Architecture and building design
Architectural design services, from plot review to buildable drawings
Avenir Developments designs houses, apartment buildings and commercial buildings. The work starts with a byelaw check of your plot and ends with a drawing set coordinated with the structure and the building services, complete enough for a contractor to price and build.
Offices at DHA Phase 5 in Lahore and Gulberg Greens in Islamabad. Design is delivered across Pakistan and to owners living abroad; construction in Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
- Submission drawings for DHA, LDA, CDA and RDA
- Houses from 5 Marla to 4 Kanal, farmhouses, apartments and commercial buildings
- Architecture on its own, or through to construction
- Design reviews by video for clients outside Pakistan
- 100+drawing sheets on a typical house, across the approval set and the construction set
- 1working day to a first reply, by WhatsApp or email
- 2working days to a written fee proposal after the brief meeting
Plot sizes and building types
Start with the plot, or with the building
A 2 Kanal house is not a larger 5 Marla house. The clear spaces and the permitted first floor change with the plot size, and the plan changes with them. Each size has its own page.
- 5 Marla house designDHA Lahore: 5 ft front clear space. First floor up to 100% of the ground floor.
- 8 Marla house designDHA Lahore: 8 ft front clear space. First floor up to 82%.
- 10 Marla house designDHA Lahore: 10 ft 9 in front clear space. First floor up to 82%.
- 1 Kanal house designDHA Lahore: 15 ft 9 in front clear space. First floor up to 80%.
- 2 Kanal house designDHA Lahore: 20 ft 9 in front clear space on a 75 by 120 ft plot. First floor up to 78%.
- 4 Kanal house designAmalgamated plots in DHA Lahore: footprint up to 63% of the plot, first floor up to 78%.
- Farmhouse designThe rules depend on the scheme. Access, levels and orientation usually shape the plan first.
- Apartment building designParking and fire escape set the plan before the elevation is drawn.
- Commercial building designFrontage and parking shape a plaza or office before its facade does.
Clear spaces are minimums and include the boundary wall. DHA Lahore figures: Construction & Development Regulations 2014, Building Control 2026 edition, Regulation 22(a) at printed page 21, Regulation 27(a)(3) at page 24 and Regulation 8(a) at page 15. LDA, CDA, RDA and private societies set their own limits.
DHA Lahore byelaws, with every figure citedThe two drawing sets
An approval map gets a plan passed. A working set gets it built.
The same house, drawn twice. For the authority, a submission set shows that the building sits inside the rules. For the contractor, a working set carries what it takes to price the house and build it. Switch between them.
A naqsha, or house map, is usually the first set. Build from it alone and the levels, beam sizes, conduit runs and finishes are decided on site, where a change costs most.
Eight stages
What you receive at each stage, and what you sign off
Each stage closes with a decision in writing before the next one starts. Five stages are design and approval. The last three run through pricing, construction and handover when Avenir also builds.
MEP means mechanical, electrical and plumbing: the wiring, water, drainage and air conditioning that run through the structure. Most site clashes start there, so the structural and MEP drawings are coordinated with the architecture in one shared 3D model before anything is issued.
| Stage | What you receive | What you sign off |
|---|---|---|
| 01Discovery call | A written fee proposal after the first meeting: scope, drawings, site visits and payment stages | Whether to appoint Avenir, and for which scope |
| 02Brief and feasibility | A written brief and the permitted building envelope for your plot | The brief. Basement or none. On a corner plot, which side becomes the frontage |
| 03Concept design | Concept plans, elevations and 3D views, with decisions recorded in writing | One layout, the facade direction and the main materials |
| 04Authority submission | The submission set, replies to objections, and the approval once granted | Approval to submit, with ownership documents and undertakings |
| 05Working drawings | The issued-for-construction set and a schedule of finishes, coordinated with structure and MEP | The specification level and the service routes, such as air-conditioning type and backup power |
| 06Pricing and agreement | An itemised bill of quantities, one lump sum and the construction agreement | Whether to build with Avenir |
| 07Construction | Work built to the bill of quantities, with a written progress record and a register of approved changes | Stage payments against completed work, and finish selections |
| 08Handover | Tested services, a closed snag list and completion documents | The final inspection |
Scope comes at three levels. Core drawings cover layout plans, elevations and working drawings. Coordinated adds structural, electrical and plumbing drawings, with five architect site visits during construction. Full scope adds HVAC, fire-fighting and interior drawings, with ten visits.
