Pull up the website of any architectural practice in London. Try to find a price.
You won't. You'll find a "request a quote" form, a "let's discuss your project" CTA, maybe a vague paragraph about "bespoke pricing". The number sits behind a phone call, a site visit, and, usually, a couple of follow-ups to chase you for a decision.
There's a reason for that. And we don't agree with it.
Why most firms don't list prices
Three reasons, in roughly this order:
- Pricing power dies the moment you can compare. If a firm quotes £2,400 and the one down the road quotes £1,800, the conversation immediately becomes "why are you more expensive?" That's a conversation most architects don't want to have. Hiding the price keeps them in control of the framing.
- Quotes are calibrated to the customer. When the price comes after the call, the firm has a chance to size you up first. Big house? Affluent postcode? Tight timeline? All of that nudges the quote up. There's nothing illegal about it, but it's not a fixed price list.
- Most jobs aren't actually bespoke. A loft conversion is a loft conversion. A single-storey rear extension is a single-storey rear extension. The drawing pack is roughly the same shape every time. Hiding prices implies bespoke. Listing them admits the work is more standardised than the marketing suggests.
What we do instead
Three packages. Three prices. Listed on the homepage. £1,650 / £1,650 / £3,150 inc VAT.
That's the price you pay. Not "from", not "starting at", not "subject to scope discussion". The actual number on the invoice.
The only things that come on top are the optional add-ons, 3D render at £300, expedited turnaround at £250, and they're listed too. If the job genuinely needs something outside the package (planning application, very large scheme, listed building consent), we quote that separately and in writing before you book, not after.
How we got the price to a fixed number
Three things:
One: we standardised the deliverable. Every drawing pack we produce has the same components, existing and proposed plans, elevations, sections, structural calcs, Building Control submission, drainage notes, Party Wall guidance. Same pack every time, dressed for the specific project. Standardising the output is what makes the price standardisable.
Two: we measured how long it actually takes. Over years of doing this work, we know how many hours a loft drawing pack takes, it's a tight, predictable range of engineering time. The fixed price covers the average, with the spread baked in.
Three: we cap revisions at two rounds. Beyond that, it's £55/hr inc VAT, agreed in writing before any work happens. Most jobs don't need a third round; for the few that do, the hourly rate is also published, so there's nothing to negotiate.
What we won't do
A few things we deliberately don't offer, because they're where pricing transparency breaks down:
- No "loyalty discounts" for repeat clients. The price is the price. Discounting for one client means inflating for another. We don't play that game.
- No "we'll match a competitor's quote". If you've got a cheaper quote for the same scope, take it. We're not in an auction.
- No retainers. You pay per job. If you've got a portfolio of properties, fine, we'll do each one at the published price.
- No "free initial consultation that's actually a sales call". The site visit is part of the package. We measure, talk scope, give you the price (which is the published price), and that's the meeting. No second meeting to "talk you through the proposal".
The honest cost of being transparent
It costs us business. Real money.
Some clients want to feel like they're getting a special deal. A fixed published price gives them nothing to negotiate against, so they go elsewhere and pay more for the privilege of feeling like they outsmarted someone. That's fine. We'd rather lose those projects than run a pricing system designed to manipulate them.
The deal is simple. The price is on the website. If it works for you, book it. If it doesn't, no hard feelings, go and get a quote from someone who'll size you up first.
TL;DR
- Most architectural firms hide prices to preserve pricing power and calibrate quotes per customer
- We list prices because the deliverable is standardised enough to price up front
- £1,650 / £1,650 / £3,150 inc VAT, with £55/hr published for out-of-scope work
- We cap revisions, publish add-ons, and quote anything genuinely bespoke in writing before you book
- We lose some business to firms that quote higher in person. We're fine with that.