How Our
Services Work
A guide to the stages, fees, and how decisions are made between us.
The process
Designing and building your own home is, for most people, a once-in-a-lifetime project. It is exciting, significant, and occasionally daunting. The person you choose to guide you through it matters enormously.
Good design isn't a single drawing or a finished plan. It's the outcome of a considered process between architect and client, built through conversation, sketching, testing, refining, and decision-making. We bring a design eye shaped by typology, history, materials, craft, construction, and experience. You bring the life the building needs to hold. The work is in bringing those things together so the result feels personal, sits properly on its site, and moves beyond the expected.
To make that process transparent, we've broken our services into clear stages, each with a specific purpose, set of outputs, and fee. The page below walks through each one. Every project begins with the Discovery Package, a short, fixed-fee phase that gives both sides a chance to test the working relationship before committing to anything bigger. From there, you can choose whether to continue with us through full design, documentation, and construction, or take what we've produced and move on. No obligation either way.
A note on what this page is: it's plain-language general guidance about how we work, written to help you understand the process before you engage us. It isn't professional, financial, or engineering advice, and no client–architect relationship is formed by reading it. Each engagement begins with a formal written ArchiTeam Client–Architect Agreement, which sets out the binding scope, fees, and responsibilities for your project.
At a glance
Indicative durations, based on a typical three-bedroom renovation or new build of around 150sqm. Larger, more complex, heritage-affected, or highly detailed projects will generally take longer.
The Discovery
Package
Discovery is how every project with us starts. It's a short, fixed-fee phase, deliberately light on technical work, designed to do two things: give you a real taste of how we think and design, and give both of us the information needed to decide whether to keep going.
Practically, it means we come to your site, walk through it with you, take some key dimensions by hand, and put together a sketch response: hand-drawn floor plans, two or three 3D sketches, a written brief capturing what you're trying to achieve, and a rough read on planning constraints. We present it to you, talk it through, and leave you with a printed and bound document to sit with.
What you're really getting is an experienced eye on your site. We've worked across coastal homes, country houses, inner-city terraces, freestanding Victorians, and heritage-overlay Federations and Queen Annes. That experience shows up in how we read a site, the orientation, the existing fabric, the typology and motifs of the area, what the planning rules will and won't allow, where the light moves through the day, how a layout could actually flow. Discovery is where we apply that lens to your project in a fast, focused way without burning up the fees a full service requires.
It's also useful when you're still making a bigger decision, whether to keep the existing house or knock it down, whether to renovate or sell and start somewhere else. We can share a broad opinion on probable cost, based on historical project data, to help you think about magnitude. It is not a quote, cost plan, or formal estimate.
Because buildings are highly complex and final cost is shaped by builder pricing, market conditions, scope, and timing, we strongly recommend engaging an independent Costs Consultant (Quantity Surveyor) as the design develops. A Quantity Surveyor can provide objective market data that we cannot, and is the right person to help you secure your budget safely.
is not
Discovery is not a registered land survey, not a full measured drawing package, not technical documentation, and not something a builder can price or build from. It is an early design and orientation phase.
Detailed measured drawings, consultant input, planning investigations, and buildable documentation all sit in the later stages, once the project direction has been agreed.
- Site visit and discussion
- Key hand-measured dimensions of existing conditions
- Preliminary review of planning overlays, zoning, and relevant constraints
- Hand-drawn concept floor plan
- Two or three 3D sketches
- Written project brief capturing goals, priorities, budget, and constraints
- Presentation and review meeting, in person or by video
- Printed and bound presentation document
- Broad opinion on probable cost, for budget-setting only
- Registered land survey
- Full measured drawings
- CAD documentation
- Construction documentation
- Electrical, plumbing, or engineering layouts
- Structural engineering
- Interior and cabinetry documentation
- Consultant coordination
- Builder pricing package
- Permit documentation
- Formal feasibility study
- Quantity surveyor cost plan
Approximately six weeks from the site visit.
Moving from Discovery
to full service
If you decide to proceed after Discovery, the next step is a proper reassessment. By that point we'll have a much clearer read on what you're trying to achieve, what your site will allow, and what your budget will realistically support.
This is the moment to discuss alignment honestly. If there is a gap between scope and budget, it's better to address it now than after the project moves into a longer and more detailed design process. We take budget seriously, and the strongest projects usually begin with clear agreement around priorities, value, ambition, and limits.
Once we're aligned, we put together a full fee proposal: a single document setting out the scope of the three stages below, the fee against each one, what's included and what isn't, and any items we'd handle hourly because they can't be reasonably scoped this early.
