THE BIG PICTURE PLAN
and create a happy eco home...
without wasting time and spending over the odds.
WARNING: my unique approach as an architect is proven to annoy those who say you should just copy the neighbours or max out your mortgage.
Before >>> After
You're living in a house with potential, that falls short of being your dream home...
and although you have ideas of what you want, you're confused by all the options, and want to avoid making big expensive mistakes.
You feel stuck in a house that doesn't suit you or your family's needs...
and you have no idea where to start, plus you're overwhelmed by the thought of mammoth home improvements.
You've talked about and maybe even attempted to start your home renovation in the past...
but your big plans never gained momentum, or got lost on your Too-Hard-To-Do List.
You want to have the space to live as you wish, with less stress and more fun family time...
and you're tired of trying to figure out a solution on your own.
The Big Picture Plan is the best and fastest way to get the right design for your dream home.
My innovative package of architectural support, guidance and collaborative design gives you:
- designs you love in a fraction of the standard industry time and cost,
- a fixed fee with no hidden costs or unexpected extras,
- fast and easy decision making, saving you time and emotional energy, and,
- total control over your designs
Finally, you'll have clarity and will be able to communicate your vision. You will make your dream home a reality faster and at the cost and quality you desire.
You can work with me even if you don't live nearby, because my unique approach doesn't require a house visit.
Why my clients choose me over other architects...
You have choices about who you work with and I want to help you avoid disappointment by making the right choice from the start.
What a traditional architect will do for you...
To begin with you'll have a short chat for 30-60 minutes, then they'll go away to create a first design.
After a few weeks a traditional architect will bring their design round to show you. It is unlikely that this first design will fully meet what you need and want, because they can't possibly know you well enough after such a short chat. You'll discuss the design and agree some amendments in a second chat.
After a few more weeks your traditional architect will return with your amended design. Again it's unlikely to fully meet your needs and wishes. With only two short chats how could anyone know you well enough to create your perfect design? So now you start paying for amendments, hoping each time that the next revision will be the one.
With traditional architects you typically end up redesigning over and over, for months or even years, at £1,000+ each time, until you get a design you're happy with, or you end up settling for a design that you hope is good enough.
That fee for one design and one amendment can soon double or triple in cost. You can keep redesigning until you run out of money, time or the will to make more design changes.
|
I frequently meet homeowners like Mark, who have already worked with a traditional architect and have either completed their build or are going through planning.
Often they tell me that they wish they had met me sooner! It doesn't need to take so long or cost so much to get to a design that delivers what you really need and want. |
Then there are the fake architects...
They tend to give you bog-standard, generic, copy-paste designs, rather than a design unique to you.
Although they can be cheaper than working with an architect, you are likely to spend more on the build and get less of what you really need and want in your home.
Choosing the budget option at the design stage is a false economy if you end up paying twice to get a design you love because you have to then work with someone else like me to achieve it. Or you pay the price of a bespoke build but get a bog-standard design that leaves you dissatisfied.
Here's how I do things differently...
I'm also a fully qualified chartered architect with over 20 years experience. I'm the real deal. Everything I design is tailored uniquely for you and your home, based on your vision that I help you to create and communicate.
It takes only 6 to 8 weeks* from your booking to reach a plan design you want with this package. This is a fraction of the standard industry time of 3 to 18 months. (* depending on availability)
As a fixed fee package, you can be confident that there are no hidden costs or unexpected extras.
The unique pre-design preparation I guide you through, based on my signature EAGLE Method, helps you get clear on what you need and want. You will create a clear vision that you will be able to communicate with confidence.
The simple 5-step EAGLE method saves you time and energy wasted on fruitless conversations that go round and round without end or decisions, and helps you avoid uncomfortable compromises.
Having your vision gives you control over your designs. You will know exactly what you want and need from your designs, instead of hoping you'll know when you see it.
Being able to communicate clearly what you need and want makes sure that everyone is on the same page and your designs are not just based on assumptions.
Where other design services take over and leave you an observer, I support you to start off in control and stay fully involved in the design process, empowering you so your needs and desires are fulfilled.
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
The three stages of the Big Picture Plan are...
|
You get a digital pre-design prepbook and unlimited* email support.
You complete the prepbook with your partner in your own time and in a way that suits you. I'm available to help you, advise you and answer any questions via email during this pre-design stage. |
|
The Design Day is a full day 9am - 5pm with my full focus and creativity dedicated to you and your home design.
This day includes two calls with me: 9.30am - a clarity call to make sure I understand your vision to base your design on, and 12pm - a collaborative design session, when we explore your design options together Timing of calls is flexible to within half an hour. |
|
Along with the sketch plans you get the Check-it-Out Checklist and instructional videos, along with unlimited* email support for 3 months following your Design Day.