What the authority checks
In DHA Lahore, the submission is five sets, not one
Building Control scrutinises the five sets together within 21 working days: building plans, structural drawings, fire protection drawings, MEP drawings and 3D views. A returned set counts as a fresh application. The 21 days start again.
Approval is not a warranty. If a violation surfaces after scrutiny, the owner puts it right at their own cost. The working set is where that risk is designed out: it is checked against the structural and MEP drawings so that a beam and a duct are never drawn into the same space.
Regulations 16(a) and 16(d), printed page 19.
Regulation 16(f), printed page 19.
1 year
Validity of the soil report DHA Lahore requires at submission
The original geotechnical report must be less than a year old when the drawings are lodged. Avenir has soil investigation firms on its panel and commissions the report while the design is still in progress.
Regulation 14(p), printed page 17.
Selection framework
Before you appoint any architect, including this one
Checklists online tell you to confirm registration with the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners (PCATP). That advice stops one step short, and the missing step is the one an authority checks.
Who is allowed to sign the drawings
RA
Registered is not licensed
Under PCATP's licensing rules, a graduate who registered after 8 March 2021 holds a Registered Architect (RA) number. An RA may work in a firm. Practising independently, and signing submission or construction drawings, waits until the Architect's Licensing Examination is passed, and the examination needs a year of supervised experience first.
PCATP, Architect's Licensing Examination: Ordinance IX of 1983, bye-law 78(1-A) as amended in 2018, and the Islamabad High Court order in WP 2990/2020.
2
Two registers in DHA Lahore
DHA Lahore defines a registered architect as one registered with PCATP and also with the Authority. PCATP registration on its own does not meet the definition.
Regulation 15, printed page 18, and Definition 76, printed page 10.
PEC
A second signature for the structure
In DHA Lahore the structural stability certificate comes from a registered structural engineer, which the regulations define as one registered with the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC), not from the architect.
Regulation 15(t), printed page 18, and Definition 36, printed page 7.
The seven questions
- Who signs the submission drawings, and is that architect entitled to sign them under PCATP rules and, where required, registered with the authority?An architect registered with PCATP after 8 March 2021 must also pass the licensing examination before signing.
- Can I see the drawing list, sheet by sheet, for a building like mine?A fee means little until you know what it buys. A list that ends at plans and elevations describes a different service from one that includes sections, details, schedules and coordinated structure and MEP.
- Who prepares the structural and MEP drawings, and who resolves clashes between them and the architecture?If the answer is the contractor, the coordination has moved to the site, where it costs most.
- How are revisions counted, and what does a change after sign‑off cost?Without defined stages a revision allowance has no edge, and a late change has no price until the invoice arrives.
- What does the fee exclude?Authority charges, the soil report and site visits are the usual gaps between two quotations that look alike.
- What happens if the authority returns the submission?In DHA Lahore a resubmission restarts the 21 working day scrutiny. Find out whether the corrections sit inside the fee.
- Who visits site during construction, how often, and what do they record?DHA Lahore places supervision and quality assurance on the owner and the architects and engineers the owner appoints (Regulation 45, printed page 32). A drawing set with no site visits leaves that duty with you.
