MY STORY
The thinking before the design
I'm Rachel.
I help business owners work out what their workspace actually needs to do, before they sign a lease, commit to a refurbishment or agree a fit-out scope.
After more than 20 years designing and delivering workspace projects of every size and budget, I'm now focused solely on the part of the work I've always cared about most: the thinking that comes before the design.
Across more than 100 workspace projects, I saw the same pattern. The decisions carrying the most money, which building, how much space, what the fit-out needs to do, were made before anyone asked the team how they work.
The projects that still work years later are the ones where the brief came first. Survey the team. Get leadership aligned. Test the assumptions. Write it all down. Then design.
I started my own practice for the same reason many of my clients started theirs: to build something on my own terms rather than fit into someone else's model. It's why I pay attention to the business you've built, not just the building you're in.
Independent, by design
I have no commercial interest in what you decide. I'm not the agent, the designer or the builder, and I don't take referral fees, procurement margins or commissions from anyone you engage afterwards. The only person paying me is you.
The brief we create together belongs to you. At the end of the strategy process, you can take it to any designer, contractor or fit-out firm you choose. Some clients hand it to a designer they already trust. Some take it to a design-and-build firm. Some use it to compare options before committing to anyone.
That's how briefing works when it's done properly. Early in my career, at one of New Zealand's largest architecture + design practices, I led the briefing process for a project that was then handed to a separate firm for design and delivery. The brief held, and that principle has shaped my work ever since.
HOW I CAN HELP
Three ways to work together
The Diagnostic™
ONE 60 MINUTE CALL
THE RISKS, THE BLIND SPOTS, THE PROCESS
NZ$750
You're weighing options.
Move, stay, refurbish, or sign the thing in front of you? In sixty minutes, we work through what the decision actually involves: the risks specific to your situation, the questions you should be asking before anyone gets a fee, and what the process looks like from here.
You leave with a clear picture, and a view on whether a full process is worth it for you.
The Intensive™
FULLY FACILITATED - FOUR WEEKS
ONE BRIEF THAT'S ENTIRELY YOURS
NZ$7,500
You know something needs to change.
Over four weeks, we get your team in the room, surface what's actually going on, and turn it into a written brief that's entirely yours - one that gives you something to hold every agent, designer and builder to.
You walk into every conversation that follows with the clearest possible picture of what your business actually needs.
The Blueprint™
SELF-GUIDED
LAUNCHING EARLY 2027
Introductory pricing for the waitlist
You're ready to run it yourself.
You've decided to act, but you want to keep it in-house. This is the full methodology, step by step: the process, the templates, the instructions for running each step and working with what comes out of it.
You nominate someone internally to facilitate. I'm not in the room, but everything I'd bring to it is.