The checklist helps you make sure that your design is what you want and how you want it. The videos guide you through how to complete your double checking process in your own time. I provide email support to answer your questions and advise you. At the end of the 3 months, or sooner if you're ready to make progress, we get on a call to discuss your best next steps to progress your project. |
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
You will ultimately get a home that really works for you and makes your heart sing, where you can live with more ease and pleasure in an effortlessly planet friendly way.
And this is the best thing:
I'll give you the tools to make quick and easy decisions that are right for you, so you can avoid making expensive mistakes, and missing opportunities that you later regret.
This is how you can take control of your design, your home and your life, and live the way you want to instead of the way others expect or your house dictates.
I'm often asked: "Why is the Design Your Home Vision Preparation necessary?"
This is the secret source of my intuition.
In truth, I'm not a mind reader. I help you get really clear on what you need and want, to create your vision using my signature EAGLE Method. I then base designs on your vision.
This is how I understand what you need and desire in order to create designs that make your heart sing!
Here are some more things you need to know before working with me:
I'm here for you.
Your home can define and restrict your life. I help you take back control, so your home supports you in living your version of your best life.
I don't assume what is right for you based on my own preference and ego. I won't tell you what you should do or how to live your life.
You know best what's right for you. Everything I design for you is based on your vision.
I'm creative, talented and experienced.
Well over a hundred homeowners have trusted me to redesign their homes. I've designed projects that have won awards, as well as several multi-million pound high schools.
But my approach is to support you rather than to impose my expertise on you. I lend you my full creativity and experience, in a way that you feel the design is yours.
For you to feel ownership over your home design is my greatest gift to you. You wouldn't reach the same result without me, but you'll feel like it came from you. Because when the design is based on your vision it is uniquely yours.
I don't expect you to deep clean or bake a cake!
For a decade I enjoyed the hospitality of my amazing homeowner clients. Many of them took the trouble to deep clean their homes before my arrival, and treated me to home baked cakes.
Then in the midst of the 2020 pandemic my dad had a heart attack. While he lay alone in hospital for several weeks, I feared I would never see him alive again. Thankfully he pulled through. To protect him I stopped making home visits and started designing remotely via video calls.
I knew remote design was possible, but didn't realise it is also better for my clients.
As a young employed architect I rarely got to visit a site before designing. Architects are trained to design from our imagination. From plans and photos we can understand and visualise an existing or proposed building quickly and easily.
In 2006 I designed a jewellery shop fit-out for a client in Milan, Italy, while I was based in Barcelona, Spain. In 2012 I delivered my first home design remotely for a homeowner in New York State, USA, from my home office in Manchester, UK.
When I stopped making home visits I realised how much better I could serve my clients remotely. Instead of taking up your holiday time in a half day session, our clarity call and collaborative design session can fit into a coffee break and lunchtime during your working day.
The time previously spent travelling to homes across the UK is now spent on delivering better designs. Driving less is better for the planet, and working in my own space means I can be my most creative and produce my best work for you.
Designing remotely is not only possible, it gives far better results for homeowners.
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
From Time Consuming Redesign After Redesign to Rapid Design Solutions My Clients Love
Then I created the EAGLE Method. This framework guides homeowners through this essential process of first creating a vision.
Combined with a collaborative approach, the EAGLE Method helped me go from redesigning for months (and occasionally years!) to reach a design my clients were happy with, to reaching those just right for them designs in a day. So much time saved!
As a result my clients have been able to:
- save £20,000 and more on their projects by not building more than they needed
- choose to move instead of improve, avoiding making an expensive mistake, with a better investment and get them more of what they really wanted
- create a family bathroom out of a previously scary corridor space, so they could keep the same number of bedrooms and have a luxury ensuite to the masterbedroom
- make their home more loveable and sociable, by banishing condensation and mould and creating comfortable spaces they could invite friends into
- banish feelings of isolation, frustration and loneliness by turning their once small and awkward kitchen into the heart of their entertaining space, so they could enjoy hosting guests instead of feeling like they were missing out on all the fun
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
Before >>> During >>> After
Explore and Test your Design Options without...
|
|
How amazing would it be to have a home that is a calm sanctuary, where you can retreat to restore your energy, emerge from refreshed ready to face the day and save the world?
When you have the space you need that suits your lifestyle, that's what you get.
Right now, I want you to imagine your life 2 months from now...
Imagine how your mornings will feel, knowing you have a clear plan of action and you and your partner have decided together how you're going to improve your home.
Imagine your evening mealtimes, free from endless discussions about what to do, and no more bargaining for uncomfortable compromises with your other half.
Imagine having...
- a clear vision of what you need and want without getting confused by all the options
- sketch plans designed that deliver your vision and work practically with your home, without having to go through an endless series of redesigns
- confidence to move your project forward without making expensive mistakes
Picture yourself in a couple of years, once the builders dust has settled , when you can live that eco-friendly lifestyle that you always wanted in ease and comfort, with...
