Determining how a building project is managed is one the most important decisions to be made in the whole process of commissioning a new project. How does your project progress from an initial thought to a completed building on site? Muir Walker Pride can provide three distinctive management services to successfully support Clients through this process. Managing the design process and team, administering the terms of the Building Contract with the Contractor on behalf of the Client, and as members of The Association for Project Management, we can in addition provide Project Management services to drive and support the efficient delivery of projects.

Muir Walker Pride is a UK based professional company with offices in St Andrews and Perth. Our team is skilled in the development of design and contractual documentation. The practice is culturally diverse with an experienced, highly qualified and enthusiastic team of employees from across Europe bringing international insight and original concepts to the practice. This diversity is reflected in the broad range of commercial and private clients, based in the UK and overseas. Our practice helps clients achieve their vision by delivering contemporary, attractive, timeless, and environmentally sustainable building solutions which display a rigorous understanding of the design, construction process and budget. MWP will be happy to help you wherever you are.

We will analyse your building requirements and help you explore and develop your brief, measure your property, prepare survey drawings, and concept sketches for review. Often we provide these initial stages as a standalone service to help Clients firm up their requirements. The next step is to refine and develop the design and technical drawings and submit for statutory approvals. Often other professionals are required to assist this process and the practice can suggest suitable organisations to Clients as necessary. Muir Walker Pride can advise on the most appropriate building contract and procurement method for a project and can prepare tender and contract documentation.

During construction we can provide Architects Certificates and upon completion can provide Certificate of Mortgage Lender Compliant certification.

If required, we can provide a one stop shop for residential projects. In addition to architectural service Muir Walker Pride can provide interior design, decoration and organise furnishing ready for occupation. We are flexible in the way we approach each project and can provide a stand-alone service or fully integrated services dependent upon Client requirements.

MWP combine originality and imagination with professional skills and practicality; the end results are custom-made distinctive buildings, each telling its own story. Muir Walker Pride strive to minimize the impact of construction on the environment and to encourage natural diversity in projects where possible.

MWP can develop a solution for commercial real estate, focused on your business and financial requirements. We can advise how to improve the efficiency and yield of existing building stock, whether buildings can be extended or should be reconstructed or are suitable to be repurposed to a new enterprise or residential use. MWP can assess how to improve the quality of customer experience and how buildings can be adapted to comply with accessibility requirements and new social distancing rules,

As a business, we understand the economic factors for effective property management. You may need new accommodation, or to increase the productivity of your team or improve the quality of customer service through an aesthetic overhaul of your premises. If you work remotely or are based outside the UK, we can help source potentially suitable buildings, prepare feasibility studies to assist purchase negotiations and prepare designs and documentation for construction of, say, office, hotel, or private school.

Over the years, MWP team has designed and helped deliver many high-quality houses, apartments and cottages for individuals, developers and construction companies. We can advise on the feasibility of your project and its chances of obtaining statutory consents. We will manage the process of applying for statutory consents, coordinate a project team that will include other professionals and administer the terms of the construction contract.

Muir Walker Pride has a professional relationship with Local Planning Authorities and Building Standards departments and we can support or front up discussion and negotiations with Statutory Authorities on behalf of Clients.

Our experience and record of deliver over the years means that we have great relationships with a network of quality building product suppliers, specialised kitchen and bathroom fitters and reliable Building Contractors that we are happy to share with Clients.

We can assist with the specification and coordination of specialised work, such as audio / video, IT, HiFi, lighting, heating, automatic and manual blinds and ensure that they are fully thought through and integrated seamlessly into the design.
Our practice has won several design awards for its smaller domestic projects, be they extensions to houses or individual grand design self-build houses. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic we can help convert a garage or barn into a home office space.

For larger multi-unit projects for property developers we can provide full design and management services or alternatively up to obtaining a building warrant and ad-hoc support as the project progresses to site. We can also provide marketing and visualisation materials.

We can prepare a building contract and appoint a builder on your behalf. During the construction we visit the building site to check on progress of the works and the quality of workmanship. We liaise with the Contractor as the building works progress and respond to any requests for information they may need. If we are administering the building contract, we issue Architect’s Certificates periodically during the construction to authorise payment to the Contractor. These are particularly important if your project is funded by a bank or building society.

Muir Walker Pride can provide a full service through all RIBA Stages, or alternatively a more restricted service if required. For example, we can take a project from inception to the point when a Building Contractor is selected and thereafter the Client oversees the build process themselves. We can provide stand-alone feasibility assessments or taking a project forward and submitting for statutory approvals.

