A guide to writing a thorough architectural brief:
A good architectural brief paves the way for a successful project, so the first stage of our architectural service is working closely with you to help establish your brief for your home.
Every brief is different and allows us to understand your unique needs & ambitions, and gain insight into your unique lifestyle. Taking the time to get to know you and how you live, allows us to then design a home that is custom fit for you.
Questions to consider include: what is your favourite time of day? What times of day are you typically at home? Do you work from home? Do you have family staying often?
A good architectural brief will outline all the ambitions, requirements, expectations, style and aesthetics that you want to achieve in your new home. These might be quantitative and easily measurable, or qualitative and more intangible, such as the feeling or character of a space.
Sustainable objectives
The brief will also include the key sustainability objectives for your project, for example if you are targeting a low energy home, or targeting a Homestar rating. You may have detailed objectives for energy use, water consumption or the use of healthy materials, or you may simply know that you would like a sustainable home, and we can advise on construction methods or systems to best suit your project.
Project feasibility
Together with your budget and time-frame, the brief sets out the overall parameters for your project. It is very important that all three items (brief, budget and time-frame) align, so that your project is achievable. We can advise on the feasibility of your project, and can recommend if changes to your brief will need to be made so that your project is affordable for you.
Often it is useful to have flexibility within your brief, defining objectives and outcomes rather than being overly prescriptive. This allows us scope to be creative with space and offer design options that you may not have thought of, for example, combining two or more of the rooms into a multi-functional space that can serve different purposes at different times. This can allow us to meet your functional requirements while creating an efficient layout within a smaller building footprint. This approach can help align your brief and budget, without compromising on the key things that are important to you.
For further detail on preparing an architectural brief, please contact us for a copy of our detailed guidance document ‘How to prepare a brief for your new home’.
