Scope of Work

Our collaboration starts with defining your scope of work. Our first onsite meeting aims to acquaint ourselves with the current conditions, your lifestyle, and your vision for the site. Getting the Scope right is vital to a succesful project and happy clients. If you are collaborating with us through a design and construct Builder’s referral, your builder will also be present at this meeting. We work to ensure that the client, designer, and builder are all unequivocally aligned. It is crucial that everyone involved shares a common understanding and vision for the project.

The Budget

We are unable to modify the budget for you, but we are here to assist you in clarifying expected costs. Additionally, we can provide recommendations on how to apply the most suitable and practical solutions to maximize the value you will receive from your construction budget, both in the present and future. It’s worth mentioning that the construction contract typically does not cover pre-construction or post-construction charges such as:
-The design contract
-The approvals process and associated fees
-Alternate accommodation expenses
-Moving costs
-Furnishings, fixtures, and landscaping.
If we are concerned that your scope and budget are not aligned, we will do our best to warn you.

The Design Contract 

It is a legal requirement of a building design licensee that a signed contract be in place before commencing work. This protects both the client and the designer from any misunderstandings about who is responsible for what and when.

PreDesign

Our process starts with thorough research, and part of this involves engaging consultants to gather essential information. Site surveys and a preconsult with a town planner, certifier and or local council usually are a minimum requirement. The initial design recommendation takes into account various constraints that significantly influence the design process. Typical constraints include

-Legal restrictions
– Local Government overlay constraints
– Existing onsite or nearby structures and services
– Local environment
Familiarising ourselves with these constraints help us create a design that is both functional and harmonious with the site and its surroundings.

The Footprint

As the contract stipulates, it is important that the concept layout stage of the project is firmly defined before we invest the main part of the project allocated time and expense on the specifications and working drawings. The concept will be reviewed in person with the 3d model live to ensure that everyone fully understands and is happy with the proposed direction. Once the concept has been signed off, making major changes will incur further costs, so we give you time to go home and fully digest the proposal and ensure you are comfortable your scope is being met.

The Form and Fabric

Once we have established a feasible footprint aligned with your budget, we proceed with the detailed design of the building. During this phase, we carefully consider elements such as window and door placement, shading techniques, rooflines, cladding options, and glazing styles. These aspects are combined to create a space that not only fulfills your objectives but also ensures livability, healthiness, and coherence with your preferred style. The drawing set produced during this stage is colloquially known as the DA set or Preliminary Concept Drawings. It includes essential elements such as the site plan, floor plans, elevations, and roof plan. If there are any specific character constraints that apply to the site, we establish external finishes and color schemes accordingly. At this point, the Development Application (DA) process may commence, as necessary.

The Specifications

This forms the basis of your Scope of Works for the construction contract. It is a list of every single finish, fixture, appliance, fitting and choice to be made for the final delivered package. The designer will make recommendations for the entire suite of descisions to be made based on your budget and the information your have provided to date, and then work through the list with you to align it to your preferences. We then design each space and provide specific detail in the drawings to enable the construction team to install everything correctly. Having a tight specifications document reduces the risk of variations in the building contract.

The Approvals

By the time the completed project drawings are finalised, the approvals process is typically nearing completion. When the consultants have been engaged from the concept phase, there should be minimal surprises for all parties involved. At this stage, it becomes a matter of waiting for the assessing entities to review the project and issue the necessary approvals. Having the consultants involved from the early stages of the project ensures that any potential issues or concerns are addressed and resolved proactively. This collaborative approach helps streamline the approvals process and minimizes unexpected hurdles. While waiting for the assessing entities to complete their review, it is important to remain patient and allow the necessary time for the approvals to be granted. Once the approvals are obtained, the project can progress to the next phase, which is the construction stage.

The Build

From this point forward, you begin dealing with the builder directly. If the initial quote comes in too high for your budget, it is advisable to engage your designer to work closely with the builder, ensuring changes to the project are kept in in keeping with the original scope and design intent. This is specifically vital on compact footprint designs, as the smallest change can have ripple effects to other aspects of the design.
Before you know it, you will be back in your own bed in no time!

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A home can be designed to be energy efficient, to be a high performing building, but making a home sustainable will come down to the decisions you make as the owner.

Sustainable building design intentionally aims for the most positive outcome for the environment, the community and the occupants throughout construction, for the life of the building and beyond.

The average volume built home has an expected lifespan of a maximum of 30 years. A custom home new build or renovation can have an expected lifespan of +100 years if designed and constructed correctly. When you are designing your home, think about the life of the building, what the surrounding landscape may look like in 50 years, what generations may occupy it, what expectations they may have.

When you are choosing your finishes and fixtures, ask yourself these kinds of questions – what is it made from, where was it made, who made it, how long will it last, can it be repaired or modified or reused later on, what kind of reputation does the manufacturer have, is there an equivalent local product that can be used? Every choice you make has an impact on the planet and society. The myriad of small descisions each project owner put together to form a larger picture, reprinted on a regional scale, that form the industry patterns.

Our role at 4305 design is to help you to make well informed descisions, and to understand the implications of choosing one style of cladding over another, one brand of tile over another, right down to the lumens and temps of external lighting that may effect the ecosystem surrounding your new home.

Throughout the development of the concept, 4305 Design considers the following attributes that allow the client to make informed decisions:

• • Operational Energy (cost of living, greenhouse emissions)

• • Embodied Energy (carbon footprint)

• • Resilience (climate change, future purposes)

• • Indoor Air Quality (health)

• • Accessibility

• • Water collection, use, disposal

• • Ecological diversity

• • Social design

• • Economic benefits

• • Ethical choices