Each project is unique and differs in complexity, and we will advise if you need expert consultants for your project. The list could include Engineers for structures, drainage and networks, Quantity Surveyors, MandE Consultants, Planning Consultants, Archaeologists, Financiers, Utility Engineers, Fire Specialist. Security, Intelligent Systems / Automation Specialists, Consultants on Audio-Visual equipment. Each project has its own requirements for specialist input and MWP can advise on who’s service is necessary. Typically, we coordinate information between all project participants and integrate the information within the project drawings and specifications at the construction stage. At the end of the project we can help organise the management of real estate and suggest Property Agents that can act on your behalf.

We work with a “Fabric First” approach to the design of new buildings and the retrofit and repurposing of old buildings to ensure that the carbon footprint of the building is minimised. As we work to combat climate change and meet and drive forward more stringent government targets and building regulation requirements, we seek to utilise the most thermally efficient and sustainably sourced building materials to achieve a high level of airtightness. For the last 25 years Muir Walker Pride has prioritised the specification of natural construction materials and worked with the location and orientation of sites to maximise the passive solar potential of their residential projects. A Passive house approach.

We feel strongly that care for the environment should include protection of wildlife. We will advise what permits will be needed and what measures the design should include if your project will affect a region of special historical, scientific, cultural or archaeological interest. Our projects included geothermal or air heat pumps, solar and photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, and planting trees. Several of our projects have incorporated built-in nest boxes for swifts. Where there is a risk or significant pollution, we cooperate with environmental agencies, national and local institutions to preserve the natural habitat and historic buildings. We effectively cooperate with agencies to simplify the requirements for the design. Our team has considerable experience in developing projects with integrated energy-saving technologies and renewable energy sources. We have successfully developed projects including solar photovoltaic panels (PV), solar panels for water heating, biomass technology, wind turbines, air sources and ground-source heat pumps. If necessary, a combination of renewable and traditional energy sources is possible.

Choosing the right furniture is a key consideration to make the most of an architectural space and interior. Well-chosen decoration materials and objects can turn a carefully designed interior space into perfection. MWP can design and commission unique furniture pieces from specialist manufacturers to make your space extra special or alternatively specify off the shelf furniture that will enhance your project. We design and supply furniture for recreation, food courts, bars, historic houses, contemporary homes and offices. Well thought-through lighting will make you and the space practical and beautiful. The quality of the luminaire will determine your perception of space – mood and form can be changed by adjusting direction, colour and intensity of the light source, not to mention the amazing potential of lighting effects and mood programming which can be combined with automated blinds, curtains and AV to create a Smart Home. Sometimes it is desirable to create cosiness and atmosphere in a way that only a unique, hand-made object can do. In such cases, Muir Walker and Pride can help to select antique objects de art, furniture, ironmongery, accessories and choose paintings and chandeliers to complete an interior in a historical style or add character to your modern interior.

Many of our projects involve the restoration of historic buildings and the upgrade their fabric to meet modern standards of comfort and energy conservation. Clients require old buildings to be adapted from their original use to new functions. In most cases it is possible and desirable for our historic building stock to be conserved and preserved in a way that enhances and celebrates the original character of the buildings. Often this requires a conservation assessment of the older building, the purpose of which is to identify the process of maintaining and managing change in a sustainable and appropriate manner that, where appropriate, will enhance the buildings cultural significance. It is therefore likely that specialist assistance will be required if you plan to do some works on a listed building. We can prepare and commission specialist input where required to submit all necessary information authorities need to consider and to approve an application for Listed Building Consent and Historic Buildings Grant Funding.

Muir Walker Pride can prepare Townscape Enhancement Schemes on behalf of Local Authority and Enterprise Trusts and have structured and facilitated many Tenement Repairs for multiple owners.  Historic and Listed Building work is a mainstay of our practice portfolio.

It is important that Clients are kept abreast of the projected costs from the start of their project and as it develops. MWP can prepare approximate budget estimates for smaller domestic projects at the feasibility stage of the project and the practice works closely with Quantity Surveyors on larger projects to provide cost assurance and control to Clients. Updated construction cost estimates are provided by the Quantity Surveyor as the project design develops towards tender issue stage. Once tender documentation is issued and prices obtained from Contractors, the process of contract payment during construction is typically co-ordinated between the Architect and the Quantity Surveyor on a monthly basis.

We can help you identify real estate or a site and advise in the negotiation of its purchase. This may be necessary, for example, if you live outside the UK and require local “feet on the ground”. Perhaps you have seen a property you want to buy; we can carry out a site visit on your behalf and with our local knowledge advise how suitable the building is for your purpose.