What is a design brief in architecture? With an example for a house

A design brief in architecture is the written agreement on what a building has to do for the people who will use it, made before the design starts. For a house it covers who lives there, how they live, the site, the budget, the timeline and what matters most when something has to give. The client and the architect both sign it off, and it gets updated when things change. Below is what goes in one, with a worked example for a family home.

Formform interviews everyone who will live in the house, shows you where they disagree, and helps you turn it into a brief where every point links back to what someone said. Apply for the pilot to try it.

Design brief, client brief and return brief: what's the difference?

People often mix these three terms up.

• Client brief. What the client tells you they want, in their own words. Often an email, a list of rooms and a few saved photos.
• Return brief. Your written reply to the client brief. It says back what you understood, what you'll deliver and what isn't included, so the client can correct it before any work starts.
• Design brief. The agreed version you both work from. It turns the client brief into needs, priorities and constraints, and it's the document you go back to when a decision needs settling.

In the US the same step is often called programming, and the document a program, though it works the same way.

What goes in a design brief?

For a house, a complete brief usually has these parts:

1. The project. Address, new build or renovation, and why now.
2. The household. Everyone who will live there, their ages, and how that might change.
3. Daily life. Routines for each person: mornings, work, cooking, evenings, guests, pets.
4. Spaces. The rooms, roughly how big, which ones connect, and what's shared.
5. Light, sound, temperature and privacy. Where people want sun, quiet, warmth and a door they can close.
6. Storage. What they own a lot of and where it piles up today.
7. Access and the future. Health or mobility needs, ageing in place, family changes.
8. Style and materials. References, with a note on what the client means by words like "modern" or "warm".
9. Site and constraints. Plot, orientation, planning rules, the existing building.
10. Budget. Building costs, fees, furniture and a contingency, written separately.
11. Timeline. Key dates, and what happens if they slip.
12. Priorities. What's fixed and what can flex.
13. Where the household disagrees. Written down, with how you'll settle it.
14. Open questions. Anything still unknown, and who will answer it.

Many briefs stop after the budget and the timeline. The priorities, the disagreements and the open questions are what you'll need once the first hard choice comes up.

An example design brief for a family home

This example is made up for this post, but it's typical of what comes out of talking to each person in a household separately.

The project. Renovation of a two-storey house from the 1970s. The family bought it last year and wants to move in by next September.

The household. Ana and Mihai, both 38, with Ilinca (10) and Tudor (7). Mihai mentioned that his father may move in within five years. Ana didn't mention it.

Daily life. Ana leaves at 7:30 and is home by 17:30. Mihai works from home three days a week, with video calls most mornings. The children do homework at the kitchen table while dinner is cooked. Friends come over most Saturdays, usually two or three families.

In their own words.

• Ana: "I want to see the kids from the kitchen. That's the whole point of moving."
• Mihai: "I need one door I can close during calls. Right now I take them in the car."
• Ilinca: "I want my own room, not one with Tudor."

Spaces. An open kitchen and living area that can hold eight to ten people on Saturdays. A study with a door, away from the kitchen. Two children's bedrooms. A room on the ground floor that can become a bedroom with a shower later.

Where the household disagrees. Ana wants the kitchen fully open. Mihai is worried about noise and cooking smells reaching his calls. Options the architect will test: put the study on the upper floor, add a sliding partition between kitchen and living, and specify quieter extraction.

Priorities.

1. A study with a door that blocks noise.
2. A kitchen with a view of the living area and the garden.
3. A ground floor room that can become a bedroom later.
4. Finishes, which can be simpler if the budget is tight.

Open questions. When might Mihai's father move in, and does Ana agree with planning for it now? Mihai to talk to his father, and both to confirm by the next meeting.

Most of this came from talking to each of them on their own. In one joint meeting, the study and Mihai's father might never have come up.

How to write a design brief with your client

1. Talk to everyone who will live there. Ask each adult, and older children, separately if you can. Our list of questions to ask your client as an architect is a good place to start.
2. Ask about real situations. "Walk me through a Saturday" gives you more than "What style do you like?"
3. Keep their words. Quote the client where it matters. It's easier to go back to "I take my calls in the car" than to "home office required".
4. Separate needs from wishes. Needs are things the house has to do, like give Mihai a door for his calls. Wishes are nice to have if there's room and budget.
5. Write down the disagreements. If you leave them out, they usually come back later as changes.
6. Rank the priorities together. Ask what they'd cut first if the budget ran short.
7. Send a return brief and get it signed. Read it back, let them correct it, then date it and treat it as version one.
8. Update it when things change. A new budget or a new family member is worth a new version of the brief.

Common mistakes in design briefs

• Written from one person's answers. The person who called you is rarely the only one with needs.
• Style words with no examples. "Cozy" and "modern" mean different things to different people. Write down what they look like in a real room. We wrote more about this in managing client expectations.
• A budget without fees, furniture or a contingency. The number looks bigger than it really is.
• No priorities. Without a ranking, every trade-off turns into an argument later.
• Never updated. A brief from the first month doesn't help with decisions in month six.

Frequently asked questions

Who writes the design brief, the client or the architect? Both. The client brings what they need and want, and the architect turns it into a brief they can both sign. In practice the architect usually holds the pen.

How long should a design brief be? Long enough to settle the decisions you'll face. For a house that's often four to ten pages, and clear priorities matter more than length.

When is the design brief finished? When both sides have signed version one, and that's before design work starts. It keeps being updated after that, with a new version each time something important changes.

Is a design brief legally binding? On its own it's a working document. Your appointment or contract may refer to it, though, so check what yours says.

Let Formform build the brief with you

A brief like the example above depends on hearing each person separately, which is the slow part to do by hand. Formform does that part for you. Each person who will live in the house gets their own link and answers an adaptive interview on their phone, in their own time, with every question written from the answer before it. Formform shows you where they disagree, then writes a brief from their words, with every point linked back to what someone said. You decide what belongs in it before you export it.

We're running a pilot for architects, interior designers and renovation contractors. Apply here and use it on your next project.