Small architecture studio or big firm for a Melbourne renovation?

Answering: For a major home renovation in Melbourne, should you hire a small architecture studio or a large firm?

Estimated reading time: 13 min read

For a major renovation of one Melbourne home, hire the practice where the person who earns your trust in the first meeting is still holding the drawings when the first structural surprise arrives, and for most owners that points to a principal-led small studio. A large firm earns its overheads when a job needs several teams working at once. A substantial renovation usually needs one experienced mind joining up structure, budget, planning and the way your family lives. Barbara Yerondais, FRAIA, a fixed-fee renovation and extension architect with 35+ years in practice, runs exactly that kind of studio: BY Projects Architecture in Collingwood, which has delivered 400+ projects across Victoria.

Two tabs, one decision. One shows a large firm’s renovation gallery and a team page that keeps scrolling; the other shows a small studio with the principal’s name on the enquiry form. Underneath both sits the same question: who will still be in the room when the builder opens a wall, and will the fee you nodded at still be the fee you pay?

Choose badly and the money leaves the account anyway. A polished pitch can turn into someone else’s first serious residential job, a fee never priced at feasibility can creep, and a design can photograph well and live badly. Hire a small practice that is already stretched and the opposite risk arrives, because your site’s planning and delivery load lands on too few hands. Renovations planned now build next year, so the wrong hire can cost you a year as well as a redraw.

Key Insights

• Practice size is a proxy. The real test is who designs your house, who makes the calls and who answers the phone once the contract is signed.
• Victoria’s Architects Code of Professional Conduct, which applies to conduct from 26 April 2026, gives you checkable questions: the named staff who will work on your project, what makes the fee escalate, and seven business days to read the client agreement before you are asked to sign.
• BY Projects Architecture works the small-studio way: Barbara Yerondais rings every enquiry herself, fixes and stages her fee from feasibility, and names the studio’s architects on its website.
• Before any practice signs you up, one honest hour should settle what your site, budget and planning timeline will allow.

Table of Contents

• Practice size changes how the work is organised, so the first test is who will actually design and decide.
• A large firm is the right call in some renovations, and it helps to know which ones.
• A principal-led studio gives a major renovation continuity, connected decisions and a fee you can plan around.
• Five checks, drawn from Victoria’s 2026 Code, show how a practice will run your job before you sign.
• A builder, a designer or draftsperson and a building surveyor each carry part of the job, beside the architect you choose.
• One honest hour should settle site, budget and planning timelines before anyone gets a design contract.

Does the size of the practice decide who designs your renovation?

Not on its own. Size changes how the work is organised, and the person who pitches is rarely the only person who draws. Architecture is a team effort: a principal or director sets the direction, project architects run the documentation, and graduates and students support them. Assuming a large firm means juniors, or a small studio means the principal does everything, is how owners get surprised.

Victorian law gives you a cleaner test. The Architects Registration Board of Victoria (ARBV) protects the title: only a registered person may call themselves an architect or describe their work as architectural services, and graduates are told to use “graduate of architecture”, never “graduate architect”. The ARBV’s guidance on the 2026 Victorian Architects Code of Professional Conduct explains why clause 6(7) exists, so that clients know when staff, not only the architect they have been dealing with, will carry out work on their project, particularly someone working under supervision who is not an architect.

So the useful question is who, by name, will design your house, and how often the person you met will review it. Ask for three answers:

• The names and roles of everyone who will work on your drawings, and which of them are registered architects.
• Who makes design decisions between meetings, and who signs off documentation before it goes to council or the building surveyor.
• Who covers the project if the lead architect is away for a fortnight.

A practice that answers in names, without hesitating, has already shown you how it works.

When is a large firm the better choice for a home renovation?

Sometimes. Depth is a real asset. A large firm can run several teams in parallel, carry in-house specialists, and keep a project moving when one person is on leave. Those strengths matter most when a residential job behaves like a small development: several buildings or stages running at once, a compressed timeline that needs many hands at the same moment, or a client whose lender or board expects a large practice’s procedures.

What scale cannot buy is the guarantee of senior attention. The ARBV’s guide to the Code says clause 14 is there because adequate systems and staffing make it more likely projects meet clients’ expectations. That duty applies to every practice. In a large firm, ask how the director you met stays involved.

There is a capacity question on our side of the table too. A project that needs four teams working at once in the same month may sit better with a larger practice, and hearing that in the first conversation beats finding it out in month six.

What does a principal-led studio give a major renovation?

Continuity first. On a major renovation the hard decisions are connected: a structural change moves the budget, the budget moves the planning strategy, and both change how the kitchen works at seven on a school morning. When the person who heard your brief stays close to every one of those decisions, nothing gets lost in a handover memo.

