Feedback from homeowners, trade clients and studio leads who worked through a measured survey, a drawing set and a build with me. The notes below are about what actually changed on site, not about how the process felt.
We came in with a vague idea about opening the back of the house and left with a section drawing that showed exactly where the roof junction would sit. The joinery notes on the saligna frames saved our builder two trips back to ask questions. Nothing was left to guess on site.
Nadia P. - Observatory cottage renovation
Our warehouse bay slopes almost 90 mm across the width and every contractor we spoke to wanted to pour a new slab. The raised timber platform kept the original floor and the task lighting layout meant we stopped moving lamps around after week one.
Sipho M. - Woodstock studio fit-out
The 1:20 plan and the alcove section were the two sheets that mattered. Our joiner built the 6.4 m wall straight from the elevation, and the sliding panel over the desk means the work zone disappears when I finish for the day. The tile layout note avoided cuts at the visible kitchen edge.
Riaan V. - Sea Point apartment joinery
We brought Travis in for a drawing review on a Southern Suburbs renovation where the wet core had to stay put. The material board and the axonometric made the trade-off clear to the client in one meeting, and the budget line held because the spend went to glazing and floor instead of moving plumbing.
Elaine K. - design studio, Southern Suburbs
A few terms come up in almost every enquiry, and they tend to mean different things to different people. Here is how they are used in this studio, so a brief, a drawing set or a scope note is read the same way on both sides of the table.
Existing plans and sections drawn from a site survey, not from council records. Wall thicknesses, floor levels and window openings are checked on site. Where a wall is later found to be different, the drawing is revised and the revision is noted.
The package issued for a stage: plans, sections, elevations and joinery details at agreed scales. It is not a construction contract document unless a qualified professional is appointed separately for that role.
Physical samples of timber, tile, stone and paint, presented together with the relevant drawing. Screen colours and online swatches are indicative only; the board is the reference for the finish.
Means the scope was adjusted during design to stay within the figure agreed at the start, usually by keeping wet cores in place or reducing the joinery run. It is not a fixed construction quotation from a contractor.
Images taken during and after the build, used to record junctions and finishes that drawings do not fully describe. Styled photographs are published alongside the drawings, never instead of them.
A studio visit is a working session with the drawings on the table. A drawing review is a written response to a set you already hold, with notes on spatial planning, joinery and detailing. Both are arranged by email.
Anything not covered here, including statutory approvals and engineering sign-off, is confirmed in writing before work starts. If a term in your brief means something different, say so early and it will be recorded that way.
Most work starts with a measured survey and a conversation about what the building will not let you do. From there the scope is set in drawing, not in mood boards. Below is how the services usually break down across renovations, small fit-outs and furniture.
On-site measurement of walls, openings, levels and services, then a drawn record of what is actually there. Useful when the original plans are missing or no longer match the house.
Testing layouts against light, circulation and the wet core before anything is demolished. The brief is written down with the constraints named, so trades and homeowners work from the same page.
Elevations, sections and setting-out for built-in storage, kitchen runs and freestanding pieces. Timber selection, edge details and how the units meet the ceiling and floor are all drawn.
Physical samples for finishes, plus tile setting-out that keeps cuts away from the visible edge. Boards are assembled for the room in question, not as a general palette.
Studio, workshop and retail bays in older buildings, where the floor slopes, the services are exposed and the shell is worth keeping. Drawings cover framing, lighting and storage.
A second pass over a set you already have: junctions, dimensions, and where the details stop short. Often booked before tender or before a contractor starts on site.
Recent work is documented in plan, section and axonometric, for example the Observatory rear extension and the Woodstock studio fit-out. To book a studio visit or send a set for review, write to info@travisronaldson.com.
Three engagement formats cover most of what comes through the studio. Each one lists what you receive, what is expected from you, and where the work usually stops. Pick the one that matches the stage you are actually at, not the one that sounds most complete.
You already have plans, a builder quote or a set of council drawings that feel wrong. I read them against the site and mark up what will not work: head heights, door swings, wet core moves, joinery that cannot be built at the drawn depth.
Best for homeowners mid-tender
Send drawings for reviewMeasured survey through to a buildable set. Existing and proposed plans, sections, elevations, a joinery package and a material board with timber, tile and paint references. Suited to renovations where walls move and the wet core is in question.
Typically 6 to 10 weeks
See a completed packageThe shell stays as it is. I work on the fitted elements: wardrobe runs, kitchen tall units, desk alcoves, shelving and the lighting that sits inside them. Common in flats where the layout is fixed but the storage is not.
Good fit for Sea Point and city flats
View a joinery wallNot sure which fits? A short email with the address, the room and one photo of the current condition is usually enough to place it.