A custom project can start with a photograph and a paragraph. It cannot be priced or engineered from that, and the gap between the two states is where most early delays happen. The good news is that the missing information is predictable.

What a useful first sketch contains

A hand-drawn plan with dimensions is often more valuable than a polished rendering, because it answers the questions engineering needs:

  • Overall size and proportions, even approximate, so transport and lifting limits can be checked immediately.
  • How the unit is entered and from which side, including whether access is stepped, ramped or level.
  • Where the view is. The orientation of the main opening drives glazing, shading and often the structural layout.
  • What happens inside. Sleeping, bathing, cooking and storage zones, with any fixed items such as a kitchen run or a bed position.
  • The site. Ground conditions, distance from the road, and whether a crane can reach the final position.

Drawings that save time later

If drawings exist, these are the ones that shorten the first review most: a dimensioned plan, an elevation showing opening heights, a site plan with access routes, and any structural or services information already agreed with another consultant. CAD files are welcome, but a scaled PDF is enough to start.

Photographs of similar units are also useful, provided they are read as intent rather than specification. A photograph shows what someone liked; it does not show wall build-ups, spans or how the unit was transported.

What can wait

Colours, finishes, furniture selection and the exact specification of fittings can all be settled later without affecting feasibility. So can the interior layout of secondary spaces. Asking for those decisions too early slows the project down and produces choices that get revised anyway once the structure and services are clear.

Two things cannot wait: the intended use and the site. Without them, any plan is a guess about how the building will be loaded, serviced and reached.

The brief we can answer in one pass

A brief that gets a clear feasibility answer usually contains four sentences and four attachments: what the unit is for, where it will stand, how many units are planned, and what the client already knows about access and services, plus a sketch, a site photograph, any drawings, and a reference image if there is one.

Everything else is development work, which is the point of the custom development process. It is easier to do that work once, on a brief that is complete, than three times on a brief that keeps changing.