- All of the breathing room you and your family need
- A bright and beautiful space that flows from room to room
- A warm, welcoming, and restful place to call home
- An eco-friendly retreat that requires minimal maintenance
- Fun, child friendly design that your family will love for decades to come
Your daily frustrations designed out and those moments of pleasure in each day enhanced, so your home enables you to fully enjoy your life.
You know this is possible and that you can have this - so let me help you get it.
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
As you Design Your Home Vision with my prepbook to guide you, I am just an email away to give you personal support, to help you get unstuck and answer your questions. With the clarity call on your Design Day we make sure your vision is crystal clear.
With the power of Collaborative Design you maintain control over your design by designing your home vision to inform your design, and by being involved in the design process as we design together during your Design Day.
The sketch designs created in collaboration with you and based on your home vision is not all! You also get my guidance to double check that the designs are right for you, with the Check-it-Out Checklist and my personal support for up to 3 months via email following your Design Day.
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
The Big Picture Plan is all you need to get your project started the right way.
overwhelm, chaos, frazzled relationships, feeling like failed parents, being too embarrassed to entertain so having a limited social life...
and living a life of ease and pleasure, with space to enjoy with loved ones, and the daily frustrations and inconveniences resolved, like getting in and out of the front door quickly and smoothly each morning.
The question is, how much longer do you want to wait to start your home redesign?
How long are you willing to wait for the space you need to make your heart sing, and create a massive difference to your life?
I recommend wasting no more time.
Start your project the best way possible here and now!
Get on and live your best life in your happy eco home sooner, not later...
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
Don't just take my word for it, here are some kind words from my clients, with the big picture plans I delivered for them:
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
2. Finally help you decide if you stay and improve or move house... would it be worth it?
3. Finally give you the house you feel proud to share with friends and family... would it be worth it?
Come on! Of course you know it would!
This package is perfect for you if...
You are confident with video calls and at least minimally tech savvy - as in you can use email.
You can get your head around a floor plan, especially with a 3D sketch view to help you out, and are happy to discuss your design options frankly.
You are open minded and able to imagine multiple possible future outcomes for your life.
You prioritise an environmentally friendly lifestyle and prefer an eco design approach.
You are able and willing to set aside the time to complete the pre-design preparation.
You are the type of person who prefers to buy locally grown organic food and ethical clothing, and at the weekend you love visiting National Trust properties or modern art galleries.
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
Who's not a fit?
If you know exactly what you want and just want someone to draw up your plans without adding creative input...
If you want to be told what you should do...
If you don't believe in climate change, or think that you don't need to take any personal responsibility for protecting the planet, because it's too late or you think governments and big business should make all the changes...
If you don't care about making eco choices like minimising plastics and concrete in your build...
If you'd rather grab a coffee in a disposable takeaway cup from a large chain, rather than a lovingly made coffee from an independent cafe served in a warm mug...
...then chances are my approach will not chime with you.
The Big Picture Plan steps from start to finish...
2. Check your emails to get a link for your pre-design prepbook.
3. Complete your prepbook and upload your plans and photos to your client folder prior to your Design Day. Get my personal support via email if you need help to complete your prepbook.
4. Join me at 9.30am on your Design Day for a 20 minute Clarity Call via video.
5. Join me at 12pm on your Design Day for a 60 minute collaborative design session via video.
6. Receive your hand drawn big picture plans by the end of the Design Day week by email.
7. Double check the design is right for you with my support via email for up to 3 months and the Check-it-Out Checklist with guidance videos.
8. Join me for a video chat to review your double checking and discuss your next steps.
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
Still have questions? Here's more answers for you:
-
What happens after I book my Big Picture Plan?
You will immediately get a link to the prepbook so you can start to prepare for your design straight away. Your Design Day date will be reserved for you on my calendar so nobody else can book it.
-
Will you come to my home for the Design Day?
No, it is not necessary for me to visit your home to be able to redesign it. We work together via video call and all the designs will be based on plans, photographs and information that you provide by uploading to your online client folder. Remote design works better for my clients than home visits at this early sketch design stage. It makes it much easier for you to fit into your working day. You don't have to take a day off work or coordinate that with your partner, so you don't have to use up your holiday allowance. You can join the calls from a quiet spot at home or work, wherever suits you. It is also much more eco than if I drive or fly to visit you.
-
What can I do if I don't have plans of my home to send you?
Don't worry. There are several ways to get a plan of your home that is suitable to use for this stage. Once you have booked your Design Day send me an email, and I will help you figure out the best way to get plans for you.
-
What if I don't like the design?
