Le premier architecte

The builder who had fixed my roof recommended a local architect and so once the distractions of cleaning and problem-solving were over I started thinking about what I wanted to change. It turned out, this was quite a lot. I wanted the option to rent the house out as a business, so that meant the bedrooms would need to be reconfigured as only the master bedroom currently had an en-suite. Two of the other bedrooms had bathrooms near them which could be turned into en-suites and the final bedroom would need to be extended to allow room for a new en-suite. I also wanted to open the kitchen up to make the most of the wonderful views, add a utility room and add a dressing area to the master bedroom.

I liked the architect, however I wasn't sure about the percentage based fee they wanted to charge (as at this point I had no idea how much the work would cost so I didn't want to commit to anything until I had a quote). Their fees were laid out in three phases:

• Phase 1: Study and execution of the plans : 6% of the total work.

• Phase 2: Administrative steps and obtaining building permit : 4% of the total work.

• Phase 3: Follow-up of the construction site until completion : 2% of the total work.

After some research I found out that it's common in France for architects to charge around 10-12% of the renovation cost, however as this was my first renovation experience I decided to negotiate a fixed fee for having the plans drawn up and to then decide after this if I wanted to continue in this way. After many meetings and emails I received a design I was happy with.

The existing design:

The new design:

External changes required:

• New roof

• Extension on bedroom 2 to allow for en-suite

• New windows, shutters and doors (all bedrooms to have new sliding doors out onto the terrace)

• New carport

• Porch above front door to be reduced in size

• House rendered.

Internal changes required:

• The majority of the internal walls to be knocked down and moved.

• Steel beam to be added above the new kitchen area and the existing pillars moved. (While the plans were being drawn up I paid for a concrete engineer to ensure I could open up the kitchen as there are currently two pillars between the kitchen and living room that need to be taken down in order for this to happen. Luckily the drawings came back with a solution allowing the pillars to be moved to the edges of the living room with a steel beam running along the width of the house above them).

• The floor to be raised under bedrooms/bathrooms 2, 3 and 4 so that the steps down to this section of the house are removed and the whole house is the same level.

• New flooring throughout and underfloor heating

• New heating/air conditioning system

• New plumbing

• New electrics

• New showers, taps, toilets, sinks, tiles, internal doors, wardrobes etc.

• New kitchen

Even though I knew it was normal to work on a percentage based fee, over time I couldn't help thinking that the more the project cost, the more the architect's fee would increase. I didn't like the uncertainty of this, especially after receiving a quote for the project (put together by the local builder who recommended the architect) and then seeing that each time I made changes to the flooring or the tiles the architect's fee also went up. After much consideration, I decided to work with a different architect on a fixed fee basis going forward.