New buildings, additions and fit-out for organisations that cannot stop trading.

Capability

New builds, additions and fit-out

The practice works across the full scale of commercial and public sector work, from a single tenancy through to a new standalone building. New builds are the work our director has the deepest record in and the work WHA actively wants more of.

WHA is small and owner-led. You deal with the registered architect who does the work, not an account manager. That suits projects where the programme is tight and the client needs someone who will answer the phone on site.

• New buildingsStandalone commercial, community and public facilities from site feasibility through to practical completion. Pavilions, clubrooms, learning and administration buildings, depots and operational facilities. Town planning, building permit and tender documentation, and contract administration to completion.
• Alterations and additionsExtending, reconfiguring and adding to existing commercial and community buildings. New wings and second storeys, envelope upgrades, structural interventions, and the interface detailing where new work meets old. This is core practice work and the majority of what WHA documents.
• Tenancy fit-outOffice, clinical, allied health, consulting suites and community tenancies. Class 5, 6, 9a and 9b. Base build assessment through to construction documentation and contract administration.
• Refurbishment and upgradeReconfiguration of existing floor plates, amenity and accessible sanitary upgrades, compliance rectification, end-of-trip facilities, and services coordination in constrained existing buildings.
• Staged works on operating sitesStaging strategies, decant planning, temporary works and hoarding documentation, and separable portions structured so the facility keeps operating while the new building goes up beside it.
• Feasibility and scopingFixed-fee assessment of what a site, building or tenancy can take before you commit capital: yield and area testing, planning and compliance exposure, indicative cost and programme.
• Documentation for tenderFull drawing sets, specifications and schedules issued to a standard that survives head contractor scrutiny and public sector procurement.

Why this practice

The risk is rarely the design

It is whether the approvals path was understood before the programme was set, whether the documentation holds up when a head contractor prices it, and whether a new building can be built on a site that is still being used.

That is the work our director spent fourteen years doing. New school buildings went up on operating campuses. New pavilions and clubrooms were delivered on reserves and foreshores through summer seasons. Public sector projects run under procurement regimes with no tolerance for loose documentation, with stakeholder groups who need decisions explained rather than presented.

WHA brings that discipline to engagements smaller than a large practice would take on, and prices it accordingly. A new building is not a different discipline from an addition. It is the same sequence of approvals, documentation and contract administration, run at a larger scale.

How we engage

Three ways to start

Feasibility or scoping assessment. Fixed fee. We test what the site, building or tenancy can take, confirm what is achievable within your budget and programme, and issue a written scope with indicative cost, planning pathway and compliance exposure. Suitable where the brief is still forming or capital needs to be justified internally.

Full architectural service. For new builds, additions and fit-out alike. Percentage or lump sum fee across concept, town planning, design development, documentation, tender and contract administration. Scoped to the AIA client architect agreement or to your organisation's standard terms.

Documentation-only or panel engagement. Where you hold the design or the project manager, WHA documents to your standards. We are able to complete supplier registration and prequalification for organisations that require it.