Here is how that works at BY Projects Architecture:

• The first call. Every enquiry starts with a free, no-obligation call, and Barbara Yerondais rings you herself. That call is where she works out whether we are the right fit for your project, and smaller jobs are welcome.
• The team you will meet. Our team page names the people you will meet, including Barbara as principal, project architects Howard Siow (with the practice since 2014, registered in 2017) and Judit Solerdelcoll, and graduate of architecture Ioanna Petropoulou.
• The fee. Barbara Yerondais fixes the fee before drawing starts, then stages it. Schematic design comes first, followed by two sketches set side by side, one showing what your budget achieves and one showing what the full wish list would cost, with a shopping list so you decide the scope.
• The record. The practice has delivered 400+ projects across Victoria, and Barbara brings 35+ years in practice to the table as a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects (FRAIA).

That two-sketch step happens inside a signed agreement, as Victorian rules require. It is where Barbara’s staged fixed fee earns its keep: you see the gap between budget and ambition while it is still cheap to close. Our piece on what fixed-fee architecture really buys you goes deeper on the fee itself.

Barbara’s own booking page puts her stance plainly: the studio is for owners who value an intimate, artisan process over a corporate firm, with an architect who thinks it through with you, not just for you. That is the studio she has chosen to run.

How do you test any practice before you sign?

Run the same five checks on every shortlisted practice. They come from the ARBV’s 2026 Code and from Consumer Affairs Victoria, so a good practice of any size will pass them without fuss.

1. Check the register. Search the ARBV register for the individual architect and for the company or partnership. The ARBV’s guide to working with an architect is blunt: if they are not registered with the ARBV, they are not an architect.
2. Get the team in writing. Ask for the named staff who will work on your project to be listed in the client agreement, as clause 6(7) of the Code contemplates.
3. Find out what moves the fee. Under the Code, the client agreement must require the architect to tell you the circumstances in which fees or costs may escalate. Ask whether the fee is fixed, a percentage or hourly, and what each stage includes.
4. Take the seven business days. An architect must give you the proposed agreement at least seven business days before asking you to sign; you may sign sooner, though the ARBV cautions against rushing. Use the time to check the scope, timeframes, insurance details and complaints process, and to confirm who will obtain the permits; Consumer Affairs Victoria says making sure they are obtained is the owner’s responsibility.
5. Compare delivered work, not award imagery. Ask to see completed renovations close to yours in era, budget and complexity, and ask who in the studio ran them. A beautiful photograph tells you about a finished room; a past client tells you about the months before it.

On insurance, the ARBV’s professional indemnity minimum is a limit of at least $1 million per claim, or $1.2 million where defence costs are included, and it exists for holding registration. The ARBV’s answers on the Code add that individual projects may need significantly more cover.

Who else sits at the table on a major renovation?

Whichever practice you hire, it will not carry the renovation alone, and each of the others does a different job. Consumer Affairs Victoria sets out the cast:

• The builder prices and builds the work, and for a renovation of this size must be registered with the Building and Plumbing Commission. Some builders offer the plans too; if a pre-construction contract includes the design, copyright may stop you taking those drawings to another builder.
• A building designer or draftsperson draws plans and specifications, and for a settled, straightforward scope that can be the right level of design help.
• The building surveyor checks that the work meets the building regulations, and by law your builder cannot appoint one for you.
• Barbara Yerondais, a fixed-fee renovation and extension architect, works out what the house, the block and the budget will hold before anyone draws, then designs and documents the scope so every builder quotes on the same job.

The same checklist suggests comparing at least three written quotes on your plans, and asking your architect for builders whose work they know.

What should one hour settle before any design contract?

Under clause 6(1) of the 2026 Code, an architect may not provide concept designs, sketches or reports for you without a written, signed client agreement, whether or not a fee is charged. Before that agreement, the ARBV says an architect can show past work, talk through capabilities and fees, and hold scoping conversations. So a first meeting should be a proper conversation, and a good one settles a great deal.

Our version starts with that free, no-obligation call. If the project is a fit, the next step is the Feasibility Session. In one hour with Barbara Yerondais, FRAIA, in person or on Zoom, you’ll talk through your site, budget and planning timelines, and leave knowing what’s realistic and what your next step is. There’s no obligation to go further.

That hour is the lowest-stakes moment to test the practice as well as the project. Notice who asks the questions, how plainly the planning picture is explained, and whether the answers come in names and numbers. Our piece on how the one-hour session works before a design contract walks through it in detail.

