Why you should use an architect

What are your options when it comes to designing a new building?

Who are you going to appoint to help you create incredible spaces, that will amaze you on a daily basis?

Who has been trained to not just meet your expectations, but exceed them?

• That chap down the road who has offered to draw you some plans for £500 cash?

• Your Auntie who has recently found success in pairing a cushion with her new 2-piece sofa and fancies her chances at orchestrating your new project?

• The local business who has a construction background but has started to offer design services as a bolt-on?

• A draughtsman? A designer? An Arqitekt? Anything that has ‘architectural’ as part of its name?

Whilst I won’t be absolute in totally disregarding any of the above…Your Auntie may have a worldie and design the best cushion-shaped building we have ever seen. However, the chances are that she won’t.

There are many services out there that may get you by, but it is fundamental for you to ask yourself; What do I want from this building? What do I want from this process? What type of spaces do I want to create? What are the experiences of those spaces? What do I want the constructed outcomes to be? How can I apply my construction budget in an efficient way and still create a fascinating architectural response?

I have witnessed so many built examples where the client has gone cheap on the design (by not appointing an architect), proceeded to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds in erecting this design vision (if you can call it that) and then wondered why the building isn’t performing as it should. Not in every case, but in many cases, I would knock it down. Many examples within the residential sector have been so poorly executed, I would personally offer to take a hammer and bring it back down to the ground. I’m not just talking about what this thing looks like. I’m talking about the quality of the spaces, functional efficiencies and general organisation of space.

So, have the clients made savings in these instances? Absolutely not. Speaking in relation to the homeowner scale, they may have invested anywhere between say £50,000-£500,000 in creating a monstrosity. It is not the architect that poses cost risk, it is the enormous cost of construction that is the biggest risk and the permanent nature of what has been constructed. Once it is has been built, it is too late.

Architects don’t just draw. Architects offer a professional service. This is totally different. It is a comprehensive service that as best possible, and with the correct basis of appointment, is an all-encompassing consideration of your scheme.

Ask yourself whether the bullet-point ‘alternative services’ I mentioned at the beginning of this article have been trained, educated and tested in the following:

-          Space planning

-          Urban design

-          Physical modelling

-          Digital modelling

-          Drawing/sketching

-          Graphics

-          Technical detailing

-          Visionary abilities

-          BIM

-          Poetics of space

-          History of architecture

-          Procurement

-          Contracts

-          Land law

-          Practice management

-          Environmental awareness

-          Materials

-          Health and Safety

-          Planning policy

-          Building regulations

-          Sustainability

(This list is off the top of my head…It’s not exhaustive.)

The answer, is most likely not.

Has the architect? The answer is yes. Why? Because an architect has undergone many years of rigorous education, critique and examination to be able to call themselves the legally protected title; architect.

So when considering who you would like to appoint to your new project, don’t just think about drawings and the ‘surface level’ cost comparison of the production of the drawings. Consider the backdrop to the drawings and the professional service that supports them. There will be a multitude of considerations an architect will have, that will sit behind the presented drawings. These considerations may not be visible, but they will be there and usually for good reason.

It would be rude of me not to mention, that there are some incredibly talented individuals who are not architects. I know some of them personally and they create excellent design work on a regular basis. But this is likely to be the minority and they operate in a professional framework, that will include architects as part of their working team.

The general sentiment is, if you want the job doing well and you want to avoid the pitfalls that come with the cheap, unprofessional offer, then you should strongly consider appointing an architect for your project.

I could write supportive notes for other aligned professions, such as structural engineers, quantity surveyors, interior designers etc. They are all professionals and there will always be a cheaper and usually lower-calibre service attempting to undercut them.

Don’t think cost. Think value!