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Architects · Liverpool · From the first line to the last panel

Design that builds better.

Architects for homes, regeneration and the places around them. Factory production, software and retrofit sit in the same studio, so what we design is what gets built.

Start a project See the four disciplines
ArchitectureHomes, places, planning OptimizeFactory-ready drawings DigitalConfigurators, automation RetrofitExisting homes, upgraded
Drag to turn · scroll through each discipline
Architecture by design

Places people want to live in

Masterplans, apartments, homes and the spaces between them, from the first look at a site through planning and technical design. We test how a site could be built before the design locks, so you keep the choice of builder.

  • Value-led feasibility studies Stage 0 to 1
  • Planning design and submission Stage 2 to 3
  • Technical design Stage 4
  • Principal Designer, Building Regs and CDM BSA 2022
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Optimize by design

Modules, panels and pods

We turn a design into what factories make. Here the apartments are 48 volumetric modules, each with a bathroom pod, and the houses are wall panels, floor cassettes and roof cassettes. Every piece is drawn, numbered and checked before production starts. Point at any piece to read its tag.

  • DfMA drawings for modules, panels and pods Cat 1, 2, 5
  • Light gauge steel and frame modelling FrameCAD
  • Production design for factories Stage 5
  • Site packs and install sequence On site
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Digital by design

Software that does the drawing

Configurators, design automation and BIM. Your rules go in once. Drawings, prices and bills of materials come out in seconds, and every run is checked the same way.

  • Configurators for garden rooms, homes, lodges Live
  • Design automation for wiring and MEP prefab DWG in, BOM out
  • 3D visualisation and VR walkthroughs Pre-build
  • Golden thread and site evidence apps BSA
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Retrofit by design

Better homes from the ones you own

Assessment, design and contract administration for landlords upgrading existing stock. Costs fixed before work starts, and every property scored on what each pound buys the tenant.

  • Stock and property assessment PAS 2035
  • Retrofit design and coordination Fabric first
  • Employer's agent and contract admin Open book
  • Value score and data portal per home Per property
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02 / Services

Who it's for, and what we do

Pick who you are and the services you are most likely to need stay lit. Each line links to a page with the scope, the outputs and how we price it.

20 services across four disciplines

03 / In numbers

Built, in numbers

The pipeline, the homes, the factories and the hours, across all four disciplines.

117
Homes in our pipeline

Across the three schemes on our drawing boards now, from planning approval to on site.

Live schemesArchitecture
342
Homes brought up to EPC C

Upgraded in the last 24 months, designed home by home.

Last 24 monthsRetrofit
32
Building systems created

Steel chassis, light gauge steel, timber cassettes, SIPs, CLT and more, each drawn the way its factory builds.

SystemsOptimize
12
Housing associations

Across the UK, from first sketch to homes handed over.

ClientsArchitecture
48
Manufacturers worked with

Factories around the world over the last 20 years, each with its own system and its own rules.

WorldwideOptimize
3,500+
Design hours saved a year

Our estimate for the configurators and design tools in use. One manufacturer went from two weeks to 30 minutes a quote.

EstimateDigital
04 / Start here

Which one is you?

Most people arrive with one of these questions. Each route goes straight to the page built for it.

Housing associations, councils

Got land or a site in mind? Start with what suits you.

A value-led feasibility study. Agree what matters to your board, test what the site can hold and compare the ways it could be built.

Value-led feasibility → Developers, contractors

Need a Principal Designer?

Building Regulations and CDM Principal Designer appointments, start to finish, priced as a share of build cost.

Principal Designer → Garden room, home, lodge makers

Still drawing every order by hand?

A configurator built on your rules that turns a customer's choices into drawings, a price and a cut list.

Product configurators → Anything else

Something different?

Factory drawings, retrofit programmes, design automation. Tell us what you are working on and we will come back to you.

Send us a note →
05 / Journal

From the studio

Project stories, opinion and practical guides from Architecture, Optimize, Digital and Retrofit, newest first.

Optimize by Design

Platforms and rule books: modernisation needs both

J/23Insight22 Sep 2025
Optimize/Insight

Construction keeps swapping new products for new processes. We argue that product platforms and the rule books that govern them only work when they are developed together.

2 min read
  1. J/17Agile and responsive: matching MMC to contextOptimize/Insight
  2. J/18Every detail, with purposeby Design/Insight
  3. J/19Crossing the chasm: fit the system to the marketOptimize/Insight
  4. J/20Why design has to fit its contextArchitecture/Insight
All 23 articles
06 / Contact

Talk to the people who draw it

StudioAlina House, St. Vincent Street, Liverpool L3 5XW
Phone0151 708 6121
Emailinfo@by-design.group