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FEASIBILITY AND CONSULTATION

Architectural feasibility and consultation — for Auckland projects, before drawings start

Before you commit to design fees, you should know what your section actually allows, what your brief realistically costs, and whether the project you have in mind is genuinely viable. That's what our feasibility reports and consultation services exist for.

REQUEST YOUR FREE FEASIBILITY REPORT
THE FEASIBILITY REALITY

Most failed projects die at the cost stage — not the design stage.

The brief sounds achievable. The early sketches look great. The architect’s enthusiasm is contagious. Then the build numbers come back from a builder several months later, and the project either gets descoped beyond recognition or stops dead.

This is by far the most common way Auckland projects fail. Not because the design wasn’t good. Not because the homeowner didn’t know what they wanted. Because nobody checked, at the start, whether the project as briefed was actually buildable on that section, at that budget, under current planning rules.

Feasibility prevents that. It’s a deliberately upstream conversation — site, title, zone, brief, budget, current code requirements, indicative build cost — that happens before any drawings are commissioned. By the end of it, you know whether to proceed, what to adjust, or whether to walk away with your design fees still in your pocket.

WHAT WE PROVIDE

The feasibility and consultation services we offer.

Most projects start with our standard Free Feasibility Report. More complex projects — developments, difficult sites, unusual briefs — sometimes need deeper work before any design begins. Here’s the menu.

Free Feasibility Reports

Our standard entry-point service. A written report covering your site’s planning rules, what your brief realistically translates to, where current Building Code requirements bite, and an indicative build cost from our delivery partners. Most projects start here.

Detailed Feasibility Studies

Paid, deeper analysis for development projects, complex sites, or briefs that need significant work to scope. Typically used for subdivision projects, multi-unit developments, or sites with overlays that need planner input.

Site Acquisition Reviews

For buyers checking a section before purchase. We pull the planning rules, identify any overlays, assess what the site actually permits, and tell you what you’re really buying. Cheaper than discovering it after settlement.

Briefing and Scoping Sessions

For projects where the brief isn’t yet clear. Working sessions that help you turn “we need more space and the kitchen doesn’t work” into an actionable scope of work that can be feasibility-checked and designed against.
OUR APPROACH

Why the feasibility report is free.

It’s not a marketing gimmick — it’s a qualifying tool. The Free Feasibility Report exists because it’s better for everyone if projects that aren’t viable get filtered out before design fees start.

For you, that means you don’t pay for drawings on a project that was always going to hit a planning wall, a cost wall, or a brief-vs-budget wall. For us, it means the projects that do proceed past feasibility have the right foundations — site checked, budget checked, scope checked. We invest the time in feasibility because the projects that come out the other side are projects that work.

What’s actually in the report: the planning rules for your specific zone, identification of any overlays (heritage, character, viewshaft, coastal), the realistic build footprint your section allows, where current Building Code requirements affect the spec, an indicative build cost from our delivery partners, and a clear recommendation on whether to proceed and what design direction makes sense.

If the project isn’t viable, we’ll tell you. That conversation, before the design fees start, is the entire point.

Request your free feasibility report
THE PROCESS

How feasibility actually works — from first contact to decision point.

The process is deliberately quick. Two to three weeks from first contact to written report in your inbox, for most standard projects.

Step 1

Request the Feasibility Report

Through the form on our feasibility report page, or by booking a consultation. We need the site address, a short description of what you want to do, and your indicative budget range. Five minutes of your time.

Step 2

Initial Consultation

We meet — in our Wairau Valley studio, on Zoom, or at your site — to talk through what you have in mind, your timeline, and your non-negotiables. This is also where we ask the questions that don’t fit in a form.

Step 3

Site Information Gathering

We pull your record of title, check the zone under the Auckland Unitary Plan, identify overlays (heritage, character, viewshaft, coastal), and where useful, visit the site to read it for orientation, slope, and constraints.

Step 4

Analysis and Cost Indication

We work through what the site allows, what the brief realistically translates to in square metres, where current Building Code requirements affect the spec, and pull an indicative build cost from our delivery partners.

Step 5

Written Feasibility Report

Delivered to your inbox within two to three weeks of the initial consultation, for most standard projects. Covers everything above plus a clear recommendation: proceed as briefed, proceed with adjustments, or reconsider the project.

Step 6

Decision Point

You decide. If the project’s viable and you want to proceed, we move into concept design. If it needs adjustment, we work through what changes. If it’s not viable, you walk away with a clear understanding of why — and no design fees spent.
THE HONEST PART

What the feasibility report is — and what it isn't.

The Free Feasibility Report is a strategic and financial assessment — site rules, realistic build footprint, indicative cost, recommendation to proceed or not. It’s the document that lets you make the design-versus-don’t-design decision with real information.