No architect can guarantee that you will like their designs, but by being a partner with me in the designing you are much more likely to end up with a design you are happy with. As we create your design, I involve you in a collaborative design process. You tell me honestly what you do or don't like, don't worry you won't hurt my feelings! We discard any ideas that you don't like and keep only the ones you love and are excited to see built. The end of the Design Day isn't the end of the design journey. You continue to get my support and guidance to double check the designs following this session, so there is still scope for you to change your mind. In follow on packages we explore your design in 3D, when we enrich the design with additional detail and accuracy.
-
How do the fee payments work?
You pay in two instalments. The first is £400 to reserve your Design Day and then one further payment of £1000 4 weeks later.
-
Do both my partner and I have to join the calls?
Yes. If you share your home and your home has to suit both of your needs and desires then you both need to complete a pre-design prepbook, as well as join the clarity call and collaborative design call. Any partner who hasn't been involved in the pre-design preparation or is absent from the calls tends to be less satisfied with the design, because their views are unable to be taken into account. This can stall your project indefinitely. To get the most out of this process it is best for you to both be equally involved. For later stages you can nominate one of you to manage the process, but at this beginning stage it is essential for you both to take part fully.
-
Should we involve the children in the design process?
It is up to you how much you involve your children in your home design process. It can be rewarding for both them and you to include them in your conversations. Many architects had experience of work being carried out to their home as a child and were inspired to become architects as a result. Let me know if you wish to include them, as I have a fun and creative home design playbook that you can use to get them involved.
-
When do you hold the Design Days?
You can book your Design Day on the next available Tuesday that suits you. If you are unable to make a Tuesday there can be some flexibility to adjust this to a Wednesday. Please email me to arrange this prior to your booking: jane.leach@i-architect.co.uk
-
What can I do if there are no dates available for a Design Day?
If you can't find a suitable date available for your Design Day please send me an email to let me know, so I can help you, here: jane.leach@i-architect.co.uk
-
When will I have my sketch designs?
You get your sketch designs, and a package of information about your next steps, by the Friday following your Tuesday Design Day.
-
Why do you start with the Big Picture Plan?
Starting with the Big Picture Plan saves you substantially in time, effort and costs. The Big Picture Plan means initial design work takes place on one day and gives you a virtually instant set of sketch plans. I have been helping homeowners since 2009 to create their ideal homes and have found that this is the quickest and most effective way to understand homeowners unique needs and design to meet them. Starting without a strong vision and big picture concept design can make the initial design process take many months and even years of going back and forward with emails and meetings.
-
What comes after the Big Picture Plan?
Following the Big Picture Plan you can proceed with the 3D Design Package. This involves a measured survey, your home computer drawn in 3D, design meetings via video call that include looking around your 3D home model, and a planning submission if required. The fee for this varies according to scale and complexity and you will receive a fee proposal based on your preferred sketch design as part of the Big Picture Plan. The fee for the 3D Design Package starts from £3,400, excluding measured survey. There are additional follow on design packages following planning submission, which you can choose from according to availability at the time. The fees for these vary according to project scale and complexity, as well as the scope of service provided.
-
Can I just buy the Big Picture Plan?
Yes. I aim to keep you in control of your project at all times. This is why my design packages are structured to give you choice at each stage of your project. I offer architectural design packages that follow on from the Big Picture Plan all the way through to completed build. However, there is no obligation to continue with subsequent project design stages. At the end of each phase you will have a package of information that you can use to take your project to the next stage. You then have freedom to choose if you would like to continue working with me or implement the plan on your own or with another provider.
-
What is the clarity call and why is it necessary?
Your Design Day starts with a 20 minute clarity call. This is a video call to review your prepbook and the information you have provided. Prior to the call I will have read everything you have submitted and reviewed all your photographs and plans. On the clarity call we will go through a series of questions that I have prepared. This call ensures that your needs and desires are clearly understood. This helps to avoid designs being based on misunderstandings or assumptions.
-
What is the Collaborative Design Session and why is it necessary?
The Collaborative Design Session is a 60 minute video call, when we explore your design options together. Prior to this session I create multiple design ideas based on your vision and the plans of your home. We then review these ideas on this call with a screenshare. We discuss what you like or don't like about them. We discard anything that you don't like, and tweak, adjust or amalgamate the ideas you are excited about. By quickly exploring many possible options together during this session, you can get a design you are happy with, that you know works practically with your home.
-
Can I chat with you first before booking the Big Picture Plan?
Yes, if you have thoroughly read this page and need to have a chat before going ahead we can arrange that. Please send me an email and let me know what questions you have and what you need to know before you will feel ready to go ahead and I'll send you a link for a Fitting Call: jane.leach@i-architect.co.uk The Fitting Call is to help you make sure that this package is right for you. I will advise you of an alternative approach if the Big Picture Plan is not the right fit for you.
The Big Picture Plan is an investment of only £1400.
To ensure a great experience and quality of our work together, only two spots are available to work with me each month. They book up in advance.
iarchitect limited company number: 10621333
