Design Marlborough

New Home Design

The main focus of Design Marlborough is designing bespoke new build homes that suit their clients lifestyle, budget and site. We focus on keeping designs well laid out with a natural flow through adjoining spaces while keeping the overall structure simple to keep costs down.

Alterations & Additions 

Much like our new home design services we are happy to undertake the design and documentation of alterations and additions of existing homes. 

This can often be a challenge but the results are well worth it to completely transform older homes that no longer work for our modern lives.

Plans & Documentation

We offer a full draughting and documentation service with all our new build and alteration designs but we can also solely undertake this from your own drawings.  

For example, we offer draughting services to scale home builders.

Architectural & Building Advisory Services

Not ready to build yet? Or have questions about what is possible for your next project?

We can advise on your options and give you a clearer idea of what is possible before you undertake any costly works. 

Planning is Cheap - Execution is Expensive.

What is an architectural designer?

An Architectural Designer is essentially a professional who falls between a fully registered Architect and a Draughtsperson. 

Draughtsperson: Generally a Draughting Qualification such as a diploma.

Architectural Designer: Draughting & Design Study/Qualifications plus a number of years architectural design work experience.

- In my case I have Diplomas in Arch, Draughting & Architectural Technology from Otago Polytechnic (3 years) plus 6 years Residential Design Experience to date.

Architect: Bachelor + Masters in Architecture + 5 years work prior to registration (as little as 2% of buildings are designed by Architects)

How much do you charge?

This is one of those "how long is a piece of string" questions. It really depends on the scope of the project and the services we are required to provide. 

As an example most Architects charge approx. 10% of a build's total cost. Where as draughting of just a set of plans may be between 1-3%.

We generally fall between these but prefer to work on a case by case basis to find rates that are suitable for all parties.

What is an LBP?

An LBP is a building professional who is registered with the NZ Government to undertake work in certain building areas. These are broken into areas such as Carpentry, Foundations, Bricklaying, Roofing, and Design.

There is ongoing licencing which includes continued learning for all LBP's. Council keeps track of LBP's overseeing all areas of building works.

What software do you use?

Design Marlborough is invested in the latest ArchiCAD software, which is a cutting edge 3D(BIM) Modelling platform.

This allows you to get a much better idea of how your project will look early on in the planning stages.

- BIM or Building Information Modelling is key to the future for the construction industry as it allows all parties involved with a project to explore the proposed building virtually prior to any construction.