Design and Build

as we designed…. and as we built !!

Our practical point of view:

We have been designing and building offices for 30 years from a very practical point of view and we know what is cost effective.

We are delighted to provide a quotation against someone else’s ideas, but we are more than able to provide our own ideas, with the benefit that we make the proposals fit the budget.

Good design evolves form our dialogue with you – your knowledge of your business will mesh with our expertise to arrive at the right answer for your project.

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The design & development process

We will discuss your requirements and start the drafting process, with as many revisions and alternatives that are necessary. Good design evolves from our dialogue with you - your knowledge of your business will mesh with our expertise to arrive at the right answer for your project.

Once we have your proposals drawn with AutoCAD your amendments (and there will be many - rest assured!) can be quickly incorporated without the need "to go back to the drawing board"!

When we are sure we have the right scheme we will produce a drawing and a schedule of works detailing our proposals.

We can produce drawings many times faster than used to be possible. Our drawings are also produced to accepted architectural drawing standards being are easy to read & understand. 

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Let us explain our philosophy in more detail:

Our experience often brings a different view on how fitting out and refurbishment works can be undertaken.

Some of the traditional construction methods seem antiquated in comparison to the new ways of building and refurbishing the workplace. The new systems constantly being developed offer substantial time and therefore cost savings, providing greater levels of flexibility and demountability.

Our extensive use of new (and different) products, will often enable us to provide a simpler solution that can give added value to any project. We specialise in knowing what product to use and very importantly where best to use it.

As Information Technology becomes such an important part of every workplace, we have developed an integrated approach by looking at the project as a whole. This incorporates the planning of the associated services so that we get a seamless finish & successful conclusion with nothing forgotten or omitted along the way.

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We have adopted this approach successfully in many fields;

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Our value engineering approach - in many cases we can suggest an alternative proposal which offers added value.

We have found that a specification prepared by someone other than an interiors specialist can specify products or materials that are either unsuitable, needlessly expensive, or over-specified. In many such cases we have suggested alternatives which offered added value.
Fortunately, we have been involved at the earliest stage in some projects, where our input at the pre-construction phase has resulted in a re-design of the building fabric.

For example;

The developer will usually have the building designed to optimise floor area to maximise sale value and minimise capital expenditure by omitting all the “good stuff”

►► Sometimes a token gesture is added to enhance a building’s “saleability” or “letability”, such as comfort cooling. Generally our experience has been that this is done in such a minimal fashion (only cools an empty building) as to be worse than useless.

►► An architect will concentrate on architectural detail for aesthetic appeal, whilst missing some of the more critical details like services cupboards being too small, etc.

►►  As an interiors specialist, we take a more pragmatic approach to design, applying value engineering principles to each project, each proposal being different.

However, we are often brought in after the building is complete, and then have to “reverse engineer” some of the design elements. Even in smaller projects involving construction of a facility within a larger building, it can be helpful if we are involved at the earliest stage - where our experience can be of use and help shape the final proposal.

The example drawing below is of a kitchen & toilet facility exclusively designed by us to maximise office area, and minimise the services footprint and save space:-

For a more detailed overview of this subject take a look at the section on value engineering

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Brand names-are they worth the extra?

If “Acme Carpets Ltd” are a specified product, do you know if this is what you need? - We do! a lot of products are over specified.

Brand names cost a lot of money to get established as market leaders. There is a simple reason why manufacturers do this - they can charge more when customers display brand loyalty and awareness.

Just like Baked Beans, or Coffee, building materials and components are just as prone to brand loyalty and are often specified just because the architect/specifier is familiar with them.

We can advise on the cost effectiveness of most specified products and provide alternative products and solutions where appropriate, that fulfil the criteria and that can offer equivalent levels of performance, helping you to meet the budget or even achieve substantial cost savings.

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Interested and would like a quotation? - Please contact us by phone or email