Sample Step

With your Feasibility cost template in mind, produce your Design brief.

Why produce a design brief?

A design brief should be prepared in order to convey to the architect (and sometimes your contractors) what you and your family ultimately desire from your new home. This is a very important stage, and one that deserves a lot of your time. We think it’s a good idea to get the whole family involved! You can use the Design Brief Template to help.

What should be included?

This should start out with some background information such as:
• Professions and work patterns
• No. of children
• Ages of children
• Consideration for extended family
• Hobbies
• Lifestyle
• Pets
• Do you like to entertain, if so, how often and what time of the year
• How many cars do you have (will your children have cars in the future)
• Any specific needs that are important to you and your family
• Any future proofing measures

All of this information will help your architect understand how you use your home (or would like to use your home) and consider your future short-term / long-term needs and desires.

Next, still involving the whole family, we think it is important to brainstorm your ideas about the features the house should have and create a wish list. If each family member starts with their own list of say 20 items, you can then compare each other’s list and start to structure the wish list in priority order. As the list becomes more refined try categorizing them for easy reference.
As the wish list develops you should go through room by room for each floor and score the items by level of importance. Include photos of desirable layouts, materials & features as it will make it much easier for the architect to understand your likes and dislikes.
One aspect of design that some people often struggle with, is not knowing what they want or like until they see it. People generally know what they need but they are less clear when asked to describe what they like. This is where creating a ‘visual design brief’ made up of pictures, can help both you and your architect to establish your likes and dislikes.
Use online facilities such as google images, architecture websites, self-build magazines, e-brochures and forums to search for specific design ideas by room, or by house type, and save images in a folder for review. Our favourite online tool however, for assisting with the design brief process is www.Pinterest.com. If you are planning to start a self-build, a large renovation project or even just re-decorate a single room, starting a Pinterest account is invaluable. It not only has the best online content, but also has the ability to create ‘boards’ (short for inspiration boards or mood boards) which can be created room by room or for interior and exterior. The best bit is that each board can be shared with other users such as your architect, kitchen suppliers or interior designers. If you plan to create a particular look for a room, by using the same board throughout the build right through to choosing colours for paint, floor finishes and even soft furnishings you can be sure to recreate the desired look. For more assistance refer to our design brief template document. Mark as complete when your deign brief has been produced