We start by listening to how you want to live and what you want your home to achieve. Rather than imposing a particular style, we explore ideas around your needs, priorities and property to create a design that feels individual to you.
You will work directly with Anya throughout your project, with consistent advice from the first conversation onwards. You’ll be kept involved and informed, with clear explanations and guidance to help make the design process enjoyable and manageable.
Good design needs to work with your budget. We consider cost from an early stage and, where appropriate, work with a Quantity Surveyor or suitable builder to test likely construction costs, helping you make informed decisions as the design develops.
We coordinate the people and information needed to keep your project moving, from consultants and detailed design through to contractor selection and construction. Where appointed through the build, we remain involved on site, helping you manage decisions, quality, costs and the building contract through to completion.
A focused meeting at your home to understand what you want to achieve. We talk through your ideas, priorities and budget, look at the opportunities your property offers and discuss any practical considerations that could influence the project.
You will have the opportunity to ask questions and explore initial ideas with an experienced architect before committing to design work. Following the consultation, we recommend the best next steps and the level of architectural support your project is likely to need. £200
Our Concept Design Package gives you the opportunity to explore what your home could become before committing to the full architectural process. We investigate a range of options in response to your brief, exploring different ideas before you settle on a preferred approach.
We present the options through clear plans, discuss the benefits and implications of each, and develop your preferred concept with an outline specification. Where appropriate, the preferred design can then be reviewed by a Quantity Surveyor or suitable builder to give you an early indication of likely construction cost.
You will come away with a preferred design, a better understanding of the likely budget and the clarity you need to decide whether and how you want to move forward.
Once you’re happy with the design in principle, we develop it in more detail, exploring the architecture, materials and key design decisions through drawings and 3D studies. We advise on relevant planning guidance, developing a proposal that works for you while giving it the best chance of securing consent. We have experience with conservation areas and listed buildings and prepare, submit and manage the Planning application on your behalf.
For Building Warrant, the project moves into greater technical detail. We bring in trusted consultants, such as structural engineers, where required and coordinate their input with the architectural design. We prepare and submit the Building Warrant application, respond to Building Standards queries and work through the process towards approval.
For clients who want support through to completion, our Full Architectural Service takes the project through detailed design, contractor selection and construction. We prepare the detailed drawings and information needed for the build, help you select and appoint the right contractor, and put the appropriate building contract in place.
During construction, we remain involved throughout, visiting the site, reviewing progress and quality, dealing with queries and coordinating the design as the work develops. We administer the building contract on your behalf, helping you navigate decisions, changes and payments through to completion.
This gives you experienced architectural support throughout the build, helping to protect the design, quality and your interests as the project becomes a reality.
Tell us a little about your project and we can suggest the best next step.
If you’re considering buying a home but aren’t sure whether it has the potential to meet your needs, we can help you assess the opportunities before you commit. We can look at how the property could be altered or extended, discuss likely planning considerations and identify potential constraints that could affect your plans.
We can also help you consider the likely scale of work and investment involved, and where changes could add the most value. Where you’re working to a closing date or offer deadline, we can provide focused advice within the available timeframe, helping you make a more informed decision before submitting a bid.
“Anya did a brilliant and thorough job for us at really short notice to help us plan the potential extension/refurbishment of a house we were planning to buy. She was really pro-active and a font of helpful advice.”
The Currans, Balerno
The first step is to tell us a little about your project. Get in touch with some information about your home, what you would like to achieve, and any initial thoughts about your budget and timescale.
Anya reviews every enquiry personally and will come back to you within 2–3 working days. If your project looks like a good fit for Studio AWA, the next step is usually a Home Consultation to talk through your ideas, priorities and the opportunities for your home.
Following the consultation, we’ll recommend the best way forward and provide a clear fee proposal for the architectural services your project needs.
Not at all. You don’t need to have a fully developed brief before you contact us. We can help you develop your brief, working with you to understand what you want to achieve, how you want to live and what matters most to you.
Through the Home Consultation and Concept Design process, we’ll help you explore the possibilities, identify your priorities and turn your initial thoughts into a clear direction for your project.
That depends on what you need from your home and whether your existing property has the potential to provide it. Sometimes relatively modest changes can transform how a home works; in other cases, a more substantial extension or renovation may be needed.
