Starting a new construction project in the Philippines can be very daunting, most especially for first-time clients who are unfamiliar with the industry. Construction projects often require a significant financial investment. Budgeting, securing financing, and managing costs throughout the project can create stress and anxiety. Lack of familiarity with these areas can make decision-making difficult.
We understand the challenges that emerge in the initial phases of building a house, that’s why, we want to offer our potential clients a Project Starter Service, we’d like to call a Design Intervention.
What is Design Intervention?
Design Intervention is a fixed-rate Project Starter Service, that lasts short-term and no commitment. It’s a creative problem-solving process, in order to have a deeper understanding of our client’s situation, needs, goals and objectives, through thoughtful design thinking to bring about positive changes in our clients’ lives (or their house, at least).
The scope of a Project Starter Service may vary among different architects/designers or firms, but ours include:
#1: Design Questionnaire
This is the part where we ask detailed questions to understand your requirements better, such as your design style, pegs, how many carports do you need, how many bedrooms, special areas you’d like to add, etc. And most importantly, your budget.
#2: Virtual Meeting
In the 45-minute virtual meeting (either via Zoom or MS Teams), we’ll discuss the design questionnaire you’ve answered and manage expectations. At this point, we’ll present our “fixed-rate” cost proposal and the services it will entail. You can ask us anything and we’ll try to answer all your questions within 45 minutes. And then we’ll wait for your decision a few days after the meeting.
#3: Site Visit
So, you found our cost proposal reasonable and you’ve decided to proceed with our Project Starter Service, we’ll now visit the site to take measurements and see the existing conditions (if needed). The need for a site visit will depend on your design questionnaire answers and our previous discussion during the virtual meeting.
#4: Space Program
Still based on your design questionnaire answers, we’ll now list down your space requirements and compute the total floor area you need and try to fit them on the lot area you have. Then we’ll inform you via WhatsApp or Viber if we need to adjust, add or remove anything.
#5: Floor Plan Sketches / Esquisse
Now that we know all the rooms and space requirements, we’ll then create a simplified visual representation of the basic layout and spatial arrangement of a building’s interior spaces. It’s intended to convey the fundamental spatial relationships and design ideas without getting into detailed measurements, construction specifications, or finer details.
#6: Design Concept / Mood Boards
A Design Concept is a fundamental idea or principle that serves as the foundation for the development of an architectural project that influences all aspects of the design process. The design concept can either be; minimalism, biophilic, vernacular, etc, or even as simple as a word or an object you’ve drawn inspiration from, for instance, a cradle. We normally present the design concept through a Mood Board, showcasing our proposed materials, colors, textures, and even the emotional experience that the space is intended to evoke.
#7: Framing the Scope of Work
Based on the design concept, we’ll now list down and simplify the works to be done. Typically, we start with the foundation, structural (can either be steel or concrete), walls, roof, doors and windows and the finishing. But not as detailed and complete as our Full Architectural Design Service, where the Structural, Electrical, Plumbing and Mechanical (if needed) Design are included.
#8: Feasibility and Budget Analysis
Now that we have the areas in squaremeters, we can now create a ballpark estimate of how much the project will cost. Let’s say you want a standard finish on some areas and you want some areas to be semi-elegantly finished.
Above is a sample of a modest-sized 2-storey residence. Then we’ll compare your budget and estimated project cost based on the design and areas. If your budget doesn’t align with the cost, we’ll now have to increase your budget, or reduce the area or change the quality of some areas from semi-elegant to standard finish.
Let’s say, you don’t want to change anything in the design concept but your budget right now is only 6 million. We’re going to give you a simplified structured payment schedule based on the stages of the project.
