Custom design plans / Brisbane and Gold Coast

Your idea, drawn properly for your site

  • Duplex and dual living
  • Sloping blocks
  • Narrow blocks
  • Acreage builds
  • Hand sketches
  • Display home adaptations

You already know what you want to build. We turn it into a tailored set that council can assess and builders can price, drawn from your brief and shaped around your site rather than lifted from a template.

  • Drawn from your brief
  • Fixed price before we start
  • PDF and editable DWG

4.9 stars from Google reviews Xpress Draft experience and guarantee badges
Custom residential design plans

The problem

Off the shelf plans fit somebody's site. Probably not yours.

Stock plans are drawn for a flat, rectangular, north facing site that yours probably is not. Force one onto a sloping site or an odd boundary and the compromises stack up: the living room faces the wrong way, the setbacks do not work, and by the time it has been reworked you have paid custom money for a template.

The other route is a full architectural service, which suits some highly complex or design-led projects. Most people already have a clear idea of what they want, and what that idea needs is to be designed properly, checked against the site and the council, and documented so a builder can price it.

That middle path, custom drawings without the ceremony, is what this service is. Practical, tailored to your project, and priced before anything starts.

Your site

Slope, orientation, setbacks and overlays shape what can be built. The design starts from them, instead of fighting them.

Your brief

What you need, what you would like, and what you do not want. We work from that document at every step.

Your builder

Prices accurately when the drawings pin down the detail. Custom does not have to mean vague.

You

Get drawings that are yours: your layout, your site, your decisions, documented properly.

Get a fixed quote

Send us your brief and your site address, and we will scope it from that.

How we work

Tailored to your project, priced like a drafting service

01

Your brief drives the drawing

We start by getting your needs, your wishes and your hard nos on paper. The design is measured against that brief at every step, so what comes back is recognisably the thing you asked for.

02

Designed for your site

Orientation, slope, boundaries, overlays and the neighbours all shape the drawing from the first sketch. It is the difference between a plan that suits your land and a plan that fights it.

03

Options where they earn their place

Where a layout decision genuinely could go two ways, we show you both rather than deciding for you. Clients tell us that is the part they did not expect.

Have a plan you have seen somewhere? Bring it. A photo of a display home, a plan from a magazine, a house you walked through once. We adapt ideas to a new site and brief all the time. What we draw is yours, designed for your site, never a copy of somebody else's document.

Get a fixed quote

We will tell you exactly what your project needs in the first conversation.

Who this is for

Projects that do not fit the stock plan

Custom is simply what a project needs when the site, the brief or the idea does not match anything off the shelf.

An unusual site.Sloping, narrow or oddly shaped, where stock plans were never going to fit.
A layout in your head.The one you have been carrying around for years, or in a folder.
Numbers that matter.A duplex, dual living or investment build where the design drives the return.
Seen it somewhere.An idea from a display home or a magazine, adapted to your site and budget.
Sketches ready.Your own hand drawings, ready to become real working drawings.
A brief nobody else took seriously.Specific requirements that off the shelf providers kept talking you out of.
Get a fixed quote

If it does not fit the template, it fits here.

What you receive

A design that is yours, documented completely

01

Preliminary drawings

The design drawn to your brief, with options where a decision could genuinely go either way, refined with you until it is right.

02

Council approval documentation

Floor plans, elevations and sections, dimensioned and to scale, documented for your certifier and council to assess.

03

Construction drawings

Additional drawings focused on the construction stage, which your builder prices from and your trades build from, dimensioned and complete.

04

3D renders

When you want to see the design, or show it to the household, before committing. Available on request.

Working drawings that go past approval. We deliver in two stages, preliminary drawings and then working drawings. Our working drawings combine the council approval documentation with a more complete construction set. Some quotes come in lower because they cover only what approval needs, and when the construction information is thin, the builder has to chase extra detail during the build or price in the uncertainty. A fuller set up front helps you avoid both.

