Architecture from the site up
Full architectural design from first principles — for clients whose brief, site or vision cannot be resolved by adapting a standard model. The structural system and fabrication logic still apply. The design does not.
A Soleta collection model is a resolved, engineered and tested architectural system. For many projects, adapting one of those models is the right answer — faster, better-tested and more cost-certain than starting from scratch. Custom Design is for the projects where it is not. A site with difficult topography. A brief with spatial requirements no standard model satisfies. A client who needs a home that is entirely theirs.
Custom does not mean unconstrained. The post-and-beam structural system, the factory fabrication method and the material logic all still apply. What changes is everything the system leaves open: spatial arrangement, massing, orientation, glazing strategy, material expression.
How the design process works
We begin with an extended site and brief analysis — typically two to three weeks. We study the land, the light, the views, the local planning context and your brief in detail before we draw anything. We then produce two or three distinct concept directions, presented together so you can see the range of what is possible before committing to a path. Once a direction is chosen, we develop it into a complete architectural package.
What a complete package contains
The design output is an engineering-ready set of drawings: floor plans at 1:100 and 1:50, elevations, section drawings through the key spaces, detail drawings at the critical junctions, 3D visualisations of the exterior and main interior volumes, and a complete material specification schedule. This package goes directly to our engineering team and then to the factory — there is no translation between design intent and production.
How custom design connects to the build process
Custom Design is integrated into the same five-stage process as standard model projects. After design sign-off, the project moves to Engineering — structural calculations, energy model, manufacturing drawings — and then to Build and Turnkey Delivery. The custom design stage replaces the model selection and brief-to-drawing step; everything after it follows the same disciplined process.
Extended site and brief analysis
Concept options — two to three distinct design directions
Developed design — floor plans, elevations, sections at 1:100 and 1:50
Detail drawings at critical junctions
3D visualisations — exterior and main interior volumes
Material and finish specification schedule
Engineering-ready drawing package
What custom design requires from you
Custom Design projects take longer and cost more than standard model adaptations — that is the nature of working from first principles. Design duration is typically 8 to 16 weeks depending on complexity and revision rounds. The number of revision rounds is agreed in scope before work begins — not open-ended. Changes requested after engineering has begun are significantly more costly than changes made at the design stage. We are direct about this from the start.
The post-and-beam structural approach gives custom projects a rigour and a material honesty that fully bespoke timber construction often lacks. The system is the constraint that makes the architecture good — it demands that every spatial decision is also a structural and fabrication decision. Clients who understand this tend to produce better outcomes than those who treat the system as an obstacle.
Begin your custom project
Tell us about your site and vision
Custom projects begin with a Private Consulting session. We review your site and brief before any design work is scoped or priced.