We start with the Needs & Options Review

‘Begin at the beginning’ the King said very gravely, ‘and go on till you come to the end: then stop.’  Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Before design work can begin we need to establish a framework for the project, a clear brief based on a thorough analysis of your needs and wants. A good brief helps owners understand and articulate the change they want in their lives and then help them realise it.

Many people start their renovations with a million design ideas – informed by magazines and life-style shows on TV, they have a huge list of things they must have. After all, if it is going to be a dream house, why can’t they have it all?

The simple answer is that each idea can take a project in a completely different direction, and not every idea can work compatibly with all the others you may have at the start of a project. Ideas are great, but at some point choices need to be made – which ideas to keep and which ideas to drop. Once decisions are made they need to be collated and evaluated and one clear pathway selected.

Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response. ‘I don’t know’, Alice answered. ‘Then’, said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter’.  Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

What is the Needs & Options Review?

A country will have a constitution that guides decision making, while a person might have their own mission and standards by which they live their life. The Needs & Options Review process works the same way – it is our unique process to create a written foundational outline for your project before design work is begun.

Why do I want a Needs & Options Review?

This is the risk-free way to start your renovation; the process forces all parties to agree on one common direction by collating the ideas, rules and the intention of your renovation ideas into one pathway.

That’s what makes us different: we spend more time gathering the exact needs and defining all the options available than most other firms who rush their clients into the solution phase because that is where they earn more money. We take a different approach. In fact we will only work with clients who are prepared to do the Needs & Options Review process properly. We will not rush this step.

Getting a Needs & Options Review gets ideas out of peoples’ heads and into one actionable document. This process aligns minds, focuses visions and gets everyone talking the same language. This document sets the rules, which gives an architect clear direction when they are developing the Concept Design.

It is best to make changes to the project brief before the design work starts, and certainly before anything happens on site.

What the Needs & Options Review is NOT

The Needs & Options Review is NOT a Concept Design Drawing and will NOT give you a final quote for the construction work – you need to walk before you can run.

What do I receive?

1. Assessment of the current problems of your house;
2. Compilation of your ideas and plans;
3. Assessment of plans and ideas for practicality and feasibility;
4. Realistic ball-park investment required.

The Needs & Options Review process

Meeting 1

You start by meeting architect Peter Hill. This is a full information gathering session, where the project is assessed and information gathered around scope, desires and wishes for the project, what you hope to get out of the project as well as any fears you may hold about the process. Peter will ask you about your budget and your timelines for the project.

Meeting 2

In a second meeting Peter returns to present your Needs & Options Review. This is also a great time to ask questions you may have forgotten to ask earlier.

We charge $250 for the Needs & Options Review. If you engage us to work further the $250 will be credited to the next stage of work.

What is in the Needs & Options Review?

1. Your design brief in detail;
2. Potential issues there may be with the site, project brief or council controls;
3. Brief overview of what is required for your job to progress;
4. An overview of subsequent fees and services required for the successful completion of the project;
5. A formal quote from Peter Hill to complete the whole project to your specifications, based on your needs, your criteria and your dreams, and his expertise.

What do I do now?