Closing

Choose by who will design, decide and stay, and let the size of the practice follow from that. If your renovation needs several teams moving at once, a large firm’s depth may be worth its overheads. If it needs one experienced mind joining structure, budget, planning and daily life, that is the work Barbara Yerondais has built a fixed-fee studio around. To see how we run it, visit our page for renovation architects in Melbourne. Then talk to Barbara.

Frequently asked questions about choosing a renovation practice

Q: Is a small architecture studio cheaper than a large firm in Melbourne?

A: Not reliably, and no honest comparison says it always is. Fees follow scope, risk and how each practice charges, so compare like with like: what each stage includes, whether the fee is fixed, a percentage or hourly, and what will make it escalate, which Victoria’s 2026 Architects Code of Professional Conduct requires the client agreement to cover. At BY Projects Architecture, Barbara Yerondais fixes the fee and stages it from feasibility. On a smaller job a fixed fee can look high next to the build cost, and she will say so in the first conversation rather than after the invoice.

Q: Will I deal with Barbara Yerondais the whole way through my renovation?

A: Barbara leads the practice, rings every enquiry herself and leads the first conversation. On a major renovation she works with the studio’s project architects, and the client agreement names who will work on your house, so you know the team before you sign. If continuity with one person matters to you, say so on the first call, and ask every other practice on your shortlist the same question.

Q: How do I check that a Melbourne architect is registered?

A: Search the register kept by the Architects Registration Board of Victoria, which covers registered architects and the companies and partnerships approved to provide architectural services. Only someone registered with the ARBV may call themselves an architect or describe their work as architectural services or architectural design, and graduates should use the title graduate of architecture. Check the individual and the practice, then match the names to those listed in your client agreement.

Q: What happens in the one-hour Feasibility Session?

A: In one hour with Barbara Yerondais, FRAIA, in person or on Zoom, you’ll talk through your site, budget and planning timelines, and leave knowing what’s realistic and what your next step is. There’s no obligation to go further. It follows a free, no-obligation call in which Barbara checks that the session suits your project. Talk to Barbara on our Feasibility Session page.

About the practice behind this guide

Barbara Yerondais, FRAIA, is a fixed-fee renovation and extension architect with 35+ years in practice, and BY Projects Architecture has delivered 400+ projects across Victoria from its Collingwood studio. We would rather tell you a larger practice suits your project than take on work we cannot staff well.

Sources we checked

• ARBV: Registering as an architect. To work as an architect in Victoria a person must be registered with the ARBV; without registration nobody may represent themselves as an architect or describe their work as architectural services or architectural design, and graduates use the title graduate of architecture. https://www.arbv.vic.gov.au/registering-architect
• ARBV: Victorian Architects Code of Professional Conduct, with the Board’s answers on client agreements. The Code applies to conduct from 26 April 2026. The ARBV’s answers on this page cover clause 6(2) (the proposed agreement at least seven business days before signature), clause 6(7) (naming the staff who will work on a project), fee escalation and professional indemnity details in the agreement, and clause 6(1) (no concept designs, sketches or reports before a written, signed agreement). https://www.arbv.vic.gov.au/victorian-architects-code-professional-conduct
• ARBV: Professional indemnity insurance. The limit of indemnity for each claim must be not less than $1 million, or $1.2 million where defence costs are included. https://www.arbv.vic.gov.au/arbv-professional-indemnity-insurance
• ARBV: Guide to the Victorian Architects Code of Professional Conduct (version 1, September 2026, page updated 9 September 2026). Clause-by-clause guidance, including clause 5 on supervision by people with the required knowledge, clause 7 on fee transparency and clause 14 on adequate systems and staffing. https://www.arbv.vic.gov.au/guide-victorian-architects-code-professional-conduct
• ARBV: Architectural process explained. Check registration before engaging an architect, and expect the stages and responsibilities of your project to be set out in the client-architect agreement. https://www.arbv.vic.gov.au/working-architect
• Consumer Affairs Victoria checklist for extensions and renovations over $10,000. Plans may come from your builder or from an architect, designer or draftsperson; the owner must find out which permits are needed and make sure they are obtained, and the contract should identify who obtains them. https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/housing/building-and-renovating/checklists/extensions-and-renovations-costing-more-than-10000

Related Reading for choosing your renovation team

• What does one hour settle before a renovation design contract?
• Fixed-fee architecture: what cost certainty really buys you
• Volume builder, custom builder or architect for a Melbourne home?
• Should you renovate or knock down a post-war Melbourne home?

About the Author

Barbara Yerondais, FRAIA, is the founder of BY Projects Architecture. With 35+ years of experience, she specializes in sustainable, community-focused design and heritage restoration. A dedicated mentor and rower, Barbara balances her high-impact Melbourne practice with a passion for social inclusion and passive, energy-saving design.