Getting Started

Architectural Design London

Getting Started

50 Degrees North architects are here to turn your aspirations into reality by guiding you through the design, legislative and construction process. We are a design led practice with a strong network of contacts to deliver your project from extensions and renovations to new build and commercial projects. Starting a project can be nerve-wracking if you have never carried one out before and the finances and time required to complete a project successfully is often understated. We have a lot of experience, particularly in residential projects and will help you set the scene for a fun and inspiring project. Getting started means preparing a lot of information and assessing and interrogating the brief, building or site and the budget.

All of our projects start with a meeting either at our studio or on-site depending on the type of location of the project. At that meeting, we will ask pertinent questions about the brief and find out more about you and your aims. We will run through our practice profile and team as well as the way we work and bill for our time. We will discuss the brief and often sketch over existing information (site plans, estate agents plans or photos) to give you some ideas and illustrate the brief. The aim of this first meeting is to understand the key elements of the brief, why you are undertaking the work and the likely cost and program. We answer your questions and allay any fears you may have.

Following the meeting, we will send you details of the service and fees for the project along with other costs to consider and our understanding of the brief. On some projects we carry out feasibility studies or investigate what might unlock a project before discussing the brief and our role. We work with clients considering buying a site or building to see what is possible through space planning or reviewing planning history before developing the design. In every case we use our extensive experience of many types and scale of project along with our design ideas and inspiration to kick start the discussion and momentum. Our clients like this stage as they see their ideas can be made real and have their questions answered; the project becomes reality and a plan is put in place.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• A BUILDING OR SITE;
• A BRIEF;
• AN IDEA OF BUDGET;
• KEY DATES;
• PRECEDENTS AND INSPIRATION;
• THOUGHTS AND QUESTIONS.