We asked Jo and Alex Moir about their experience working with Granit for the transformation of their South West London home. We are delighted with their response below.
What made you choose Granit?
We had worked with Granit previously to spec a project on a different house we were planning to refurbish. They presented some interesting design solutions, but ultimately, we didn’t appoint them as we moved to a new house instead.
Knowing their approach, the innovation they take and also the practicality is why we decided to appoint them for our big project this time around.
What has been your experience overall of working with Granit?
Overall, we had a very positive experience with Granit.
They are an outfit that is both very creative in their approach, but they also really listen to you as a client. They are quite practical and not a practice that wants to impose their ideas and designs on you. They’re looking to understand what your requirements are as a client and then to work with you to come up with a great design solution.
I liked the fact changes to the brief didn’t too phase them. Hopefully, we didn’t change our mind too much throughout the project, but when we did, they would say, ‘OK if that’s a priority now, then consider what it means for XYZ if you make that change’.
They were also good on the cost, so in terms of setting out what might be the best value solution, or where it was worth spending the money, or where we could shave some costs off, they were very helpful. We had a long session before the build started going through the entire contract with the builder to unpick and find value and costs savings. This session helped us to take about £20-£30k off the build cost, which was great. It felt they had our budget at the forefront of their mind.
Granit worked well with the contractor and sub-contractors too, such as the glazing supplier. Their attention to detail and project management were really good. I would say communication was excellent throughout.
What would you say to someone who is thinking of appointing Granit?
I would definitely recommend them. We had a great experience, and we’re really, really happy with the house. It has made all the difference; having the big kitchen living space has been fantastic during lockdown.
We appreciated the end to end service they provided; we felt as this was our first big project, we needed that extra support, as did the builder. On the design side, they are really strong, and for us, the added value was the project management and contract administration they offered too.
Granit is a great practice. Very professional, very hands-on with both the builder and the other contractors we used throughout, such as the glazing team and structural engineers – there were a few problems with those two contractors, but Granit handled it well on our behalf, which was very helpful as we were both working.