Alongside the proposal you'll receive an ArchiTeam Client–Architect Agreement (CAA). Because we're a registered practice, all of our work has to sit under a formal written agreement, it's how our professional insurances function, and it protects both sides. The CAA contains the same information as this page but in proper contract form, including terms, conditions, and limitation of liability. Nothing kicks off until it's signed.
If you decide not to continue with us, that's completely fine. You can take what we produced during Discovery to another professional, and you'll be better oriented for that next conversation.
Full architectural
service
Grove Studio's full architectural service is structured across three stages:
- 01 Design Phase
- 02 Construction Documentation
- 03 Contract Administration
Each stage builds on the one before it. The process moves from investigation and design thinking, through to detailed documentation, then into construction support and contract administration on site.
Design Phase
Construction Docs
If the Design Phase is about working out what you want to build, Construction Documentation is about making it buildable. It's the line in the sand of the process: everything before it is design conversation, visuals, meetings, mood boards, getting everyone on the same page. Everything from here is about producing a drawing set so resolved that the builder can price it accurately and build what we've actually designed.
The output is the architectural drawing set: floor plans, elevations, sections, interior and cabinetry documentation, interior elevations, door and window schedules, finishes schedules, fixture schedules, and a written specification. Most clients underestimate the volume of work that sits behind it. It's where the design gets pinned down to the millimetre.
Specialist consultants are brought in and coordinated at this stage, typically a structural engineer, hydraulic engineer, electrical and lighting designer, energy rater (NatHERS), building surveyor, town planner, heritage advisor, or others depending on the project. To make sure you have direct legal warranties and recourse from each specialist, all consultants are engaged and paid by you directly. We coordinate their work into the architectural documentation, but the responsibility for each consultant's specific calculations and certifications remains with them.
If you'd like, we can suggest consultants we've worked well with previously. You're not obliged to use anyone we recommend. Many clients already have professionals they like working with, or want to compare options themselves.
Why the drawing set matters this much: without robust documentation, what the builder thinks you agreed and what you think you agreed only get tested once it's built. By which point fixing it is expensive and slow. A comprehensive drawing set becomes the shared reference point for client, builder, architect, consultants, and trades, and helps mitigate ambiguity during the build.
Once it is finalised, the package is issued to selected builders for competitive pricing and forms the basis of the building contract you'll sign.
Contract Admin
Contract Administration is what we do once the builder starts building. It's the stage clients most often look at and wonder if they could skip. And the one where, in our experience, skipping costs the most.
There are two reasons this role exists.
First, quality control. Even the most thorough drawing set in the world is open to interpretation. Anyone who's ever assembled flat-pack furniture knows that drawings used a billion times still get put together wrong. A bespoke, one-off home is far more complex, and it's the first time the builder has built this particular project. Periodic site meetings, review of shop drawings produced by trades, architect's instructions when something needs clarifying. This is the work of helping the design that you and we spent months getting right arrive intact on site. The aim isn't to replace the builder's responsibility; it's to keep the project aligned with the agreed design and resolve issues before they become larger problems.
Second, independent certification of money. We sit in the flow of payments. The builder issues a progress claim, we review the work claimed for against what's actually been done, and we certify the amount before you pay it. That means someone with building knowledge is independently checking, on your side of the table, that you're paying for work that exists. Not for percentages someone has invented. If something ever goes wrong with the builder mid-project, you're in a far stronger position because of it.
There's a natural temptation to take this stage out of the fee. It's the longest, and it's the easiest to imagine doing yourself. We'd strongly encourage you not to. Without an architect administering the contract you're effectively performing the role yourself, and unless you've done a registered architecture qualification, two years' work, the registration exam, and years in the industry, that's a lot to take on at the same time as building your house.
Our role across this stage is to administer the contract independently and impartially, between client and builder. The builder remains solely responsible for carrying out and completing the works to the standard set out in the contract documents.
How our fees work
Architects in Australia charge in one of a few standard ways, and we use two of them: fixed fee, and percentage of cost of works.
Discovery is a fixed fee. We tell you the number up front, take a 50% deposit to book your project in, and invoice the balance on delivery. Like every engagement with us, Discovery sits under a written Client–Architect Agreement (CAA), which we send alongside the invoice. Because we're a registered practice, all work has to be done under contract, this is how our professional insurances function and how both sides are protected.
Full-service fees, covering the three stages above, are a percentage of the confirmed Cost of Works. Here's how that number gets set: after Discovery, we independently assess what we think your project will actually cost to build. That's our estimate, not your target budget. The fee percentage is then set against that figure. If our estimate and your budget don't match, this is the moment to surface it and decide whether to adjust scope, budget, or both. We don't want to design something you can't afford to build, and we don't want to under-fee a project that will need full architectural attention to deliver.
