The million dollar question I ask at the start of every building project, be it a new house or moving a kitchen, is “what is your budget?” Paradoxically, the more money people have, the bigger the project they tend to take on, and the thinner they spread themselves. Costs are rapidly inflating in every industry, particularly construction. Everybody is being very careful to get the best return on their investments, and one of the biggest investments you will make is your house.

I’ll be brutally honest. Like vets, nurses and [insert underpaid profession here], architects don’t make a lot of money for the 7+ years of education, 10+ years of experience, endless liabilities and the requirement to know the ins and outs of just about everything to do with buildings. What is the correct fall for this drain? How do I insulate a period property? How much space do I need in front of a dishwasher? Traditionally, the architectural profession is probably considered an elitist and inaccessible line of work, reserved for grand designs and led by artsy types in turtle necks. The reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

Sadly, as a result, a lot of people embarking on home improvements will completely bypass design and go straight to a builder to construct something, which will probably end up being a bit badly thought through. Builders like to build from a detailed drawing, not a cigarette packet sketch. For the money snatched off the value of your house due to poor design choices, or overspend coming up with things as you go along, you could probably have invested in an architect or designer.

Typically, architectural fees range from 5-15% of the build cost for a project, which are generally spread out over a number of years. Studio 8 typically charges 7%. For this, anyone worth their salt should provide (take a deep breath!) a detailed survey and appraisal of issues and opportunities, a design in 3D that encompasses everything you want from a space (and probably some things you hadn’t even considered), planning approval, engineers’ calculations, costings, technical drawings for building control, electrical, heating and ventilation layouts, administering a contract with a builder, issuing party wall agreements, designing the layout of kitchen units and bath tubs, fixtures, fittings, surfaces, paint colours, where you plug the electric toothbrush in, and issuing you a certificate with a defects warranty when it’s all done.