Slow is steady. Steady is smooth. Smooth is fast.
The Void Way
Every project begins with a detailed understanding of how you want to live and what your site makes possible. We work through the brief with you, questioning assumptions and exploring ideas before committing to a design direction.
Our methods have developed through years of designing and documenting individual homes. Shared priorities, a compatible design approach and time to consider decisions help that collaboration work well. Taking care at each stage gives the next a reliable starting point.
The sequence below is a guide. We adapt the scope and approval pathway to each new home, significant renovation or multi-residential project.
01 /
Design Discovery & Brief
Before design begins, we spend time understanding you, your aspirations and the site. This preparation gives the project its starting point.
What happens in this stage?
We ask detailed questions about your household, what works in your current home and what you want to change. These conversations can be personal: they help build a brief around your life, rather than a list of rooms.
We discuss budget, timing, quality, flexibility and sustainability, then visit and photograph the site. The detailed Project Design Brief records your priorities and becomes a working reference throughout the design.
Preparing the site information
We arrange the survey information needed for the design and measure and document existing buildings where required. A 3D site model may also be prepared. Early specialist advice is brought in where site conditions or other constraints need clarification.
02 /
Sketch Plans
Typically 6–8 weeks
The floor plan comes first. We explore how the home sits on the site and how its spaces connect, flow and receive natural light.
What happens in this stage?
We refine the brief and test different room arrangements against your priorities and the site. Passive design informs these first drawings: orientation, shade and opportunities for natural ventilation are considered alongside access, privacy and movement between spaces.
We also discuss how the project may be built and by whom, with early consultant advice where it can inform the planning.
What are we trying to resolve?
At this point, the aim is to establish the scale and relationships that make the floor plan work. Your feedback helps us refine the arrangement before we develop the building’s form and character in three dimensions.
03 /
Concept Design
Typically 6–8 weeks
The home begins to feel real. We develop the preliminary concept in three dimensions so you can understand the spaces and their relationship to the site.
What happens in this stage?
We explore the concept through computer modelling and work through it with you. Interior concepts start to develop here, alongside the building’s form and material direction. Where useful, we may prepare early planning material to gauge the local authority’s response.
Understanding the design in 3D
Visualisations help explain the height of a room, the view from a window and how one space opens into another. Across your project, the package includes perspective views, 3D renders, an interactive BIMx model and an animated overview, developed as the design progresses. See examples on our Services page.
04 /
Design Development
Typically around 2 weeks
We further resolve the preliminary concept with you. Plans, materials and positioning are refined, with room to work through changes and new ideas.
Working through changes and ideas
The preliminary concept can raise questions or possibilities that were not apparent earlier. We work back and forth with you to refine the design, including its layout and material direction. We also review area and cost expectations here, before moving into detailed documentation.
Planning and consultant input
Where a planning application is required, we coordinate the information and consultants needed for submission. Depending on the project, advice may come from a town planner, structural or civil engineer, energy-efficiency consultant, landscape designer, surveyor or building certifier.
Stop & Check before documentation
Before Stage 5, we review the developed design against the budget, planning requirements and relevant specialist advice. Preliminary pricing is optional, but strongly recommended. A selected builder or independent cost consultant can estimate the work using the developed drawings.
Preliminary structural engineering helps clarify the structural requirements, while energy-efficiency advice informs glazing and performance requirements. This gives the person preparing the estimate more useful information and reduces assumptions.
If the checks identify a change, we work through it before detailed documentation. Later changes can affect plans, elevations, sections, construction details, schedules and consultant drawings; checking now helps avoid repeating that work. We ordinarily wait for a required planning decision before proceeding.
The estimate supports a budget decision at this point. Costs continue to develop as details and selections are completed; it is not the final builder quotation.
05 /
Construction Documentation
Typically 6–10 weeks
The most detailed stage of the design work. We translate the developed design into a coordinated technical package that gives builders a clear basis for pricing and construction.
More detail means less ambiguity, more accurate pricing and fewer surprises on site.
What is being coordinated?
We develop the technical drawings, construction details, schedules and specifications alongside the relevant consultant information. Small decisions interact: an opening affects structure, structure can affect services, and a finish can change how a junction is built.
We review the package for completeness and consistency before issuing it for pricing, approvals or construction, as appropriate to the project.
Why go beyond drawings prepared for approval?
An approval package can leave construction decisions unresolved. Where information is missing, builders have to interpret the intent or make assumptions. That can lead to different allowances in quotations and variations during the build. Detailed documentation helps address those gaps before work reaches the site.
06 /
Interior Selections
Typically 2–4 weeks
We resolve the interior materials, products and cabinetry with you. The selections become detailed information that works alongside the construction drawings.
Finalising the selections
We meet with you to finalise the finishes, fixtures and products, building on the interior concepts developed earlier. These choices are recorded in the relevant schedules, drawings and specifications.
Connecting selections with the drawings
Cabinetry and fixtures affect dimensions and service locations; materials influence how edges and junctions are detailed. We coordinate those requirements with the construction documentation so the selected products and drawn design work together.
07 /
Construction
The project moves from drawings to site. The builder leads the construction programme, while timely communication helps the work stay connected to the design.
Support during the build
Where we remain engaged, we respond to design questions, clarify details and review proposed changes with you and the project team. Site visits and communication help identify matters that need attention.
Our involvement is agreed for each project. The builder manages day-to-day construction, with the consultants and certifier or surveyor responsible for their respective roles.
Common questions
What clients usually want to know.
How long does the building design process take?
There is no single overall duration. Site conditions, project complexity, design changes, your decisions, consultants and approvals all affect the programme. The stage timings above are guides; we discuss the likely programme for your project as the scope becomes clear.
When do builders quote, and how long does it take?
Selected builders prepare their quotations once the drawings, schedules, specifications and relevant selections are ready. They typically need around 6–8 weeks to review the package and price the work. Allow for this in the overall programme, in addition to the design-stage timings. We can help compare the returned quotations, including scope, exclusions and allowances, against your budget and project objectives.
When should we talk about budget?
From the first conversation. Budget forms part of the brief and is reviewed as the design develops. The Design Development dropdowns explain the preliminary checks before detailed documentation.
When are consultants involved?
Survey information is gathered early. Other specialists are brought in as their advice becomes relevant to the design, the approvals or the technical documentation. Who is needed depends on your site and project; we coordinate that input with the design work.
What is included in construction documentation?
The scope is agreed for your project and includes the drawings, details, schedules, specifications and relevant consultant information needed for pricing and construction. Stage 5 explains how the package is developed, with interior selections covered in Stage 6.
Does the process change between Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales?
The design stages are broadly similar, but approval pathways, terminology and consultant requirements vary between states, councils, sites and project types. We establish the appropriate pathway for each project.
Can a builder be involved earlier?
Yes. We discuss the approach to building during Sketch Plans. A selected builder can also provide preliminary pricing during Design Development, before detailed documentation. Their involvement depends on the approach agreed for your project.