Diales has an experienced team of architects with a wide range of sector experience, including large scale urban residential, mixed-use developments, luxury residential properties, healthcare and other medical and research facilities, commercial buildings (both industrial and offices), leisure, sport stadia and educational buildings. We also have experience in defects and other issues arising from refurbishment works of historic and listed buildings.
Our architects have extensive experience throughout all stages of the architectural process from conceptual work and planning through to delivery and handover working for main contractors, architectural consultant practices and developers. This project experience enhances our architects’ understanding of the issues that they are instructed to opine on.
Our experience helps clients to better understand the technical issues around a variety of disputes, and provide insights that lead to informed decision making in relation to complex problems.
We provide clients with an independent view of the cause(s) of technical issues and the merits of proposed remedial works. Instructions have included opining on the duties of the appointed architect, the completeness of design and construction information, technical compliance with the relevant legislation and technical guidance, building defects, fire compliance, practical completion, maintenance issues and remedial works.
Our experts’ sector experience includes:
- Commercial office buildings and internal fit-out
- Defence
- Education (incl. schools and universities)
- Energy facilities
- Hospitals and health facilities
- Hotels and hospitality
- Industrial and storage facilities
- Laboratory and medical research facilities
- Multi-storey car parks
- Planning issues (incl. brownfield and urban sites, master-planning)
- Listed and historic buildings
- Religious buildings
- Residential (incl. mixed-use, new build, and refurbishment of mid- and high-rise developments, care homes, student accommodation, one-off luxury properties)
- Retail developments
- Transportation (incl. main line railway stations and metro/underground stations, airports)
Common technical issues our experts are instructed to opine on include:
- Appropriate levels of design and construction information
- Building defects (incl. both internal and external)
- Compliance with Building Regulations and other technical guidance
- Technical obligations and duties
- Fire stopping and compartmentation
- External wall construction (incl. cladding, curtain walling, brickwork, insulation types)
- Practical completion and handover
- Roofing systems (incl. water ingress)
- Root cause analysis of defects (incl. design, construction and maintenance)