What we offer

As creative designers, we can work with you to deliver a set of architectural drawings and plans which fulfil all of your ideas and requirements. We produce concept designs which include visualisations to assist in your decision making. From there, our designers and technicians can cost-effectively produce digital CAD drawings for planning and building regulation applications, and also for use by builders to price a job.

We are able to manage your construction project from the initial stages on site through to completion. Our staff will visit site regularly throughout the build to ensure that the project is progressing smoothly, and is on target to finish on time and within budget. This service can help to save you money by keeping a close track on costs; we encourage our clients to enter into standard contracts with suitably qualified builders as a protective measure, and we will also resolve any technical issues on site.

We can act as Principal Designer under the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations 2015. In domestic projects, the building contractor will assume the responsibilities of the Principal Designer. For larger commercial and educational projects, we tend to advise on Health and Safety matters in addition to our statutory duties. We always design to eliminate or reduce risk for building occupants and those who maintain them.

If you are seeking to develop a site – whether residential, educational or commercial – we can assist by providing a feasibility study exploring the various options, costs of development, site viability and longer-term sustainability. Similarly, if you are exploring the potential of a residential dwelling that you might like to buy, we can offer advice on the options available.

Planning can sometimes be a complex area to negotiate and specialist skills can be required to ensure a successful outcome. When planning permission is required, our experienced staff can handle the process of navigating planning regulations and applications, as well as offering advice on how to maximise the value from a development site.

Many people are unsure about how to make a building regulations application for their project. We pride ourselves in creating designs which are ‘buildable’, and we will usually apply for building regulations approval and liaise with building inspectors throughout the process.

PCMS Design is an approved partner of Central Bedfordshire Council Building Control Department, and has been nominated for a Local Authority Building Control Building Excellence Award for eight consecutive years, becoming a Regional Winner in 2016.

At the outset of a project, it is vital to establish an accurate idea of the costs to assist not only with budget setting, but also with planning and procuring a suitable construction firm at a sensible market rate. We will prepare an itemised cost estimate in advance using up to date software.

Most clients have a keen eye on their available budget, and we encourage close monitoring of project costs to ensure a successful build without unexpected extra charges.

We can prepare a detailed technical specification for any construction project. This will include contractual information, a clear written description of the project and a breakdown of each individual construction process, structural calculations and details, as well as fixtures and fittings. This document enables builders to prepare accurate quotations, and also helps to fulfil the requirements of building regulation applications. It forms a clear specification for the whole build, including external and internal works.

PCMS Design uses the latest Computer Aided Design (CAD) software to produce plans for everyone who might be involved in the project, from the client and other stakeholders to planning, building control inspectors and builders. We take care to ensure the accuracy and ‘buildability’ of all our designs. We recognise how important it is to get a good ‘feel’ for what a finished scheme will look like, and so we can provide visualisations or sketch illustrations as required.

Using state of the art software, we can prepare 3D visualisations of your imagined project in order to provide a good ‘feel’ for how it will look. We can provide details of both internal spaces and external elevations. We use 3D modelling to ensure that stair and other details are workable. For larger public sector projects, we can use Building Information Modelling to speed the procurement process and share design information. We use 3D photography of existing buildings to support the design process.