The percentage scales. Smaller projects sit at a higher percentage because every house, regardless of budget, requires a baseline of drawings, coordination, and consultant management. As cost of works increases, the work-per-dollar reduces, and the percentage drops accordingly. The indicative scale below shows roughly how that curve runs; the exact figure for your project will be stated in your proposal.
Once the percentage and cost of works are agreed, the result is a lump sum. That lump sum is divided across Stages 01–03 according to the work in each, and invoiced monthly as we progress. If the cost of works changes meaningfully after Stage 01, Stages 02 and 03 adjust accordingly.
A small number of items we can't reasonably scope this early in a project are kept out of the lump sum and done at an hourly rate if they come up. That way you're not paying for work that may not be needed, and we're not under-fee'd if it is. Any of these are listed explicitly in your fee proposal.
All specialist consultant fees are separate. This includes land surveyors, structural engineers, hydraulic engineers, energy raters, building surveyors, quantity surveyors, town planners, heritage consultants, landscape architects, and any other specialist consultant required for the project. They are engaged and invoiced directly by you. We coordinate them; we don't mark up their fees.
| Cost of Works | Indicative fee |
|---|---|
| $500,000 | ~15% |
| $1,000,000 | ~12% |
| $1,500,000 – $2,000,000 | ~10% |
| $3,000,000+ | ~8% |
| $4,000,000+ | ~6% |
The agreed fee percentage is stated in your individual proposal. If the Cost of Works increases after Stage 01, Stages 02 and 03 adjust accordingly.
your budget
Buildings are highly complex prototypes, and final construction cost is shaped by builder pricing, market conditions, scope changes, and timing, none of which can be locked down at the start of a project. We can share opinions on probable cost based on historical project data, but those are magnitude reads, not market quotes.
For that reason we strongly recommend engaging an independent Costs Consultant (Quantity Surveyor) as the design develops. A Quantity Surveyor brings objective market data, prepares formal cost plans, and can review the builder's pricing for you. That is genuinely different work to what an architect provides, and engaging one is the strongest single thing you can do to protect your budget. If you'd like, we can suggest QSs we've worked well with.
Document ownership
and file format
All drawings, 3D models, specifications, and documents we produce remain our intellectual property. When you engage us, you're granted a licence to use those documents for the specific purposes of your project at the specific site we designed for, conditional on your fees being paid in full.
We issue all documents as PDFs. Editable CAD or design files (DWG, Revit, etc.) are not provided to clients or builders by default. If you have a specific reason to need them, we can release them under a separate written agreement that includes a CAD file disclaimer protecting both sides. Using our documents on a different site, or for a different project, isn't permitted without our written consent.
Scope comparison
To make the difference between Discovery and Construction Documentation as transparent as possible, the table below maps every meaningful scope item against both. It does two jobs: it shows exactly how light Discovery is by design, so there's no ambiguity about what you're receiving at that stage; and it shows the depth of work that sits behind Construction Documentation, which is consistently the stage clients most underestimate. If you're unsure whether something falls inside or outside our scope, this is the first place to look.
| Item | Discovery | Constr. Docs |
|---|---|---|
| Site and Planning | ||
| Site visit | ✓ | ✓ |
| Hand-measured existing conditions plan | ✓ | – |
| Surveyed existing conditions (registered surveyor, CAD) | – | ✓ |
| Preliminary planning overview (zones, overlays, setbacks) | ✓ | – |
| Detailed planning assessment and permit advice | ~ | ✓ |
| Pre-application meeting with council | – | ✓ |
| Shadow and overshadowing analysis | ~ | ✓ |
| Heritage overlay assessment | ~ | ✓ |
| Design | ||
| Written project brief | ✓ | – |
| Hand-drawn concept floor plan and 3D sketches | ✓ | – |
| CAD-drawn floor plans, elevations, sections, roof plan | – | ✓ |
| Site plan (dimensioned, setbacks confirmed) | – | ✓ |
| Interiors and Cabinetry | ||
| Preliminary interior intent / direction | ~ | – |
| Kitchen and bathroom CAD layouts | – | ✓ |
| Interior elevations | – | ✓ |
| Door, window, and cabinetry schedules | – | ✓ |
| Finishes and materials schedule | – | ✓ |
| Services, Coordination on Drawings Only | ||
| Notes on existing services / key constraints | ~ | – |
| Coordination of electrical point and lighting layout | – | ✓ |
| Coordination of plumbing rough-in and stormwater layout | – | ✓ |
| Coordination of heating and cooling layout | – | ✓ |
| Coordination of Energy rating / NatHERS (by energy rater) | – | ✓ |
| Structure, Coordination on Drawings Only | ||
| Early structural feasibility / intent | ~ | – |
| Structural drawings (engineer-produced) | – | ✓ |
| Coordination of footing and slab design (by structural engineer) | – | ✓ |
| Coordination of steel and timber framing (by structural engineer) | – | ✓ |
| Documentation and Permits | ||
| Presentation document (printed and bound) | ✓ | – |
