Home / Services / Structural Packages for Architects

Structural Packages for Architects

Architects need to know what they are getting and when. This is the structural package set out by stage, so it can be programmed alongside your own workload rather than chased.

What we cover.

Most structural appointments are described by scope rather than by deliverable, which makes them hard to programme and harder to coordinate. We set ours out by RIBA stage: what is issued, what it lets you do next, and what we need from you to produce it.

Stage 2 concept structural input and feasibility
Stage 3 spatial coordination and structural arrangement
Stage 4 technical design, calculations and drawings
Building Control and warrant submission packages
Construction-stage queries and revisions
Coordination against your drawings and layer conventions
Structural input on planning and listed building applications
Early advice on whether a scheme stands up

In detail

What structural packages for architects actually involves.

Stage 2

At Stage 2 the useful output is not drawings, it is answers. Whether the cantilever works, what the corner opening does to lateral stability, whether the basement changes the foundation strategy, and roughly what each option costs to build. A short piece of input here routinely saves a redesign, and it is the cheapest structural advice on any project.

Stage 3

At Stage 3 we issue the structural arrangement: grid, primary members, floor and roof structure, stability strategy and the foundation approach. This is the point where the structure and the architecture have to agree, and where late changes start becoming expensive. We coordinate against your drawings rather than issuing in isolation.

Stage 4

At Stage 4 you receive the technical package: calculations, structural drawings, specification and the schedules a contractor prices from. Prepared for submission and written to be read by a building control officer, so the approval route does not become a second project.

During construction

During construction we answer site queries and issue revisions. Ground conditions and existing structures rarely match the survey exactly, and the cost of that is measured in how quickly it gets resolved rather than in whose fault it was.

Drawing conventions

On drawing production we will work to your conventions. Tell us your layer standards, title block and issue format and the structural drawings will sit alongside yours rather than beside them. Drawings are produced in AutoCAD, and in Revit where a project is delivered in BIM.

How Lead Group helps

We work to your stages and your drawing conventions, from the short written opinion at Stage 2 through to the technical package at Stage 4 and the site queries after it. Tell us your layer standards, title block and issue format and the structural drawings will sit alongside yours rather than beside them.

How we work

What do you actually issue, and when?

Stage 2: written answers and sketch options on whether the scheme stands up, with the cost implications of each. Stage 3: the structural arrangement, coordinated against your drawings. Stage 4: calculations, drawings and specification prepared for Building Control submission. Construction: query responses and revisions. Each stage is quoted separately so you can appoint incrementally rather than committing to the whole thing at feasibility.

Designs checked and signed by a Chartered Structural Engineer
Issued by RIBA stage so it can be programmed
£5m professional indemnity cover
Drawn to your layer conventions and title block

Not sure what you need?Send us your drawings, or just a photograph of the wall. We will tell you what is required and what it costs before you commit to anything.

Get a quote 020 3432 4186

Standards & codes

The codes behind structural packages for architects.

Eurocodes 0-9 & UK National Annexes

BS EN 1990 through BS EN 1999 govern the basis of design, actions, and the design of concrete, steel, timber, masonry and aluminium structures. Every calculation we issue references the relevant Eurocode part and its UK National Annex, and states which parts were applied.

Analysis, design & drafting software

Structural analysis and design in Tekla Tedds and Tekla Structural Designer, with Autodesk Robot, CSC Fastrak, CSC Portal Frame, MasterSeries and Hilti Profis used where a scheme suits them. Drawing production in AutoCAD, and modelling in Autodesk Revit where a project is delivered in BIM. Output is issued as readable calculations rather than raw software printouts, so a checker or a building control officer can follow the reasoning.

Approved Document A (Structure)

The Building Regulations requirement your local authority Building Control checks against. Our calculations and drawings are prepared to demonstrate compliance so your submission is accepted without back-and-forth.

Professional indemnity insured

Every report and calculation package is backed by professional indemnity cover, which is what lets a lender, Building Control or another engineer rely on it.

Process

From enquiry to sign-off.

Enquiry

Send drawings or describe the problem. We confirm the scope, the deliverables and a target timescale.

Information

We agree the survey, drawings or data we need and any site access required.

Engineering

Design, calculation or assessment to the relevant Eurocodes and UK National Annex.

Issue

A clear, defensible report or set of calculations, with assumptions and limitations stated.

Selected work

Real structures, surveyed and engineered.

All work →

Sport and recreationCharlton Athletic FC, The ValleyTwo steel monopitch stand roofs rising to 27 metres were assessed for a proposed solar PV installation. Both were cleared to carry the arrays as they stand, and the fragile roofs were surveyed entirely by drone with nobody working at height.

Read →

Manufacturing and industrialWienerberger, Tamworth

EducationCarlisle College

Film and mediaDragon Studios, Pencoed

Questions

Common questions

Can we appoint you for one stage only?

Yes. Stages are quoted separately, which suits projects where the client has not committed beyond feasibility or where funding is staged.

Will you look at a scheme before we appoint you?

Yes. A first conversation about whether something is structurally viable is not chargeable. We would rather tell you early that an idea needs rethinking than be paid to discover it later.

Can you work to our CAD standards?

Yes. Send your layer conventions, title block and issue format and we will match them. We produce drawings in AutoCAD and model in Revit where the project is delivered in BIM.

Who deals with Building Control?

We do, on the structural elements. We would rather answer the officer's questions directly than have them relayed, which is slower and loses detail.

What do you need from us to start?

Whatever exists. At concept stage a sketch and a site plan is enough. Later we need your drawings, and for existing buildings either a measured survey or access to carry one out.

Explore more