How our Feasibility Study process helped our client go from confusion to clarity.

Working out how to start your new home or renovation project might appear difficult, but a Feasibility Study makes it relatively simple. Learn how to commission and work with your preferred architect in four easy steps, based on this real life example.

When you’re thinking about building or renovating your home, there are lots of decisions to make to get the best results for you and your family.

Sometimes, there are so many questions swirling around in the early stages that it can even be hard to know where to begin. Questions like:

•   Should you keep the house you have, and modernise and extend it?

• Or would building a new house from scratch meet more of your needs and wants?

• If you build everything on your wishlist, is there a risk that you’ll overcapitalise?

• Can you even afford to build everything you want?

With so many questions – and even more answers and possibilities – knowing how to set up your project for success from the outset is key.

And that’s why we created our Feasibility Study service.

What happens in a Feasibility Study and who is it for?

Our Feasibility Study is a fixed-price service for homeowners who are considering building a new house or renovating.

 It helps you set up your project for success, and to define the key parameters that will inform your design, including your brief, scope and budget.

You bring all of your ideas, inspiration and wishlist items to the table – and we’ll bring all of the known constraints that will dictate what’s possible on your site. We’ll generate several options for you to consider, so that you can make the right decision about how to proceed.

This recent example, from our clients in inner-suburban Adelaide, shows we tested several ideas and options so they could tailor their project expectations and confidently choose the most suitable solution to suit their goals.

Excerpt from the client Brief:

(photo of the original house from the rear yard)

We bought this house in the middle of the pandemic in 2021. The most important considerations for us were a big block, character property, proximity to good schools, parks and to our work. The garden for us was a key factor in buying this home and we are following permaculture principles to grow as much of the food we eat as we can. The house was built in 1937 in Spanish Mission style and with art deco features which we love and want to retain as much as possible and celebrate what was originally here. We want to create a happy, comfortable, healthy and sustainable home for our son to grow up in and for us to retreat to from our busy schedules.

Our drivers for investing in a renovation of our home are not about creating lots of additional space or having the latest finishes or technologies. Rather, we want to solve some inherent problems in the current design of our home and come up with creative ways to reconfigure what we have to support our family of three (plus two dogs) into the future.

The problems the client wanted to solve…

• Create flow between living spaces and our back garden - we want a seamless transition from the indoor to outdoor that will enable us to constantly engage with the outdoor space from the main living areas, even when we can’t be outside.  We also want to have the opportunity to extend our entertaining and living into the back garden.

• Ensure the space is flexible enough to support our family as it changes over time - this includes a minimum of three bedrooms and a separate study area that can house 3x work stations. We aren’t having any more kids but intend to stay in this house until our son leaves so it needs to accommodate him, and us, into his adulthood. We also need to accommodate frequent stays from interstate grandparents and have the ability to have them stay for an extended period if needed.

• Fix our storage issues - we need more of it and it needs to be more functional and relevant.  This includes finding ways to store preserved food from the garden and bulk commodities near the kitchen.

• Futureproof our home from a sustainability perspective by reducing energy consumption, take advantage of recycled materials and maximising water efficiency, where possible.

The feasibility phase allowed us to address the key problems by exploring ‘masterplan-style’ design schemes with differing levels of demolition/ refurbishment. These were discussed, developed and refined to establish the best solution for this family. It also helped better understand the budget goals prior to the more formal design phases (2 to 3) which are outlined during the feasibility study.

The Feasibility Study (Existing Site Plan and Five Design Schemes testing whether the project is feasible)

Key Steps for a Feasibility Study:

1.       Find an architect who offers a Feasibility Study service and meet with them to share your brief them on your site-specific needs and technical requirements

2.     The architect will measure your existing site and house, and accurately draw up the existing floor plan or site (if you’re renovating)

3.     Your architect will then prepare three to four design schemes (sometimes a small, medium, large and extra-large) to explore different layouts and room sizes to see what works best for you. Can you fit everything you want, or do we need to adjust the brief?

4.     Prepare an opinion of cost (based on square metre rates from previous projects) as shown on the design schemes and use this to refine or reduce the scope of the project as required. This will test whether your expectations and brief really does match the budget, and provide a solid base to move forward into the next steps in the design process: Phase 2 (Planning Drawings).

What’s the Cost of the Feasibility Study?

The Phase 1 Fee is tailored to each project and unique set of circumstances, but is usually between $1,800 ex GST and $2,900 ex GST.

What are the benefits?

You can find out if your renovation or new build is worth doing before you commit to a full architectural service.

The Final Site Plan after Phase 3 (Documentation)

If you’d like to talk to us about your ideas and see if it’s worth engaging us for a Feasibility Study, complete our new project enquiry form here and we’ll be in touch within 2 business days.