We take on board all of your ideas and come up with a design that encompasses everything you are wanting to achieve, whilst maintaining a great design aesthetic.
It is our job to design a home that fulfills your dreams and aspirations and will be a home that is enjoyed by families or generations. We are very proud that much of our work comes from the referral of happy clients, or returning customers who want to do it all over again. Let us show you how much fun designing and building your new Dream Home can be.
New Home Design
Renovation Design
Multi Unit Design
Interior Design
Coastal & Lifestyle Home Design
Management
The Design Process
The Brief
Probably the most important part of the design process is us listening to your design brief, no matter how detailed or specific, and fully understanding the way you intend to live in your new home.
Every client has specific requirements to achieve the best outcome for their home, and to that end, it is essential we take these on board, together with your own design ideas to create a home that is uniquely and specifically yours.
It is vitally important that we also discuss expectations of timeframes and budgets, to ensure there is synergy between what you are wanting to achieve and what we can deliver.
We will fully document the design brief to include all of the rooms/spaces required while understanding how they will relate to both the home and the way you live, and it's overall environment.
We will also discuss how the spaces are to be furnished and various ideas around design style.
Once you are happy with the contents of the design brief, we get to work with the concept design.
Concept Design
The first part of this phase is to gather all necessary information relating to the site and carry out a feasibility study to understand any constraints that may affect the overall design, or shape and size of the home.
We will engage the necessary consultants to ensure we understand what we can and can’t do. This may include arranging a topographical survey, property file report and review of Council's general zoning restrictions.
We then prepare a concept plan that will include floor plans, elevations, a general site plan with indicative landscaping, and 2-3 photo realistic 3D visuals which will demonstrate the building form, colour and materiality. These renders provide you with a great sense of how your home will sit within it’s environment. We can also provide you with a short video animation of the exterior of your home.
Once the first concept is presented, there will always be a tweaking process to follow. It would be highly unusual, but not impossible that we get the concept plan perfect after the first cut.
You will need some time to absorb what we have created, and then provide us with feedback on the design and changes you see needing to be made. This usually takes around 1-2 weeks going back and forward with ideas, however we believe it to be very important to work at your speed during this time.
Once you’re generally happy with the concept plan, it is time to move into developed design.
Developed Design
At this stage we move forward to develop the design so that we can provide enough accurate information to start engaging with key consultants, and evaluate what consents and approvals are required. We can also identify any site works that need to be addressed.
The drawings are fully modelled to create full cross sections of the building to demonstrate the general structural elements, whether the building is compliant or not, and to understand the level of building infringements that may require resource consent.
The Developed Design phase generally takes 4-6 weeks to complete.
Detailed Drawings
Whilst the various consultants have been engaged and are carrying out their respective work, we then continue with the Detailed Drawings.
This is where we complete the drawings with accurate detail including cross sections, foundation plans, roof and roof framing plans, services plans, various building details etc. This is the detailed set that will be submitted to Council for consent application, and sent to builders for pricing.
This part of the process generally takes around 6-8 weeks to complete, although this is somewhat dependent on the timings of consultants such as the structural engineers.
Once these drawings are finished, we are ready to go to council.
The Consent Process
What can be the most frustrating part of your building project is dealing with council. This process is becoming more complex every year.
You will require at least a building consent and most likely a resource consent. Where required we can also help to coordinate engineering approval for stormwater (Council's property), works over approval for wastewater (local authority), vehicle crossing applications (transport authorities) and liaison with Vector regarding transformers and powerlines - but this will be outlined to you during the developed design phase.
Our aim is to obtain all consultants information as early as possible to enable us to apply for the resource consent as soon as the Developed Design is completed. Although the resource consent process with council is only supposed to take 20 working days from submission, we suggest you allow 40-60 working day for this to be consented.
We will apply for the building consent once the Detailed Drawings have been completed. As with the resource consent, the building consent process is supposed to take 20 working days from submission, but again we would recommend you allowing 40-60 working days for this to be consented.
We will take care of the application process for both the building & resource consents and will attend to any RFI's (requests for further information) that are received from council. These will be answered in house where possible, or we will coordinate responses from the relevant consultants.
Selecting Your Builder
It is essential you choose the right builder to ensure a hassle free and enjoyable building project.
We can assist you with this selection process, whether selecting from many builders who work on MDS projects, perhaps someone you know, or someone recommended by a friend or colleague.
We can assist in the vetting process no matter who the builder is.
Your builder will be a big part of your life for many months. We believe it is of utmost importance that your chosen builder is someone you can relate to, get on well with, who is honest and transparent, and who is passionate about crafting homes of the highest quality.
Interior Design
We offer a full interior design service including colour & material selection through to custom made furniture and window furnishings.
Our interior design service is optional, but is something we provide to most of our clients.
We will create a cohesive interior design that sits seamlessly with the overall architecture of your home.
Our services can include;
- Kitchen, bathroom & laundry design.
- Miscellaneous cabinetry including entertainment areas, office cabinetry, fire surrounds, wardrobes etc.
- Surface material selections including flooring, decorative wall surfaces, bench tops, tiles etc.
- Colour scheme
- Soft furnishings including custom made furniture, window treatments, artwork etc.
We also work closely with other Consultants to provide a comprehensive and all encompassing approach to your project including:
- Planning Consultants
- Geotechnical Engineer (geo investigations, WALLAP analysis, coastal erosion, groundwater assessment, stormwater assessment etc)
- Structural Engineers
- Landscape Designers
- Surveyors
- Ecologists
- CCTV Technicians
- Fire Engineers
- Traffic Engineers
- Arborists
- HVAC Engineers
These Consultants are all people we work with on an on-going basis, so can ensure their work is carried out in a timely manner, at a competitive price and to the highest standards.