The RIBA Plan of Work in practice: how we run a project at RISE

The RIBA Plan of Work is the framework architects use to take a project from first idea to finished, occupied building. It breaks the work into eight stages and gives everyone involved a shared sense of what happens when.

The structure is useful, but what actually carries a project is the people and the decisions made at each step. This is how those stages play out in practice, illustrated with our own projects.

What is the RIBA Plan of Work?

It is a structured guide to the planning, design and construction process, organised into eight stages:

• 0 – Strategic Definition
• 1 – Preparation and Briefing
• 2 – Concept Design
• 3 – Spatial Coordination
• 4 – Technical Design
• 5 – Manufacturing and Construction
• 6 – Handover
• 7 – Use

The 2020 edition puts sustainability at the centre, with clear, measurable targets set from the start rather than added later. That suits the way we work, since low-energy performance is something we would be designing for from Stage 0 regardless.

Reclaimed brick extension at Arches House in Hampstead by RISE Design Studio, where generous arched steel-framed doors open onto a naturalistic garden, blending contemporary sustainable architecture with the character of traditional London brickwork. RISE Design Studio

Stage 0: Strategic Definition

Before any design, we work out what you are actually trying to achieve and whether building is even the right way to get there. We look at the site or property, weigh up the possibilities, and set the priorities: sustainability, cost, quality and time. It is the stage that sets the terms for everything that follows, and getting it right is what stops a project heading down an expensive wrong turn.

Sustainability strategy for Herbert Paradise, Kensal Rise, North West London. RISE Design Studio.

Stage 1: Preparation and Briefing

Here the brief takes shape. We refine your objectives, run feasibility work, and set the strategy that will guide the design. Early conversations with the planning authority often happen now too, because understanding the council's likely position early tends to smooth the path later.

Stage 2: Concept Design

This is where the design starts. Sketches become visuals, and you get the first real sense of the space, with sustainability, structure and cost built into the thinking from the outset rather than bolted on. We work through it with you and refine the concept until it is right.

Garden Studio in Hampstead designed around mature existing trees, creating light-filled contemporary workspaces that sit gently within the landscape.

Stage 3: Spatial Coordination

The concept gets tested and tightened. Detailed drawings bring structure, services and cost together, and any conflicts between them are resolved. By the end of the stage the design is coordinated and robust enough to submit a planning application.

A contemporary wine cellar sits beneath a new walk-on glazed lightwell, transforming the basement of this Grade II listed Hampstead home with abundant natural daylight. The carefully detailed excavation balances heritage conservation with modern living, creating a bright, usable lower-ground space that celebrates both historic brickwork and contemporary craftsmanship.

Stage 4: Technical Design

This is where the design is worked up to the level needed to build it: full specifications, construction drawings and tender documents. We bring in specialist consultants and resolve the detail, so the project is properly defined before anyone is on site. The more thorough this stage, the fewer surprises later.

Early design concept by RISE Design Studio for a contemporary courtyard house on the outskirts of Barcelona, showing the initial architectural model and floor plan during the design development process.

Stage 5: Manufacturing and Construction

The design gets built. We stay involved through construction, answering queries, resolving the issues that always come up, and keeping the work true to the agreed design. This is where months, sometimes years, of planning take physical form.

Stage 6: Handover

The building is finished and you move in, but it isn't quite the end. Final adjustments are made, the documentation is handed over, and we stay on hand as you settle into the space.

The concealed dormer reading nook at Douglas House, Kensal Rise. RISE Design Studio.

Stage 7: Use

A building keeps performing long after completion, and that is where the real test is. We value feedback on how a space actually works in use, on comfort, energy and the day-to-day of living in it, and we carry what we learn into the next project.

Mill Hill House, Mill Hill, North London. RISE Design Studio.

How we structure it

The Plan of Work has eight stages, but in practice we group them into four clearer phases, which is how most clients experience the project:

• Concept Design, covering Stages 0 to 2.
• Developed Design, Stage 3.
• Technical Design and Tendering, Stage 4.
• Construction and Conclusion, Stages 5 to 7.

The framework gives the project its order, but it is the work at each stage, and the people doing it, that decides how good the building turns out. If you are planning a project and want to understand how it would run from first sketch to completion, we'd be glad to talk it through.

→ Email us at architects@risedesignstudio.co.uk
→ Or call the studio on 020 3947 5886

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