How Avenir answers them
The drawing list for each of the three scopes is on the fee page. Structural, electrical and plumbing drawings are included in the Coordinated and Full scopes, with five or ten architect site visits. Concept options and revision rounds are set out in the fee proposal before appointment, so a change after sign-off has a known price. Avenir prepares the full submission, lodges it and sees it through scrutiny and any resubmission; the registration details of the architect who signs each submission are provided in writing on request.
What happens next
After you send a message
- 1Within one working dayYou hear back by WhatsApp or email, from the person who will handle your enquiry.
- 2A first meeting, free of chargeAt either office, or by video if you are abroad. The design brief form arrives before it, so the meeting is specific to your plot.
- 3Within two working daysA written fee proposal naming the scope, the drawings at each stage, the site visits and the payment stages.
Office hours 10:00 to 19:00 PKT. Lahore Monday to Friday, Islamabad Monday to Saturday.
Failure points
Where drawing sets fail on site
The expensive errors rarely look like errors on paper. They surface after the concrete is poured or the plaster is on, when correcting them means breaking something.
| What goes wrong | Where it shows up | What prevents it |
|---|---|---|
| Height drawn to the roof slab, without the overhead water tank | At scrutiny, or after construction. In DHA Lahore the 39 ft limit is measured from the crown of the road. The drawings must show the height including the tank, the mumty (the stair tower on the roof) and the parapet (Regulations 23(a) and 15(m)). | Fix the tank level in the section at concept stage |
| Fire alarm wiring treated as a finishing item | Walls chased after plaster. DHA Lahore's Annex-C calls for wired detectors on fire-resistant cable, all connected to the panel. | Draw the fire protection layout before the slabs are poured |
| Beam depths and ceiling zones drawn by different people | False ceilings dropped on site, or ducts rerouted through rooms | Coordinate structure, MEP and the reflected ceiling plan in one model |
| Railings drawn on side and rear sun shades | An elevation that fails DHA Lahore scrutiny. Railings on shades are allowed only on the front or road-facing side (Regulation 27(a)(4)). | Check the elevations against the byelaws, not only the plans |
| Basement decided after the ground floor plan | Plinth, ramp and porch levels all move. In DHA Lahore a basement sets the plinth at 3 ft 6 in on plots up to 10 Marla unless a sunken area is provided (Regulation 35(b)). | Decide on the basement before the plan is fixed |
| Design agreed before the budget is known | A design that prices above the budget, found at the bill of quantities | Put a budget bracket in the brief and price the concept |
DHA Lahore examples from the Construction & Development Regulations 2014, Building Control 2026 edition: Regulations 15(m) and 23(a) at printed pages 18 and 22, Regulation 27(a)(4) at page 24, Regulation 35(b) at page 28 and Annex-C at page 46. Other authorities set different figures, but the same coordination failures occur under each.
How architecture, structure and MEP are coordinatedTwo routes
Architecture on its own, or through to construction
Architecture only
The drawing set is yours, and any competent contractor can price and build from it. Available for plots across Pakistan. Outside Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi it is delivered remotely, without site supervision.
Architecture, then construction
When Avenir also builds, the team that drew the building prices it against the same drawings and a bill of quantities, so there is no second party to dispute a gap with. Construction and Design + Build are delivered in Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
Building from abroad
- 1Overseas enquiries are answered on WhatsApp first, then a video call is set up on Google Meet or Zoom at your convenience.
- 2Brief and design reviews run by video, with decisions written into the project record on the day they are made.
- 3In DHA Lahore, the submission can be made through a special power of attorney issued by the Authority (Regulation 63, printed page 40).
- 4Approved documents are collected in person or through the attorney (Regulation 16(e), printed page 19).
Where Avenir is not the right firm
Labour-only work, small renovations and engineering-only appointments, where another office has done the architecture, are better served by another firm.
Evidence
Design work in Lahore and Islamabad
Four projects across plot sizes and building types, from a 1 Kanal house to an apartment building.
Before the brief
Send the plot before the brief
Three lines are enough to hear which stage to start at and what the byelaws allow on your plot. Size, dimensions in feet, and the society and phase. The first consultation is free of charge.
