Developed Design is where the approved concept gets tested against reality: dimensions are locked, materials and fixtures are specified, and every architectural and interior decision is reconciled into one coordinated design. It’s the third of five stages in our design process, sitting between the direction set in Concept Design and the construction-ready output produced at Detailed Design. Once this stage is signed off, the big decisions are made — what follows is documentation, not design.
Turning the concept into a buildable design
At Concept Design, the idea is proven. At Developed Design, it gets resolved. Room layouts are measured and dimensioned properly, not sketched to scale. Materials, finishes, fixtures and lighting are selected and specified rather than suggested. Joinery is sized, fittings are placed, and any structural or compliance question that would change the design gets answered now, while it’s still cheap to adjust. Budget is checked against the design as it firms up, so surprises get caught here rather than on site. Nothing here is final artwork for a builder yet — that comes at Detailed Design — but by the end of this stage there shouldn’t be any major unknowns left to resolve.
Where architecture and interiors have to agree
This is the stage that tests coordination more than any other. A retail fit-out or interior can’t be developed in isolation from the building it sits inside, and an architectural response can’t be finalised without knowing how the interior will actually work. Our registered architects handle the structural and compliance side — making sure what’s being proposed will actually get consented and built — while our interior and retail designers refine the spatial experience, finishes and fixtures around it. Our technicians sit across both, keeping documentation accurate and the project moving so nothing falls between the two disciplines. Mark Gascoigne oversees that coordination directly, drawing on the same process that’s underpinned 170+ design awards: getting architecture and interior design to agree with each other before either gets locked in.