You get the editable DWG as standard. Your engineer or your certifier can work straight in the file. Most firms will not give you that.

File formatsPDF for lodgement, plus editable DWG
Drawn toScale, with a full title block
RevisionsThree complimentary revisions
CoordinationAll required consultants, at no additional cost
ProgressTracked in your Client Portal
Get a fixed quote

Scoped to your brief, priced before we draw.

How it runs

Three steps from the idea in your head to drawings in your inbox

1

Send us the brief

Your site address and what you want to build: needs, wishes and hard nos. Sketches, photos and references all help. We come back with a fixed quote in writing.

2

We design, you decide

Preliminary drawings come back to you, with options where they matter. We refine them with you, with three complimentary revisions included, and nothing is documented until you have agreed to it.

3

Working drawings delivered

The complete set arrives as PDF and DWG, ready for council and for builder pricing, and you can follow the project timeline in your Client Portal along the way. Certifier queries come to us, not you.

Start with your brief

Takes about two minutes. No obligation.

Why people trust us with it

Clients notice the listening before they notice the drawings

M
Miami
Creative director, Gold Coast venue
★★★★★

"Xpressdraft made us feel we were the only client they had, always working close to us and bringing us more than one option for alternative solutions."

K
Kay
★★★★★

"My hand drawings were turned into working drawings quickly and efficiently. Luiz was also very willing to make updates and suggestions as needed."

H
Hakim
★★★★★

"He understood our needs quickly, provided good and pragmatic advice and delivered the drawings in a very short time."

QBCC 1131941 licensedDesign and drafting since 2016Brisbane and Gold CoastDelivered as PDF and editable DWG
Get a fixed quote

Send the brief and we will tell you what the design needs.

Before you ask

The questions we get every week

How custom is custom? Can I change things as we go?
The design is drawn from your brief and refined with you, with three complimentary revisions included, which is enough for most projects. If yours needs more, we talk it through with you and stay focused on the design you are actually after, instead of treating every change as a new invoice. Any additional work is agreed with you before it starts, and if the brief itself changes materially, we quote the difference first.
I only have rough sketches. Is that enough to start?
Yes. Hand sketches, photos and reference images are how most custom projects arrive. Part of the first step is turning what you have into a written brief we both agree on, so the drawing starts from solid ground.
Can you adapt a plan I have seen somewhere else?
Yes, with one important difference: we adapt the idea to your site, your brief and your budget rather than copying a document. What you receive is a design for your site, documented in your name.
Will the design get through council?
We produce council-ready documentation and we know what Queensland councils and certifiers ask for, which differs between them. Approval itself is always the council or certifier's decision, and anyone who guarantees it is overreaching. If the assessment calls for amendments or corrections to our documentation, we make them at no additional cost, as long as they relate to our drawings rather than a change of scope you have requested.
How long does it take?
It depends on the size of the project and how many design rounds you want, so we do not quote a number here. We give you an expected timeframe at quote stage, and you can follow progress in your Client Portal once the project is underway.
What does it cost?
Every project is quoted at a fixed price before anything begins, driven by the size and complexity of the design and the level of documentation needed. No hourly rates. If a stock plan honestly suits your site better and cheaper, we will tell you that too.
Get a fixed quote

Ask the rest with the brief attached.

Get started

Send the brief. We will draw the rest.

The idea does not need to be polished before you talk to us. A site address, a few sketches and an honest list of needs and wishes is a complete starting point. We review it and come back with a fixed quote, at no cost and with no obligation.

Prefer to talk it through? Call 1300 156 669 or 0489 084 239, or email info@xpressdraft.com.au.

Fixed price. Quoted before we start, and it does not change unless the scope does.

Client Portal. Follow your project timeline online, without chasing us for updates.

A straight answer. If your project suits a stock plan or an architect better, we will say so.

QBCC 1131941. Licensed, insured and Queensland based.

Request a FREE quote today

We reply within one business day. Your details are used to quote your job and nothing else.

Exceeding your expectations, consistently

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