Design and Build
Inspire your dream
It all begins with an idea. The main approach of our design and build service is to capture your passion and combine it with existing and created space. Collaborating with a group of exceptional designers, we offer a holistic design and construction service from initial concept to final completion. If you are embarking on a full home construction project, working with design and building teams means considering all aspects of your project coherently and intuitively from the first stages. This will result in a final building that combines function with stunning design with careful attention to your budget.
We are open to new contracts with clients in Oxford, the Cotswolds, Milton Keynes, Aylesbury, London, the home counties and the surrounding regions.
Our design and build construction services
Full Design and Build Services (concept to completion)
Feasibility Studies
Concept Design
Planning Applications
Technical Drawings and Specifications
Building Control Applications
Tender Documentation
Project Management
Contract Administration
Site Supervision and Reporting
Interior Design
Joinery and Kitchen Design
Photo realistic visualisation images
Virtual Reality (VR) images
CDM (construction Design and Management)
Measured Surveys
Our Design and Build Process
Stage 1 - Preparation And Brief
After you contact our Oxford-based office, we will reply promptly and send you a questionnaire designed to help us understand the requirements for your project. It’s important to start thinking about your aspirations, budget and timelines as early as possible so that we can analyse the feasibility of your project and assist you in agreeing an achievable brief.
We will then meet you, ideally at your home, so we can see your property and talk to you in more detail about what you think works and what doesn’t, to understand the changes that you want.
At this point, our design and build construction team will have enough information to advise on the feasibility of your project and propose a fee and scope for works moving forward.
If you do decide to appoint us, we start by taking or helping you commission a measured survey of your home, so we can best understand the spaces and constraints of your project and use these drawings as a basis of subsequent designs.
Stage 2 - Concept Design
Using the survey as a starting point for the design and build construction project, we begin to look at the options for your home and start preparing a range of designs and layouts for your review. We are firm believers in exploring as many options and ideas as possible to make sure the designs we present to you are feasible, on budget and most importantly, inspiring.
We will then provide you with a visual summary of the design brief, time scales, draft budget costs, information on the planning process and other statutory bodies specific to your project as well as a detailed plan on how best to proceed. We will also organise and manage a team of consultants and agree their fees on your behalf as and when they are required.
Most importantly, this stage is about us understanding your requirements so that we can propose designs and a programme that suit your aspirations and budget, to formalise this into a final design brief.
Stage 3 - Developed Design
With the final brief agreed, we will prepare scale drawings, 3D views and sketches to present to you along with updated time scales, budget costs and information on the next steps.
Once you sign off the design, we will submit the drawings, reports and application forms to the council for planning permission on your behalf.
We manage the planning process and keep you up to date with the progress of the application.
It will normally take up to 8 weeks for the council to decide an outcome.
Stage 4 - Technical Design
We produce a set of technical of drawings, details, building specifications and scopes of works which show how the building will be constructed, the materials used and the finishes of each building component.
We use this information to co-ordinate with other consultants in the Oxford area, such as structural engineers. Once the design is finalised, we submit the information to the council for building regulation approval. We can also use the information produced in Step 4 to run a tender process and approach at least three builders on your behalf. These will be selected from builders we have worked with before or those that you wish to approach. We can evaluate their tender returns and recommend a builder in the Aylesbury, Milton Keynes of Oxford areas for you to enter contract with.
It will normally take up to 5 weeks for your local council to decide, and approximately a couple of weeks for builders to return prices.
Stage 5 - Construction
This is the most critical phase of any design and build project as the work starts on site. We project manage whilst the work is on site, checking that everything is built to a high standard and in accordance with the contract.
We attend site at regular intervals to review progress. We provide you with site visit reports to document the issues discussed and resolved on site and alert you to any further decisions you need to make. We check and value the work completed on site and provide you with certificates so that you only pay for the work completed correctly on site. We will also answer any queries that come from the builder in relation to the design and provide any extra information as and when required. We are on hand to resolve any unforeseen changes or additional work requests.
Often statutory authorities, such as the council’s planners or building control will have conditions to their approvals that need to be addressed whilst the project is on site. We liaise with them as and when required to obtain final approvals.
Stage 6 - Handover
After the builders have completed and you are happy with the work, we ensure that all required certification is obtained. Once you move in, we will provide a final set of drawings and reports for your records.
We continue to monitor the design and build construction project for 6 or 12 months to ensure that if any issues arise, we are on hand to assist with your project.
We will also organise a photographer to take pictures of your new home – you remain in control of which pictures are published; your privacy is important to us.