Cost to get a house designed?

chris_ie

I've looked for a general price on this but couldn't find anything! I imagine a few grand but am I wrong? Example going to an architect and telling him details such as how many rooms you want, biggish sitting room etc..

chris_ie

Oops, found something here.

Apologies, can this be deleted??

sydthebeat

depends on a lot of factors.

if you want a one-off architecturally designed house you may expect to pay anything from 5-7% of estimated construction costs for design and planning engagements.... this typically on a 2500 sq ft house may work out around 8-12K

If you want a more standard typical design, perhaps an engineer or architectural technician can design it for you for less costs.. maybe somewhere between 4-6K... but look for previous examples of work to see if they have any design talent.

but theres loads of different factors.

chris_ie

You see, a site we're looking at has planning approved for a design and we kinda like it, not much we would change, but in saying that there could be thousands of designs that we'd like. Plus the fact that we will probably build makes me want to make the most of the opportunity and build a house to our taste and not just the bog standard same house as everyone else. Would like it to be unique in a way (without going crazy obviously!)

So would it be worth it to try and design ourselves with the help of an architect, in your opinion?

Jollyman

Thats exactly what building your own house is about, if you cant have an input on the design, its not much good in my opioion. Afterall it will be you and your partner living there, the architect can offer his/her advice

chris_ie

Yeah I think I'll look into it. Now need to find some architects round Letterkenny/Donegal! Checked a few sites but alot seem to be big buildings, i.e churches, hotels etc..

Slig

I think Muffler(one of the mods here) is a designer in Donegal, Hire him and at least he cant ban you:D.
I'm not for pimping but definately get somebody with recommendations and that knows their stuff. At the end of the day the house you want could cost exactly the same to build (or less) as one your are willing to settle for, and its not like a car, you cant just scrap it if you want to change. The major advantages of designing are that you can put more thought into the house, layout, orientation etc. A lot of houses that were designed for to be sold as sites were not that well thought out.

NickTellis

Slig wrote: »

I think Muffler(one of the mods here) is a designer in Donegal, Hire him and at least he cant ban you:D.

Wanna put money on that? :cool:

muffler

NickTellis wrote: »

Wanna put money on that? :cool:

Dont throw your money away lads - not on betting anyhow

@Slig. Whats your address for me to send you on a pint

snellers

just remember with the rising cost of heating / utilities unless this design you already have is designed with these issues in mind you may have many many large bills in the future....

after spending a long time trawling boards (here in particular) in preparation for new build I have realised exactly what 'solar gain' , 'passive house', 'rainwater harvesting' & lots of other 'buzz' words actually are....the fact is they aren't really buzz words, they are factors in good design and something we should try and adopt in our own builds where possible....I didn't realise just how important they are until I read lots and lots about them - with regulations and minimum ratings getting tighter all the time (as well as oil/gas prices rocketing and water metering in the near future) it makes sense to try and reduce those types of future bills.

IMO it would be well worth it getting the plans looked over by someone 'in the know' whether an architect, technician or whomever you choose and if they are any good will be able to help you.

chris_ie

Cheers for the advice again guys. Yeah want to look into heating methods etc. aswell. I'm not exactly in the know about alot of building stuff! So its all a bit new so all this advice is really helpful.

Cheers.