We can help you explore what might be possible, looking at your priorities, the opportunities and constraints of the property, likely costs and the value the changes could bring to the way you live.
Understanding this before making a decision can help you compare improving your current home with the practical and financial implications of moving.
With construction costs remaining high, it’s important to make sure an extension is the right investment for your home. More space isn’t always the answer. Sometimes reworking the existing layout, or combining smaller changes with a more modest extension, can achieve what you need more efficiently.
We explore different options and consider likely construction costs as the design develops, helping you understand where your budget is best spent and make informed decisions about the scale and scope of your project.
Yes. We can guide you through the process of designing and building a new home, from exploring the potential of a site and developing your brief through to planning, technical design and construction.
A new home gives you the opportunity to create something specifically around the way you want to live. We focus on thoughtful, sustainable design, tailoring every decision to your site, priorities, lifestyle and budget.
Yes. Understanding your budget from the outset is an important part of developing the right design. We’ll discuss what you want to achieve alongside what you are comfortable investing, and explore different ways of balancing your priorities with your available budget.
As the design develops, we can work with a Quantity Surveyor or suitable builder to provide an early indication of likely construction costs. This allows us to test the design against your budget, consider alternatives where needed and make informed decisions before progressing too far.
A good builder is an important part of any successful project, but an architect brings a different perspective. We start by exploring what you want to achieve, considering different design possibilities and developing a solution around your home, lifestyle and budget before decisions are fixed on site.
We can also guide the project through Planning and Building Warrant approvals, coordinate other consultants and prepare the detailed information a builder needs to price and construct the work.
For clients choosing a Full Architectural Service, we remain involved during construction, administering the building contract, reviewing progress and helping to protect the quality and design intent through to completion.
An architect’s value goes well beyond producing drawings. Good design can help you make better use of the space you already have, explore different possibilities before committing to construction, and make informed decisions about where your budget is best spent.
We consider the whole project, from how your home will work and feel to planning, technical requirements, costs and construction. Early design thinking can also help identify opportunities, avoid costly mistakes and ensure that the money you invest in your home delivers lasting value.
For clients who choose a Full Architectural Service, we can also guide the project through construction, helping to manage decisions, quality and costs and protecting your interests along the way.
Every project is different, and the timescale will depend on its scope and complexity, the approvals required and the construction programme. As a guide, a substantial extension or renovation can take many months from the first design work through to completion on site.
At the outset, we’ll explain the likely stages and timescales for your project and keep you informed as it progresses. Taking the time to develop the design and technical information properly before construction can help the build run more smoothly and reduce avoidable problems later.
We believe the best results come from a collaborative process, but we understand that every client has a different amount of time they can give to their project. Some enjoy being closely involved in the detail, while others prefer us to guide more of the decision-making.
We’ll involve you at the key stages, make sure you have the information you need to make informed decisions, and keep you updated throughout. The aim is for you to feel part of the process without it becoming overwhelming.
Good construction starts with clear, detailed drawings and specifications so the contractor understands what is required.
If appointed during construction, we visit the site at appropriate stages to review progress and the quality of the work, answer design queries and address issues as they arise. We also administer the building contract, providing an independent professional point of contact between you and the contractor and helping to ensure the design intent is carried through to completion.
Yes. We can guide your project through both Planning and Building Warrant, preparing and submitting the applications and liaising with the local authority on your behalf.
For Planning, we advise on relevant policies and requirements as the design develops, including the additional considerations that can apply to conservation areas and listed buildings. For Building Warrant, we develop the technical design and coordinate input from other consultants, such as structural engineers, as required.
You can appoint us for these stages without committing to a Full Architectural Service, or we can continue to support you through the construction stage.
“We received a lot of essential information in the consultation and we were impressed with the way Anya could draw a clear outline for us to move forward which was missing from our previous meetings with other people.”
“Anya spent a significant amount of time at the outset of the project speaking to us to better understand our desired outcome and getting an understanding of our style preferences. This time was invaluable as it allowed Anya to suggest ideas that we had not considered and which had a huge impact on the finished product.”
“I will highly recommend Anya for her knowledge, skills, experience and talent with regards to architecture design, interior design and understanding of the building process. Anya was able to guide us through the whole process. I’m very grateful for Anya’s clear advice and ability to convey information to us.”
