# Architect "Design Service"



## Firefly (1 Jul 2014)

Hi,

I am looking for advice on how to approach an architect. We are interested in extending our house however we are just interested in a high level design service at this stage. By high level I mean something that "should" get planning permission conceptually but not down to detailed drawings with millimetres etc. 

What I'd really like is three designs, something "cheap & cheerful", something mid-price and lastly the bells & whistles option with rough costs (build plus fees) for each. Depending on the option we would ultimately go with we could be a number of years away from extending...realistically about 2-3 years out I would say. 

I can appreciate how an architect would be sceptical that such a request might just lead to someone going to a builder themselves with the drawings but that is genuinely not where we are coming from. I shared a house with an architect for a number of years (he's not Irish and has since moved home) and I can really see what a good architect can bring to the table - his stuff was amazing! I've spent the last 4 years, on and off, coming up with ideas myself about our house but I know that a good architect will just see something "different", the magic sauce as it were. 

Would it be enough to detail what I have above to some architects or is there something else I should convey?

Thanks!
Firefly.


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## pricilla (27 Jul 2014)

The Simon community run a project every year called "open door" or something similar. The gist of it is that you donate €50 to the charity and an architect of your choice comes to your home or you meet them with photos/drawings of your house for one hour and they come up with a rough idea of what might work. 

The architect is donating an hour of their time to the charity and there are some really talented architects involved. They do up a few sketches, and mainly advise you of The process, give you advice about rough costs etc. This might be the very thing that you need, because they are not pushing for business, they are just looking at your problem area with fresh eyes and helping people that may not have ever thought of getting an architect.
 I think you missed this years one but you should definitely do it next year if you are not in any rush. Best of luck.


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## Firefly (28 Jul 2014)

Hi!

Thanks for that - looks perfect. It was on in May so we'll go next year for sure.

Thanks again,
Firefly.


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## pricilla (28 Jul 2014)

I had one come this year and it was great. I was thinking we needed to get a big job done on our house, like an extension at the back and rip the insides out (a huge job) and he said all I needed was to put a bay window on to the side of the house and change things slightly. It was well worth the money I can tell you!
He gave me great advice about planning permission and a rough idea about the cost. He also said that most of the architects involved would squeeze someone in after the closing date if they could to help the simon community. 
It might be worth a phonecall anyway to see if any of the architects would fit you in now?
Anyway, the best of luck with it.


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## newirishman (28 Jul 2014)

I've got an architect in last year to do an extension.
Generally speaking, the first meeting & consultation was for free. 
Subsequently, three stages, which you can or cannot take at your leisure:
- First Stage: come up & agree on the design, planning drawings, and doing all the paperwork to get the planning submission. (Was about 2500 euro)
- Second stage: detailed tender drawings, finalise design elements (from style of windows to location of sockets) - more or less creates a "tender pack" that you can sent out to a few builders to get proper quotes and pricing (around 1500 euro)
- Third and last stage: Supervise the building progress, sign off at the individual stages, etc. (around 1500 again, including site visits etc)

From my experience, the first meeting with the architect to assess what you want maybe come up with a first crude design, discuss rough costs, etc, tends to be free. If you are then happy to go ahead this is where you can expect to pay.

The architect I am working with does not do % of building costs, it is pretty much fixed price as per above stages unless a more customised engagement is wanted.

Cannot recommend usage of a good architect highly enough. Would never do any type of extension or major renovation work without one, as it saves a lot of hassle and brings great new ideas to the table.


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## Branz (28 Jul 2014)

Firefly said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am looking for advice on how to approach an architect. We are interested in extending our house however we are just interested in a high level design service at this stage. By high level I mean something that "should" get planning permission conceptually but not down to detailed drawings with millimetres etc.
> 
> ...


Why do you think it WILL require planning permission?

http://www.scsi.ie/ will provide you with some tools on pricing.
For example current rebuild costs (excluding site values)  in Dublin are about euro 1,800 a sq meter so if you want to go plus or minus on this number


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## Firefly (12 Aug 2014)

Thanks for all those replies!

Firefly.


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