What it isn’t: a building consent document, a tender-ready set of drawings, a guaranteed quote, or a substitute for the full design process. The indicative cost in the report is exactly that — indicative. The binding number comes after consent, when builders tender against detailed drawings. What the report does give you is a budget range accurate enough to decide whether to start.

And it isn’t free in the sense of zero cost to us. We invest the time because the projects that emerge past feasibility are projects that actually work. The free-to-you part is part of how we qualify our work — not a marketing trick.

WHY HOMEOWNERS CHOOSE US

What sets our feasibility work apart.

Free for Most Projects

Standard feasibility reports are free. We invest the time because qualifying projects properly is better for both sides than spending months on drawings that were never going to land.

Honest About the Outcome

If your project isn’t viable as briefed, we’ll say so in the report. We won’t dress it up to get you into a design contract. That’s the entire purpose of doing this work upstream.

Site-Specific, Not Template

Every report is written for your specific site, your specific zone, and your specific brief. No generic “here’s what to consider” content — actual planning rules, actual overlays, actual budget indications.

Same Architect, End to End

The architect who writes your feasibility report is the architect who designs the project if you proceed. No salesy handoff, no “now we’ll pass you to the design team you haven’t met”.

Licensed Building Practitioners

Our founder John Mao holds a Design Class 2 Licence — the MBIE qualification required to design restricted building work. The same accountability applies from feasibility through to consent.

Builder-Backed Cost Indications

The indicative build costs in your report come from our actual delivery partners — Superior Renovations and Superior Homes — not from a generic per-square-metre formula. Closer to reality, even at feasibility stage.
ACCREDITATIONS AND PARTNERS

The credentials and partners behind every feasibility report.

Every feasibility report and every set of drawings we produce carries Licensed Building Practitioner accountability. Every project we feasibility-check is one our material partners stand behind.

COMMON QUESTIONS

What homeowners ask about feasibility.

What does the Free Feasibility Report actually include?

The planning rules for your specific zone under the Auckland Unitary Plan, identification of any overlays (heritage, character, viewshaft, coastal, flood), the realistic build footprint your section allows, where current Building Code requirements affect the spec, an indicative build cost from our delivery partners, and a clear recommendation on whether to proceed and what design direction makes sense.

It’s typically eight to twelve pages, written in plain English, delivered to your inbox.

Why do you offer it free?

Because qualifying projects properly upstream is better for everyone than spending months on drawings that were never going to land. We invest the time in feasibility because the projects that emerge past it are projects that work — and the ones that don’t get filtered out before either party invests significantly.

It’s a qualifying tool, not a marketing gimmick. We do the work either way; the report just lets you make the proceed-or-not decision with real information.

How long does the feasibility report take?

For most standard projects — renovations, single home sites, simple subdivisions — two to three weeks from the initial consultation to written report in your inbox. More complex projects, sites with overlays, or developments needing planner input take longer.

If you’re under time pressure (a section purchase deadline, for example), tell us at the consultation and we’ll let you know if we can compress the timeline.

Do I need a feasibility report if my project seems simple?

Usually yes — even for projects that look simple. The most common feasibility surprises sit exactly where homeowners don’t expect them: a recession plane that rules out the extension you wanted on the north side, a heritage overlay you didn’t know applied to your street, an existing foundation that can’t take the second-storey load, a current Building Code requirement that pushes the build cost above your range.

The cost of a feasibility report — for the standard service, zero — is much lower than the cost of finding out at the design stage.

What's the difference between feasibility and consultation?

The feasibility report is a written deliverable — a strategic and financial assessment of your specific project, in document form.

Consultation is broader and more conversational — working sessions where we help you scope a brief, think through options, weigh different directions, or get architectural advice without committing to a specific project. Some clients start with consultation to figure out what they want to do, then move into feasibility once the brief is clearer.

Can I use the feasibility report for finance or lender purposes?

Some lenders accept it as supporting documentation, particularly the indicative cost section. But it’s not a quantity surveyor’s report and it’s not a fixed-price quote. The indicative cost is exactly that — indicative. Binding numbers come after consent, when builders tender against detailed drawings.

If your lender needs a specific format (QS report, fixed-price quote), tell us at the consultation and we’ll explain the path to those, which sits after the feasibility stage.

What if the feasibility report says my project isn't viable?

Three options usually emerge. First, the brief can adjust — smaller footprint, different scope, staged delivery — and become viable. Second, the section can be reconsidered — sometimes the right call is selling and buying a section better suited to what you want to build. Third, the project can stop, which is occasionally the right answer too.

Whatever the call, you walk away with a clear understanding of why — and with no design fees spent. That’s the entire point of doing this work upstream.

Do you work outside Auckland?

No — our work is Auckland-only. The reason is honest: planning rules and council processes vary enough between councils that being deeply familiar with Auckland’s is what we trade on. We’d rather do that one thing well than spread thin.

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