Typical Project Stages:
- 30% = ₱2,855,550
Mobilization, Foundation and Structural Works - 60% = ₱5,711,100
Roof, Masonry Works, Electrical and Plumbing Rough-Ins - 70% = ₱6,662,950
Wall and Floor Finishes - 80% = ₱7,614,800
Doors and Windows - 95% = ₱9,042,575
Finishing Works and Demobilization - 100% = ₱9,518,500
Punchlists / Retention
Therefore, if you want to start the project without changing anything in the design, but prefer to do it in phases, your 6 million pesos can get you up to the installation of the roof and some wall finishes. We believe this is the simplest way of explaining it.
#9: Design Presentation Meeting
After tweaking the elements in the design concept to align with your budget, we’re now ready to present the design through the use of visual aids such as 3D renderings, animations, Virtual Furniture Staging, and schematic floor plans, all collated in one powerpoint presentation.
Please also take note that our Design Intervention or the Project Starter Service is not a drafting service, nor a full design service, nor is it a set of construction documents. This service is a simplified collection of contextual information to provide background info on the project, including its purpose, goals, site context, and any relevant constraints or challenges.
What’s the difference of a Design Intervention or Project Starter Service with the Typical Design Process?
As mentioned in our Services page, Design Intervention does not include the Blueprints, Building Permit and Construction. A Project Starter Service typically refers to a set of preliminary services offered by an architect to help a client initiate a design or construction project.
It’s like a “starter pack” of a product you’d like to try for the first time, that includes all the useful and essential things you’ll need for building a house. And after the service ends and you’re satisfied with the results, you can come back again to avail the “premium package” and continue with the next steps.
However, if the conceptual designs we’ve presented to you are not aligned with your taste, or if the scale of our company doesn’t match your project requirements, or for whatever reason why you feel that your project isn’t gonna work out with us, you’re free to continue with another architect or contractor who’s more suitable to take on your project. Or you can just buy a house that has already been built and skip all the headache of building a house from ground up.
It’s kinda like Dating.
Elsa said it best when she said, “You can’t marry a man you just met.” In general, yes. In context, LOL. When dating, most of us want to get to know the person first before marrying them, committing long-term or signing anything and entrusting our money, most especially if it’s ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of pesos. It’s very risky. How will you know if this person will not cheat, run away and abandon you after you give them what they want?
Construction is no different. There are a lot of horror stories of evil contractors ghosting the client after getting the down payment, and vice versa. Anyway, that’s not the point!
We want to help our clients understand what they need before committing.
The point is, getting to know the architect/designer/contractor you wanna work with to “try” their services for a nominal fee, and see if they’re the right one for you before getting engaged in a long-term contract. Designing and building a house is a very long process as it include different trades in structural, architectural, electrical, plumbing and sometimes mechanical works.
The scope of the Project Starter Service is pretty straightforward and clients would basically have all the preliminary essential info they need, even if they still wanna shop around for different contractors before awarding the project.
It doesn’t matter how pretty our design presentations are if our solutions won’t make sense to the client.
Design Intervention can help us have a decent understanding of who we are designing for. You can also check out our YouTube videos to see if our previous designs match your aesthetic before booking a Project Starter Service with us.
Our main objective is to help our clients visualize their ideas on paper.
The Project Starter Service can help our clients establish a clear and informed foundation for the design and construction process. It allows both the architect and the client to align their expectations and make informed decisions before proceeding further. Clients who are unsure about the exact direction of their project or want professional guidance from the outset often find these services valuable in shaping and visualizing their project’s overall trajectory.
Visualization is very powerful. If you’re really serious about your project, it doesn’t matter if you’ve already bought the property you wanna build on, or not yet. Or if you already have the money to fund your project, or if your loan has been approved or not yet. We want to help you materialize your project even if you plan to build your dream home 5 years from now.
It’s a Professionally Designed Dream Board.
Or a Vision Board. But instead of a collage of images and words representing your wishes or goals, at the end of the Project Starter Service, you’re gonna get realistic and feasible conceptual designs that you can implement whenever you’re ready, and actually transform your vision into reality.
Do you believe in Magick?