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Design Process

Initial Meeting

After your inquiry, one of our management team will come to meet you onsite for a free initial meeting. In this meeting we are looking to assess your requirements for your space and to build an initial brief.

We do not charge for our initial meetings. However, if you live more than 15 miles away from our office in Dorking, we may ask for a contribution to travel costs. We will also give you the option for an initial online meeting free of charge if you are outside of our 15 miles.

During our initial meeting we will suggest the best way forward for your garden – this will be one of 3 options:

Formal Design Process

If your space requires a formal design, we will send one of our designers to meet you to start the formal design process. Upon acceptance of the price for Phase 1 of the formal design we will send over a deposit invoice of 50%.

Phase 1 is a fixed price following the initial meeting. Subsequent phases are given as an estimate at this stage. The final costs will depend on whether we are building your garden or if it is an external contractor that may require additional drawings. 3D visuals are not included as standard but we can include these if you would like. In your Phase 1 price we will outline any additional professionals that might be required this might be topographical surveys, planning costs or structural engineers fees.

By structuring the design in these phases we aim to keep design costs down and not produce reems of designs that are surplus to requirements. We section up the design work to give you more control over the process. There is no obligation on your part to progress through the phases if you are not happy with the designs.

Phase 1 - Design

Design Meeting 1 – Concept sketches – Design Meeting

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One of our designers will come to meet you onsite and build a detailed brief for the garden work. Prior to this meeting, please think deeply about your space and your requirements. We love to have as much information as possible to make sure we create you your dream garden. 

They will go away and create minimum of 2 concept sketches for the space. We aim for these to be sent over to you within a week of the first design meeting. These concept sketches will be accompanied by a vision board. The concept sketches will be sketches over the plan drone shot that will be taken at your initial meeting. 

Phase 1 also covers a second design meeting. Your Designer will come to see you on site to review the concepts with you in person. The focus of this meeting is to establish a clear direction and vision for the space to take forward to Phase 2. 

Following this second design meeting, we will be able to give you a set price and timescale for Phase 2 and 3. 

Phase 2

First draft

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Once we know your preferred concept we will move this forward to a first draft design. This will be a more considered design that starts to explore specific material and plant choices. This section is also where specific elements or features are designed and dimensioned in more detail.

These will be emailed across for you to review – if you are broadly happy with the first draft and only minor amendments need to be made then we can progress to Phase 3. If you would like this this design to be discussed in more detail, then we will come to see you to go through the design in person.

Phase 3

Master Plan – Construction Drawings – Final Design/Construction Handover Meeting

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Following approval of the first draft we will move forward to produce the master plan. 

This will include all the drawings we need to construct the garden as well as any additional materials that external landscapers, builders or other trades might need. 

The level of drawings required at this stage will all depend on the division of labour between Wild by Design Ltd and any other trades people that might be taking on different sections of the work. We prefer to construct all our gardens to ensure continuity but understand that in some situations others might be constructing. 

Once the master plan has been produced, we will arrange a meeting with you onsite to present it. In this final Design / Construction Handover meeting your designer will be accompanied by one of our construction management team as they will become the main point of contact as the garden moves from a design phase to construction phase.

Drone Design

Our drone design option is essentially Phase 1 of our full design process. This level of design is mostly suited to soft landscaping layout and some very simple hard landscaping elements.  We offer this as a stand-alone option as some gardens require a degree of design but do not require an expensive multi-level design package.

Initial Meeting – Drone Design - Design Meeting

During your initial meeting, we will build a detailed brief and discuss your requirements for the garden. Please try to have a clear idea in your head prior to this meeting so that we can cover your requirements in the design.

We will go away and drone design for the garden. We aim for these to be sent over to you within 2 weeks of the first design meeting. These concept sketches will be accompanied by a vision board as well as any specific material choices.

Phase 1 also covers a second design meeting. Your designer will come to see you on site to review the concepts with you in person. The focus of this meeting is to make sure that the design hits all your requirements and that all aspects of the design have been covered to allow us to accurately price the garden for you.

If you require a re-design or a large change to the design, then there may be an additional charge.

Build

After completing your design, we will construct your garden to the highest standards. Our highly skilled construction teams have an unwavering commitment to quality and workmanship at all levels.

We pride ourselves on our commitment to construction quality and customer service. We understand that undertaking a large construction project can seem a daunting prospect – we will communicate with you throughout the build to ensure any questions you may have are answered promptly. 

At Wild by Design we look to create lasting relationships with our clients, helping to maintain and shape your garden as it develops. We care deeply about creating resilient gardens for our valued clients to enjoy.

Our teams are fully insured and Wild by Design is a fully accredited member of British association of landscape industries (BALI)

Landscaping without Design

Some garden projects don’t require a design.

If you are looking to have a standalone piece of work completed, we can price this for you free of charge. During your initial meeting we will take any measurements as well as drone photos to allow us to produce a detailed price for you.

At Wild by Design we have a team of highly skilled professionals and a wide portfolio of work. More often than not we can show you previous examples of work that may be similar to your requirements.

We will produce a detailed price outlining the scope of works and accompany this with photos of specific elements or similar previous projects.

We do not charge for pricing up work in this way.

Featured Projects

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Contemporary Cottage Garden

Mediterranean Garden

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Sunken seating

Flowing Cottage Garden

Kingfisher Pond

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For all inquiries please email info@wildby.design or use the form on our contact page

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