- Plot size1 Kanal
- Dimensions in feet50 by 90
- Society and phaseDHA Phase 6, Lahore
The example is illustrative. Send your own plot.
Questions
Questions about appointing an architect
How this page was prepared
- DHA Lahore figures are reproduced from the Construction & Development Regulations 2014, Building Control 2026 edition, and cited to regulation number and printed page.
- PCATP licensing rules are taken from the Council's Architect's Licensing Examination notice, which cites bye-law 78(1-A) and the Islamabad High Court order in WP 2990/2020.
- Stage names, scopes, site-visit counts and response times match Avenir's design process and fee pages, so every figure appears once sitewide.
- Reviewed by Avenir's design team, Q4 2026. Rules are amended from time to time; confirm the current edition with the authority before you submit.
What does an architect provide for a house in Pakistan?
A brief, a byelaw check of the plot, concept plans, elevations and 3D views, then the submission drawings for the authority and a working set for the contractor. A coordinated appointment adds structural, electrical and plumbing drawings, and on larger or commercial buildings HVAC and fire protection. Avenir groups these into three scopes, listed with the drawings in each on its architecture and design fee page.
Is a naqsha the same as a full drawing set?
No. A naqsha, or house map, usually means the layout plan prepared for approval. A contractor also needs sections, levels, details, schedules and structural and MEP drawings that agree with each other. Build from the map alone and those decisions are made on site, where they cost most to change.
Who can sign house drawings for DHA Lahore approval?
An architect registered with both PCATP and DHA Lahore, and entitled to sign under PCATP's rules (DHA Construction & Development Regulations 2014, Building Control 2026 edition, Regulation 15 at printed page 18 and Definition 76 at page 10). Architects registered with PCATP after 8 March 2021 must pass its licensing examination first, and the structural stability certificate comes separately from a registered structural engineer.
How long does the design stage take?
The design itself, from the brief to the working drawings, is programmed in the fee proposal for each project. Authority review sits on top and is outside any architect's control. In DHA Lahore, scrutiny takes 21 working days and starts again if the set is returned (Regulation 16(a) and (d), printed page 19). DHA Islamabad and Rawalpindi take 15 working days, plus another 15 after a corrected resubmission.
Can I appoint Avenir for design only and use my own contractor?
Yes. The working set is prepared for any competent contractor to price and build, with no obligation to appoint Avenir for construction.
Does Avenir design apartment buildings and commercial buildings?
Yes. Apartments, offices, retail and mixed-use buildings pass through the same stages as a house. The weight shifts to parking, fire escape, services loads and how much of the gross area can be sold or let. Two examples are an 8 Marla commercial building in DHA Islamabad and Park Central Apartments in Lahore.
Can overseas Pakistanis appoint an architect without travelling to Pakistan?
Yes, for the design work. Overseas enquiries are answered on WhatsApp first, then a video call is set up on Google Meet or Zoom. Briefing, design reviews and drawing approvals run the same way. In DHA Lahore the submission can be made through a special power of attorney issued by the Authority (Regulation 63), and approved documents can be collected through the same attorney (Regulation 16(e)). Some originals, such as the geotechnical report and the stamp-paper undertaking, still have to be lodged in person, by you or by the attorney.
Can Avenir review drawings prepared by another architect?
Yes. The review checks whether the architectural, structural and MEP drawings are complete and consistent enough to submit, price and build, and lists what is missing before anything is quoted.
What does the architecture fee depend on?
Mainly the covered area, the number of floors, whether there is a basement, and how much structural, MEP and interior design sits inside the appointment. The fee page carries the three scopes with the drawings in each. Site visits come with the Coordinated and Full scopes, five and ten.
Begin here
Begin with the plot, before any fee is agreed
Send the plot size, the society and where you are with the design. You will hear which stage to begin with and what it involves, and nothing is owed for that conversation.