Draftsperson recommendations?

[belencong]

So I have a builder who was doing plans for my triplex development, but their draftsperson is clearly struggling and not particularly good or clever.

Examples of things that have got me scratching my head are outside areas with no access, or access to drying courtyard through a bedroom, and poorly configured areas within the house causing wasted space.

As a total newbie, I can easily see how to make improvements, which they are willing to do, but this is becoming a protracted exercise and I am concerned that the final plan will end up less than ideal with some glaring mistakes once built that I might miss looking at plans. I believe the draftsperson is not familiar with working with smaller unit developments, clearly has no experience in this area and is following r-code restrictions with no creativity or sense of good design.

So, I'm considering getting plans done independently but not sure where to go. It will cost me more, but I am concerned that ultimately it will cost me even more to spend money building a poorly designed layout.

The development is for a triplex on small 200sqm blocks. Does anyone have any recommendations where I can get good plans done?

 

[Aaron Sice]

Smaller, 200sqm lots generally have some compromise.

here's a pair of small units I do on a standard 200sqm lot - you can see rear access is not always guaranteed the second you start changing lot configurations around.

You can also see that the more CP you have, the more you can get away with. PDF 3B has little CP, so has a 3bed. PDF 2B has a lot of CP driveway, so was able to put a 4 bed on it. Now, they're small - but it's Canningvale. Valuers see "4bed - Canningvale" and the values go up $40-50k per lot.

These are NRAS so horses for courses, too.

On a standard triplex site, your lot shape determines what you get. Your draftie may be trying to do you a favour by keeping things simple, especially if it's Canning or Stirling - even though they appear to be omitting some functionality to do so. You need to be clear with your draftie or designer or architect as to how far YOU are willing to push for a better product - because most things designed to fit AD provisions are generally not very nice homes to live in on sub 300sqm lots.

call me anytime - no obligation - zero four two three nine seven two three five nine.

 

[Ideo]

A lot of people sing Aaron's praises so I'd talk to him first.

 

[belencong]

Thanks Aaron. I'm still learning the lingo, so what is CP?

 

[westminster]

So I have a builder who was doing plans for my triplex development, but their draftsperson is clearly struggling and not particularly good or clever.

Examples of things that have got me scratching my head are outside areas with no access, or access to drying courtyard through a bedroom, and poorly configured areas within the house causing wasted space.

As a total newbie, I can easily see how to make improvements, which they are willing to do, but this is becoming a protracted exercise and I am concerned that the final plan will end up less than ideal with some glaring mistakes once built that I might miss looking at plans. I believe the draftsperson is not familiar with working with smaller unit developments, clearly has no experience in this area and is following r-code restrictions with no creativity or sense of good design.

So, I'm considering getting plans done independently but not sure where to go. It will cost me more, but I am concerned that ultimately it will cost me even more to spend money building a poorly designed layout.

The development is for a triplex on small 200sqm blocks. Does anyone have any recommendations where I can get good plans done?

One of the hardest things is understanding what and how a good design is made and how that fits with the R Codes. Not all builders have drafties that can do it.

I'm trying to remember your history and if it was you that has the 728 R40 with the 18.1m frontage? If it was I suggested that you go see the designs by my Builder to see what could be possible for your block.

By comparing other companies designs you can determine if the draftie you are using is good or bad.

So yes I can recommend my builder - Inspired Homes. But they only do designs for their clients who build with them. They do not charge for this service as it's built into the build prices.

Aaron (above) may also be able to do a design for you and is well versed in the requirements for building on small blocks.

Joe Germano is also a draftie who is well versed in designing for small blocks .

 

[Aaron Sice]

I went to school with Joe and his brother, Fabian. We shared a tech drawing class - except i graduated dux... I've pulled him up on a few small issues like room sizes before with MTRs plans and modified they work a fair bit better - but at the end of the day, they served a purpose.

I think volume is a really important but forgotten factor in units. I find a lot of designers and drafites focus on the 2D more than the 3D.

 

[Aaron Sice]

Thanks Aaron. I'm still learning the lingo, so what is CP?

Common Property