:
A registered architect’s opinion on the feasibility of the project—one who has more than 25 years experience working on historic buildings and getting projects approved in historic districts.
An outline that provides the “DNA” for future work—detailing rooms, connections, orientation, etc.
A discussion of potential solutions at a high level that encourages on-going testing of ideas—“design thinking”
A discussion on the look and feel of a potential scheme
A discussion on the functional viability of the project and your ideas
Preliminary diagrams of possible layout options
Preliminary rough estimate of costs of construction to establish a realistic budget
A preliminary timeline for design and construction
A Report that includes a Scope of Work for the next stages of the project
What do you get?
Based on the existing conditions plans and a site survey you provide, I will:
Develop and analyze options
Provide options sketches & report
Review current function and design
Clarify issues; discuss options, and current thinking
Clarify project aims and visions; themes and goals
Explore potential spatial relationships, connections and future options
Prepare freehand space allocation diagrams
Provide a preliminary Scope of Work
Prepare and present report
Total Cost: $1,500-$8,500