A new look for Torridon

Over the last few years, Torridon has changed quite a bit.

We’ve become more and more focused on the type of work we want to do, the sectors where we can add most value and the experience we want our clients to have when they work with us.

Today, we’re a refurbishment-first quantity surveying practice, with a particular focus on complex commercial refurbishment and retrofit projects.

That focus has developed through experience.

We’ve spent years working with existing buildings and have seen first-hand where projects become difficult: unknown conditions, budgets set before the building has been properly understood, risks dealt with too late and design decisions made without enough cost information.

It’s shaped how we think quantity surveying should be delivered on these projects.

And as that thinking has developed, 3 words have become increasingly important to us: Clarity. Certainty. Confidence.

They describe what we want our clients to get from working with Torridon, and increasingly influence how we approach projects.

Clarity

Construction cost information can become complicated very quickly, particularly on refurbishment projects.

Existing buildings bring unknowns. Designs change. Risks emerge. Decisions need to be made, often with incomplete information.

Our job is to make that information clear.

That means giving clients a clear picture of where their budget stands, what has changed, where the risks sit and what decisions need to be made.

It also affects how we write our reports, how we present costs and how we communicate throughout a project.

A client shouldn’t need to be a quantity surveyor to understand their own cost report.

Certainty

Absolute cost certainty doesn’t exist in construction, and refurbishment projects have their own particular challenges.

We can do a lot to increase it.

For us, that starts well before a tender comes back.

It means taking the time to understand the project ambition and setting a properly considered budget around it. It means understanding the existing building, identifying risks early and doing the investigative work needed to deal with them.

As the design develops, it means tracking decisions and changes properly so the client understands their effect on cost.

The earlier we can deal with those things, the more certainty we can give our clients as the project progresses.

Confidence

Good cost advice should give clients the confidence to make decisions.

Can we afford to proceed?

What happens if we change this?

Where is the risk?

What do we know, and what do we still need to find out?

Those decisions become easier when the information behind them is clear, the budget has been properly considered and risks are understood.

For us, that’s what confidence means. Giving our clients enough understanding of their project costs to make informed decisions throughout the project.

Why we’ve changed the brand

Our previous identity had been with Torridon from the beginning and was closely connected to the origins of the business.

The business has developed considerably since then.

We’ve built a team around complex refurbishment work, become much more focused on the commercial sector and developed our own approach to giving clients greater clarity, certainty and confidence in their construction costs.

We wanted the way Torridon looks and communicates to reflect the practice we’ve become.

So we’ve updated our identity, including a new Torridon logo and visual style.

You’ll start to see it appearing across Torridon from today.

We’ll keep tinkering

The change to the brand is just the start.

We’re continuing to develop our cost reports, presentations and online reporting, looking closely at how clients use the information we give them and finding clearer ways to communicate cost, change and risk.

That’s something we’ve always done.

Our reports have changed countless times over the years. Some changes have been significant. Others have been as simple as changing a graph or moving a piece of information because we realised a client shouldn’t have to go looking for it.

And they’ll continue to get better…

We’ll keep questioning how we do things, listening to our clients and improving the way we give them cost information.

Our new identity reflects Torridon today.

We’ll keep working on what Torridon becomes tomorrow.