Why hire an Architect for Concept Design? I know what I want.
July 4, 2020 1:37 PM Subscribe
This is what my friend is asking me. Armed with sketches of floor plans, a section, and some engineering concepts she is asking why not skip over Design Development to the necessary Applications and Construction Drawings. Seems this will save 20%. How can I respond?
I built my house without an architect I even got a construction loan armed with only a set of plans my wife and I built in an early version of Sketchup. While I am generally happy with how the house turned out and like living here, there are details that a professional would have caught and possibly could have made suggestions to make things better. I would never design and build my own house again but I am glad to have had the experience. If I had to do it over again at minimum I would hire an architect to review the plans and make suggestions that would have gotten rid of the wasted space and the minor annoyances we currently live with.
posted by jmsta at 2:33 PM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by jmsta at 2:33 PM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: I think what my friend is missing is the value of professional design by an Architect.
posted by ebesan at 2:45 PM on July 4, 2020
posted by ebesan at 2:45 PM on July 4, 2020
Response by poster: A house. My take is that an architect has training and expertise invaluable to good design. And that to proceed without that input is foolhardy.
posted by ebesan at 2:50 PM on July 4, 2020
posted by ebesan at 2:50 PM on July 4, 2020
Having hired an architect, I say it is six of one, half dozen of the other. They will catch some good mistakes but introduce others. Ours only seemed to know how to design to what they wanted to see (a really cool house), rather than what we told them we needed (a decent cheap house), so it was a constant struggle. They were coming from the perspective of "it will ONLY cost you $10k for all this added value" and we were coming from the perspective of "that's income for a YEAR!"
posted by aniola at 2:54 PM on July 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by aniola at 2:54 PM on July 4, 2020 [1 favorite]
If nothing else, pay an architect to look the plans over for obvious mistakes.
posted by aniola at 2:55 PM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by aniola at 2:55 PM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Landscape Architect here but I also do conceptual house design and house placement on land. Many of my clients have plenty of ideas but I challenge areas I see as weak, that limit future change or are likely to result in a poor cost benefit ratio - and people ask me to do this. I also look for code exceptions to e.g. reduce the building impact on surroundings - as this is sometimes also key to getting a permit.
If you choose an architect, you need one who is not tied in to a specific supplier/suppliers (unless that is what you have agreed on). And seconding aniola, also re items that add cost without adding value/quality of life.
posted by unearthed at 4:07 PM on July 4, 2020
If you choose an architect, you need one who is not tied in to a specific supplier/suppliers (unless that is what you have agreed on). And seconding aniola, also re items that add cost without adding value/quality of life.
posted by unearthed at 4:07 PM on July 4, 2020
Licensed architect here - there are multiple reasons to hire an architect for the SD/DD (schematic design/design development) phases. A good architect can help bring your "sketches" to the next level. In some cities an architect is required to stamp/sign the drawings for filing submission, so check with your local governing agencies. A good local architect will know the building code and what agencies will accept/deny certain elements of a proposed building. It takes time and effort to prepare these documents, to research the code, and to submit/deal with filing objections. Note that when an architect stamps/signs something they are taking that liability into their own hands, and architects take out insurance for that purpose. None of this is simple or free.
Another reason to pay an architect to bring your drawings to the next level is to clarify scope and clear up any potential building conflicts before going into construction. Your drawings should be part of your contract documents, and if the drawings are not clear enough you could be dealing with A LOT of change orders down the road. During construction that same architect will review the work on site against the contract documents to make sure the GC is building per what was agreed upon in order to safe guard your interests.
I've dealt with multiple clients that tried to do things on their own and they came to us with a lot of already wasted time/money because they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. The reason you pay for an architect from the beginning is because what you are trying to do to save that 20% is what we do as a full time job - we have the training and day to day experience. Save yourself the headache and pay someone else to do it from the start rather than later down the road to fix the mistakes that will eventually get made. I can site more specific examples if you need but they are rather long stories - just take my word for it.
posted by cristinacristinacristina at 7:32 PM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Another reason to pay an architect to bring your drawings to the next level is to clarify scope and clear up any potential building conflicts before going into construction. Your drawings should be part of your contract documents, and if the drawings are not clear enough you could be dealing with A LOT of change orders down the road. During construction that same architect will review the work on site against the contract documents to make sure the GC is building per what was agreed upon in order to safe guard your interests.
I've dealt with multiple clients that tried to do things on their own and they came to us with a lot of already wasted time/money because they didn't know what they were getting themselves into. The reason you pay for an architect from the beginning is because what you are trying to do to save that 20% is what we do as a full time job - we have the training and day to day experience. Save yourself the headache and pay someone else to do it from the start rather than later down the road to fix the mistakes that will eventually get made. I can site more specific examples if you need but they are rather long stories - just take my word for it.
posted by cristinacristinacristina at 7:32 PM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
Just anecdata: I've been in lots of architect-designed homes which were not to my taste, but rarely one which was awful to live in.* By which I mean bathrooms worked as bathrooms, you could cook in the kitchen, there was a place to sit with family and friends...
I have been in a number of "self-designed" houses, a very good friend lives in one...and it's a mess. Weird areas of wasted space next to tiny rooms which could have used the space, kitchens impossible to cook in, etc., etc.
* Unless, of course, that was the point of the house...a lot of "award winning" and "important" homes are conceptually wonderful, but awful to live in. They're about concepts; rarely does that sort of house get built by real people.
posted by maxwelton at 10:26 PM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
I have been in a number of "self-designed" houses, a very good friend lives in one...and it's a mess. Weird areas of wasted space next to tiny rooms which could have used the space, kitchens impossible to cook in, etc., etc.
* Unless, of course, that was the point of the house...a lot of "award winning" and "important" homes are conceptually wonderful, but awful to live in. They're about concepts; rarely does that sort of house get built by real people.
posted by maxwelton at 10:26 PM on July 4, 2020 [3 favorites]
There are architects and there are architects. It is not a myth that some architects are inflexible and only interested in adding to their portfolio of glamorous work that will be shown in journals and on Instagram, and for some clients that is a feature, so no reason to dismiss that approach. But for each of those, there are dozens who enjoy helping the client get exactly what they need, to the price they can pay. Find the architect that suits your needs.
I sometimes help friends and family for no pay, or very little, because they don't have the money. In those cases I do not make technical drawings or a description, I just make sketches and talk them through the process. In one such case, I helped a very low-income family remodel their house, and the basic structure was just really hopeless, it was almost impossible to make the needed changes. I asked how that could ever have happened, since even the worst contractor would not have done it that way. Well, they had built it themselves, from their own design.
This is just one anecdote out of many, I'm actually in the middle of a project with some of the same issues, though we have been able to sort them out.
A professional advisor will take resale value and future changes into account.
posted by mumimor at 10:53 AM on July 5, 2020
I sometimes help friends and family for no pay, or very little, because they don't have the money. In those cases I do not make technical drawings or a description, I just make sketches and talk them through the process. In one such case, I helped a very low-income family remodel their house, and the basic structure was just really hopeless, it was almost impossible to make the needed changes. I asked how that could ever have happened, since even the worst contractor would not have done it that way. Well, they had built it themselves, from their own design.
This is just one anecdote out of many, I'm actually in the middle of a project with some of the same issues, though we have been able to sort them out.
A professional advisor will take resale value and future changes into account.
posted by mumimor at 10:53 AM on July 5, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
Where is your friend located?
At a really high level, there aren't many jurisdictions that require an architect, but most construction firms won't make extensive (or any) modifications to their existing plans without one.
posted by saeculorum at 1:45 PM on July 4, 2020