Why Your Brief Is Not Your Budget
When clients come to us they normally have two things in mind: their brief and their budget.
The brief defines the way the client lives, the different people in the household, the rooms that are required. It contains elements that must be met, their individual requirements, needs, wishes and desires. It also accounts for specific measures, such as the desire for a Passive House, or a tiny house house on wheels for that matter. Your brief pertains to lifestyle and habits, where there is more than one solution to your problem.
Your budget is the financial constraint of your new house, the limit to what is possible. Your budget is your budget. Full stop! Everybody has a ceiling to their spending and nobody should be pushed beyond that.
Your brief is the dream, the idea, the vision. Your budget is the reality. Bringing both together is what the design and construction process is all about. But your budget doesn’t create your brief, and similarly your brief is not your budget.
In almost every project the brief has far more flexibility than the budget. That doesn’t mean we cannot design your brief according to budget.
Additional factors will influence the construction cost of your project. For example, your site may be on a steep hill or have very limited access, making construction more difficult, labour intensive and time consuming - resulting in more expense. These factors need to be considered from the outset by your engaged professionals to ensure that your house is designed to meet budget.
You will need to approach the initial design phase with an open mind, if your consultants suggest that your brief is not aligned with your budget then we suggest that you heed their professional advice. Insist on honest feedback, because there is no point in wasting time designing to the brief if there is no chance you can service the cost.
As we alluded to in an earlier blog post in ‘cost per square meter’, there are so many external factors to a custom designed home that you cannot assume that your brief and your budget are aligned. You can read about the 8 factors that influence construction costs, HERE.
A design process is all about creativity and compromises. This doesn’t mean you have to settle for less. It means you have to be open minded to the ways we can support your specific needs that are maybe different than what you had imagined in the first place.
This is not about dreaming of a lifestyle that you think you should want or should have, but actually consciously considering what is truly important to you and how you live. We sometimes forget that the way we live is completely unique to us. As designers of your future home, we depend on what you tell us to make the right assessment on your living needs and priorities.