At this point, you are now armed with information from your initial Assessment (Step 1) and your Strategic Business Plan (Step 2).
The goal of this step, Step 3: Concept, is to work with your architect to:
- Distill your design brief
- Collaborate with key stakeholders early
- Arrive at Concept Plans
Property Development Step 3: Concept
As part of quantifying your target profit, you ideally will have gone through the Size-Finish-Cost triangle exercise and therefore arrived at good ballpark upper limits for the size of your proposed dwelling/s, level of finish and total development cost.
If you haven’t already, now’s the time to engage an architect or building designer (hereafter referred to as ‘architect’) to translate your design aspirations into Concept Plans that work on paper, given all the constraints previously identified.
Distill your design brief
There are as many ways of distilling the design brief as there are architects, but particularly early in the Concept phase, we recommend collaborating with your architect to focus specifically on:
- Separating your project ‘needs’ vs ‘wants’
- Prioritising your project ‘needs’
- Determining overall masterplanning direction (for larger sites)
- General direction as to external mass and form
- Agreeing on internal room relationships and spatial desires
- Clarifying how much you would like to be involved in the design process
Once you and your architect are on the same page with your design brief, be prepared for an iterative design process. The clearer you are in relaying what you are after to the architect, the fewer iterations it should take to arrive at Concept Plans that will satisfy the constraints known at this point.
As an aside, expect to also get a Land Surveyor on board at this point to provide your architect with an accurate Site Survey that forms the basis for any architectural drawings. At the minimum your architect will require a Site Re-establishment Survey to ensure that the boundaries you have on title are reflected in real life. Depending on your site and your proposed development, you may also require contours, features (eg. trees) and/or neighbourhood context (ie. surrounding houses/landmarks) picked up on your survey.
Collaborate with key stakeholders early
From this point on keep in mind that:
- Changes = Time = Money, and
- The later the change, the more expensive it will be
The moral of the story is threefold:
- Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Let your architect know everything that you are thinking, feeling, like and dislike as early as possible. Problems only get bigger (and more time consuming and expensive) the later they surface.
- Engage stakeholders early. Who are the people who can most influence or be most impacted by your project? Building supervisors? Land Surveyors? Specialist consultants? Resident action groups? Union officials? Get them on board early and actively listen to their concerns, feedback, suggestions. If they are going to have a say, it might as well be early.
- Get it in writing. Whenever progress or changes are communicated by any party (including you) – get it in writing. If something has only been communicated verbally, then email the other party confirming what was discussed. Ensure they acknowledge your confirmation so that you have it in writing.
Perhaps the most significant stakeholder you will face is your local council. Your architect (and/or your Town Planning consultant) will hopefully have successfully obtained town Planning Permits (sometimes known as Development Applications, or DA’s) from your local council before. Recent local knowledge is a definite advantage as it may uncover helpful local planning insight that may otherwise be buried deep within council documentation.
Also be sure to take advantage of “Pre-application” meetings. These are your opportunity to gain early feedback from council before you officially lodge an application. Some councils charge for this but even if they do, use these opportunities as soon as you have plans that you are happy with. Be open and prepared to receive feedback and make changes. Going back to our third maxim – ensure that for any pre-application feedback you hear from council, get it in writing.
Arrive at your Concept Plans
Depending on your project, Concept Plans at this stage may range from something as simple as pencil on paper to Autocad electronic plans all the way through to rough 3D animations/visualisations.
Once you have worked with key stakeholders through numerous iterations, your architect will hopefully have arrived at Concept Plans that all parties are satisfied with. Congratulations!
Conclusion:
In summary, the goal of this step, Step 3: Concept, is to work with your architect to:
- Distill your design brief
- Collaborate with key stakeholders early
- Arrive at Concept Plans
We will investigate in the next article, Step 4: Application how your Concept Plans are progressed to achieve your Town Planning Permit.
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Related links:
- Institution of Surveyors Victoria
- Australian Institute of Architects
- Building Designer’s Association of Victoria
- Municipal Association of Victoria – List of Victorian Councils
- Victoria’s Planning System – Planning: A Short Guide
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