Before you and we go any further…
Thank you for your visit to our website.
We think it is important that you understand the way we work with clients. As you might guess, we get a tremendous response to our site from all over the world. Some of the enquiries are very serious while others are just fishing for free information.
Because we are a small organization where all clients are treated personally, there are a limited number of hours in the day and night that we can dedicate to replying to all of those enquiries, so we have to do some sorting and giving priority to the genuine enquiries for architectural services.
To achieve this we have created a series of questions that we need answers to so that we can respond appropriately.
We are architects that provide custom design advice and documentation to allow clients to create unique buildings to suit their particular needs, and climate conditions, and we charge fees that provide us with an income (fairly important!).
If you are a charity or relief organization, we will assist you as much as is reasonable on a pro bono basis. We consider container based accommodation to be the most economical and best available to a disaster location. They make for tornado, earthquake and fire safe buildings, and it's possible to have a family in waterproof, safe accommodation within 2 days for less than $8,000. From day one, the owners can upgrade the starter house to any size! More details are on our home page.
When you deal with us, you will always be dealing with either Geoffrey Fulton who handles the building architecture and construction components of the project or Carla Kerkering who handles the interior design. We both work together on the concept for the project.
You won’t ever deal with anyone else!
If you have a detailed brief for your project, send it to us with details of your site so we can look at it on Google Earth. If you haven’t a brief yet, then you need to sit down and right us a brief describing all your needs for every room, what's going into each room and what your desires are for the house / building. This is essential for us to be able to give you an opinion so please include the brief in your first enquiry to us. We need to know if good architectural design is as important to you as it is for us! If you haven't settled on a site yet, that could be a benefit because if you send us details of it, we will give you an opinion regarding any possible traps regarding design and constructing on it.
We ensure that our fees are competitive with the local marketplace anywhere in the world. If you find otherwise, let us know and we will amend them to meet the competition. We do not provide a low cost drafting service because we are trained and registered architects who produce award winning architectural design. We work only because we enjoy producing good design.
On the other hand we can provide an easy and affordable pay-as-you-go system where you can use our services as little or much as you want.
We provide serious design services for clients who appreciate architectural design excellence.
(If you go to the Wallmart pharmacy for advice on a serious medical problem, you are not our kind of clients!)
Where your construction location is outside our personal field of participation, then we will engage a local architect/engineers to ensure local certification of our documentation, and provide construction supervision if you desire and need it. It shouldn’t be necessary because our documentation is so comprehensive. We have just finished personal meetings with local authorities in Florida for the 7000 sq.ft house at Clermont, Florida. This is a house nothing like the "cookie cutter" houses built in the locality of the site! We have enthusiastic support for this type of design and construction.
If the anticipated cost of your development exceeds $1,000,000, we will make a personal visit to meet you, to take the brief, to visit your site, and to discuss the proposal with the local authorities. No matter where you are in the world, we will cover the cost of this visit.
Want to talk to us? We are on Skype @ geoffreyfulton
Or shoot me an email on: thearchitect@internode.on.net (internode with an "n" and not an "m")
If you have not heard from us within 24 hours of you making contact to us, it means that we have not received your communication (because we always return calls/emails within 24 hours) so please email us again.
Our fees do not include specialized structural engineering design. If your project needs it, we will organize for a local engineer to take on the job to our instructions and your account. The engineering design related to containers and openings will be prepared by our engineers at no cost to you. It's only when we get into exciting cantilevers and crossovers that there will be a charge for the engineering.
If your project is to be container based, you have an advantage working with us because we have at least 6 years experience in working with the complexities of shipping containers. You may think that they are just simple steel boxes. They are, but unless you have experience with construction with them, you can head down a construction route that can cost you a lot of money while creating a lot of headaches and problems. Designed and constructed the right way, containers often used in conjuction with conventional building methods, will provide you with an extremely economical high quality building and lifestyle.
For most people taking on a container based project, particularly as a DIY development, the biggest hurdle is buying the right containers, and having the steel modifications done. Most DIYs can handle building work, but cutting and welding steel is not everyone’s forte! We can help in this area.
Depending on your location and access to “boxes”, we can even arrange supply of them with all the steel mods done for you. We can also arrange other mods as well. They will come from one of a number of sources we have developed in Asia, and may end up saving you money compared with what you can arrange locally.
If you have ever purchased some flat pack furniture from IKEA, you get a set of drawings and instructions so that a couple of teenagers can put the article together if they follow the instructions. (It's the norm that you will receive about 60 sheets of drawings for your project along with the construction specification for certifications, and an IKEA type instruction manual.)
The final documentation you receive from us will be similar, except that plumbing and electrical work must be done by a local certified tradesman!! But, again according to our detailed instructions.
If you wish, we can provide a complete materials list and hours of labour required. It will be costed for Australia, but if you are in the USA for instance, you just replace the Australian costings with your costings by taking the material list to your local Lowes or Home Depot. That way you will know what your building will cost exactly before you start. It is important to understand that this type of costing and material lists is not normally a part of the architectural design and documentation service. There will be an added charge if you want it!
At this stage we haven’t got a FAQs section on our website but in time that will come. Until our new website is completed, we will continue to add to this site.
We do invite questions but don't expect us to give away copyright information that we have spent years developing if you are just on a free fishing visit to our site!
Initially, this is what we need to know from you with your enquiry so that you will get an accurate response from us:
First Questionaire:
1. Name:
Postal Address:
2. Telephone number:
3. Email address:
4. Are you in the building or architectural profession?
5. Have you past experience in building construction?
6. What is the purpose of the building?
7. Is this project to be DIY?
8. What is the total budget? You need to put a real number here so that we can respond accurately to you!
9. Have you a property for the development?
10. What is the address?
11. What is your timeframe for development?
12. Do you need a planning permit for the development (separate from the building permit)?
13. Is the architectural design of the building important to you and/or is it the cost saving benefits that draw you to shipping containers?
14. If you want an opinion from us, we need a brief on your needs and desires, don’t forget to send it to us.
15. Have you had a soil test done and have you a contour plan of your site prepared.
16. What do you do for a living?
17. How did you get to this website?
We look forward to your enquiry or next email.
Although much of what you see on the website and described above relates to container based architecture, at least 40% of our work is traditioanl modern architecture!
We invite you to contact us with any inquiry or welcome a comment on what you have seen:
Our telephone number is +61 3 52 619 422
We are on Australian East Coast time and accept calls up till 11pm our time!