Architecture
Residential architecture in Harare.
A house is the largest thing most people will ever pay for, and the decisions that matter most are made before anything is built. That is the part we get right.
What residential design actually gets you
A drawing is the cheapest place to make a mistake. Move a wall on paper and it costs an afternoon. Move it once the slab is down and it costs weeks and an argument with your builder.
Good residential design is mostly decisions: where the house sits on the stand, which rooms get the morning sun, how you get from the car to the kitchen with shopping in your hands, where the borehole and the tank go, whether the cottage can go up later without redoing the driveway. By the time you are reading a builder's quote, all of that is already fixed.
We design the whole thing before the first block is laid, and we design it for the stand you actually own, with its slope, its orientation, its boundaries and its services.
Who this is for
First homes
A first build on a stand you have just bought or been allocated. Usually the tightest budget and the most anxious client, which is exactly why the planning matters. We design for what you can build now and leave the structure ready for what you add in five years.
Family homes
Larger homes where the brief is specific: a certain number of bedrooms, a particular relationship between the kitchen and where children do homework, room for people who visit and stay. This is where custom design earns its fee.
Renovations and extensions
Adding a room, opening up a kitchen, adding a second storey, converting a garage. Harder than a new build, because you are working with what is already standing and with whatever the original drawings did or did not do.
Cottages, flats and rental units
A cottage on an existing stand is one of the more reliable investments available in Harare, and it is a design problem with real constraints: separate access, privacy for both households, services, and parking that does not turn the yard into a driveway.
What is included
- A consultation and a written brief, so we are both designing the same house
- Site analysis: orientation, slope, boundaries, access and existing services
- Concept design, in plan and in three dimensions
- Floor plans for every level, dimensioned
- Elevations and sections
- A full set of council submission drawings
- Two rounds of revisions
- Files in the formats your builder needs
What it costs
- Starter Home Simple, smaller homes, standard drawings
- $180 to $320
- Custom Home Larger homes, more revisions, 3D renders, interior concepts
- $320 to $1,200
- Luxury Home Full visualisation and design support
- Quoted
Starting prices. Final quote after a free consultation.
30% deposit before work starts, 70% on completion. Files and access are released on payment in full.
How long it takes
Concept in under two weeks. A full drawing set in about four. Complicated sites and larger houses take longer, and we tell you which one yours is at the first conversation rather than at the end of it.
What we need from you
The more of this you have on day one, the faster and cheaper the project runs.
- The stand number and, if you have it, the survey diagram or site plan
- Your budget, honestly stated, including the build and not just the drawings
- A rough brief: rooms, how many people, how you live
- Photographs of the site, including the neighbours on either side
- For a renovation, any existing drawings, even old or incomplete ones
- Anything you have already been told by council or by a surveyor
Common questions
Can I change the design after you have started?
Yes. Two revision rounds are included and that covers most projects. Changes after the drawings are finalised are quoted separately, which is the honest way to price it rather than padding the fee up front for changes that may never come.
Do you work with my builder?
Yes. We produce the drawings your builder works from, and we are happy to answer their questions during construction. Full construction supervision is a separate service, quoted on request.
Do I get 3D renders?
They are included from the Custom Home package upward, and can be added to a Starter Home. Renders are genuinely useful for deciding finishes, and for showing a spouse or a bank what they are agreeing to.
Start here
Tell us what you want to build
A house, a brand, a website, a system, or all of it. Send a message and we will map out the path from idea to reality.