Architects will charge either an hourly rate or a percentage of total cost. It depends on howmuch you use them as well. You can just ask for preliminary drawings for ideas, fully completed for council approval drawings to complete project management.

$300k is $300,000 dollars. Your extension may only cost max$3000 per square metre. So if it is 100 square metres, that would cost approx $300,000. That price is for a high spec finish.
An architect, as said previously would charge either by the hour, or a percentage of your total build contract.

A typical job described as $300,000 generally means the extensions works and the architects fees. It can though just mean the extension works and can exclude permits and plans. Best to ask whichever professional you are planning to use.

$300k would be the building budget only and will often not include the architect or other professional service fees like surveyors, engineers and certifiers.

The biggest point to remember, is the reason behind engagement of an architect. Are you after a great lifestyle outcome in your home. Are you are detailed person wanting to ensure there is a place for everything in your home. Does your site offer something where you can gain by tremendiously. Do you want your own ideas challenged. The fees set by different architects are yes based around scope of service but also based around their skills and so not all architects do charge the same rates.

My own service is for the building architecture, interior design and landscape design, you might say what does that have to do with my lounge room extension and in your case there maybe only interior scope or your external spaces maybe also impacted. My services also includes external real costing work from a cost planner, so you'll know how much your project will be very soon along he steps the delivery process. My service includes project management and my services covers off on a huge range of sustainable and passive design principles which are applied to my clients projects for best outcome. This is why architects fees can vary between providers. It is your lifestyle outcome that is at stake, Once you have spent the money you need to live with it or sell so ensure you factor in the gain in your assessment of fees .

Be careful even though some architects have alot of positive reviews this does not mean their design ideas and direction are going to be best for you. Just agreeing with a clients thoughts is not helpful to a client. I charge on a combination of square metre and hourly service and percentage only on request by my clients. $3000 per sqm mention above is mid standard not high spec finish . But standard is subjective as well so this must be worked through with your architect.

It is also important to get the right architect or building designer who is used to working at your scale of budget and size of work. While $300,000 is a lot of money in most people's language it can be eaten up quickly with a renovation of an existing home if you don't have a clever designer to ensure that you get the best value for your dollars. Larger firms, or those with a highly recognised public profile, are usually not interested (or available) for smaller renovations or extensions, or will provide premium pricing to discourage smaller jobs. I would strongly suggest that you look into "Undercover Architect" and use some of the available resources to get more information about the design and building process in relation to renovations and extensions before you go much further. Knowledge is power.

https://undercoverarchitect.com/

Best of luck,

Dr Retro

of Dr Retro House Calls

Thank you all so much for your thoughtful, detailed insights. I have just bought a small 2 bedroom cottage. The inside layout is impossible. My budget to physically do the renovation is around $150,000 at the moment. That will have to include a new kitchen, bathroom, lounge room/dining room, laundry and roof and hopefully a bedroom being added. The current layout is so bad, I can’t see how it can be fixed and this is why I wanted an overall architectural plan that I can work on slowly as my budget grows over time. Even if I work on a portion of the renovation at a time, As my budget allows, the overall “vision” on paper, how much would it cost to get that down?

Hayley, Dr Retro gives great advice about Undercover Architect as she talks through all the processes involved in thinking about a project.