| Planning permit application drawings | – | ○ |
| Building permit application drawings | – | ✓ |
| Full specification document | – | ✓ |
| Tender package for builder pricing | – | ✓ |
| Comprehensive architectural drawing set suitable for construction | – | ✓ |
| Budget | ||
| Opinion on probable cost (historical data; not a formal estimate) | ✓ | – |
| Formal cost estimate / Quantity Surveyor coordination | – | ✓ |
| Value management review against budget | – | ✓ |
| Consultant Coordination, Engaged and Paid Directly by Client | ||
| Structural engineer | – | ✓ |
| Hydraulic engineer | – | ✓ |
| Electrical / lighting designer | – | ✓ |
| Energy rater (NatHERS) | – | ✓ |
| Building surveyor | – | ✓ |
| Land surveyor | – | ✓ |
| Geotechnical engineer (if required) | – | ✓ |
A handful of additional matters, including construction costs, consultant-produced work, client-supplied items, natural materials, and what Discovery does and doesn't cover, are worth understanding before you engage us. The FAQ below explains each of them in plain language. These topics are covered formally and in detail in the ArchiTeam Client–Architect Agreement, which is the binding document for each engagement.
Frequently asked
questions
Yes, please do. Any information you can send before the first meeting is useful.
This might include your wish list, budget expectations, site information, any existing drawings, planning advice, photographs, reference images, or notes on what is and isn't working in the current home. The more we know before the site visit, the more useful the conversation can be, we can spend our time on strategy and design potential rather than intake.
It's your choice, but we strongly recommend it. Without an architect independently administering the contract you're exposed to deviations from the design intent, inflated builder variations, and paying progress claims for work that hasn't actually been done.
If you choose to proceed without us during construction, you take on full responsibility for assessing the builder's claims, checking compliance with the National Construction Code, and managing defects yourself. Our role during construction is to impartially administer the contract and help protect your design, your money, and your contractual rights with the builder.
A draftsperson produces drawings; a registered architect produces drawings as one part of a much wider design and project-management role. We hold a five-year university qualification, two years of supervised work experience, a registration exam, ongoing CPD, professional indemnity insurance, and registration with the Architects Registration Board.
Beyond credentials, the difference shows up in how a project is approached. A draftsperson can be appropriate for straightforward projects where the design direction is already resolved and only documentation is required. An architect is usually more appropriate where the project requires design thinking, site response, coordination of consultants, and the kind of judgement that holds the whole thing together as a coherent design.
We're a practice that does both, and we don't treat interiors as a bolt-on. From Concept Design onwards, the interior is being designed in parallel with the architecture, it's a deliberate part of how we work. That includes tile selection, joinery, doorknobs, lighting, switches, upholstery, sofas, and the broader material story of the home.
Some architecture practices focus mainly on the building shell and leave the interior to be resolved later by a separate interior designer. That isn't how we work. Our residential projects are designed as complete environments, with architecture and interiors developed together.
We also take on interior-only projects, and offer optional procurement services for things like vintage sourcing and custom upholstery.
Almost always, yes. Landscape isn't separate from the house, it affects light, outlook, privacy, shade, seasonal change, outdoor living, and the way the home feels from inside and outside.
Landscape architecture fees are usually lower than people expect, and you don't need a full service, a partial engagement covering design intent and a planting plan is often enough, because we already document the hard landscaping (paving, walls, decking) as part of our scope. We don't select plants. We have no expertise in what will or won't survive your site, and the cost of replacing plants that die is usually equal to or higher than the cost of a planting plan done properly the first time. We'd rather work with a landscape architect than leave you with dirt at handover.
Each specialist consultant is responsible for their own work. The structural engineer certifies their engineering, the hydraulic engineer their hydraulics, the energy rater the NatHERS report, the building surveyor the building permit, and so on. So that you have direct legal warranties and recourse for each specialist's work, all consultants are engaged and paid by you directly. We coordinate their input and integrate their drawings into our architectural set; the responsibility for each consultant's specific calculations remains with them.
If you'd like, we're happy to suggest consultants we've worked well with previously. You're not obliged to use anyone we recommend. Many clients already have professionals they like working with, or want to interview a few options themselves. We can also help brief consultants once you've engaged them.