Architectural Service Tips and Advice
When considering an architectural service, there are a few things to keep in mind. It’s important to interview the firm you’re going to be hiring. Status has nothing to do with who you are going to hire. You’ve got to be able to pay attention to their experience. You need to consider what it is that they bring to the table and there’s a lot of great designers out there.
Every firm has great designers, but what is the right fit for the design work that you need? Are you going to be able to get along with that architect? Are they going to be able to provide the services that you need? And are they going to be able to provide them on schedule? Can they stay within budget?
I met a client yesterday who told me that he spent all this money on this one architect. Then they designed this courtyard and adjacent structures. It turned out to be $5 million more than they were looking at spending. They didn’t even think about running a cost test, a cost opinion, on what they were designing. So, he came back to me and he said, “J Bruce, I blew this one.”
Cost Estimation Saves You Money
Cost estimation is an important part of our architectural service. This guy had no clue about the price of his designs. So, I explained to him that we incorporate cost estimating as part of our designs. It’s important for the client to understand what that design’s going to cost. And for us, to be able to design it within the client’s budget.
So, those are some of the few things to consider. This is everything from their office to seeing their quality control practices. Who’s going to be working with them? Where are they located? What experience do they have with the area where they’re looking to design their facility? You should consider all those things. But, there’s something that is the most important part of any architectural service. That is to see if there is a fit in design philosophies between the client and the architect.
We Offer the Whole Spectrum of Services
At Development One, we provide the whole spectrum of design and architectural service. We offer everything from master planning to schematic design. This list includes construction documents and cost estimation. We have supporting engineering facilities that help us provide multi-discipline services for clients.
When we turn in the design, the contractors are ready to go and bid on these. Most importantly, the quality of the product that we hand over is very high. This is because of our quality control standards. Many architectural service and design firms have strong designers. You can count on that, but who has a strong quality control program? We have been in business for 30 years and we were never sued. That is a testament of a quality control program that we have here at Development One.
Consider Experience With Architectural Service
Another thing that a prospective client should look at when hiring an architect is the experience. You should be able to see if this firm has experience in designing the type of facility that they have. Some architects are stronger in residential designs. Some of them are good in hospitality, office, and/or commercial. The spectrum is broad. Some of them are multi-faceted in the amount and type of experience that they have. Or they have different departments that handle different types of design work. It’s important to do that.
Every firm has really good designers. If there isn’t the possibility of a strong relationship between the architectural service and client, then there will be problems down the road. It goes both ways. At Development One, when we are being considered for a project, we take a look to see who the client is. Sometimes we see that there isn’t going to be a solid relationship. That we’re going to be able to see eye-to-eye. Well, then we tell them that. We thank them for their time and communicate that this isn’t going to work.
There are other architects that could be a better fit when it comes to that relationship. It can be a grueling process from inception to completion of the project. If you don’t have that relationship established, there’s going to be problems along the way. Some projects can take years. Nobody wants to have a bad relationship with their architect in that long period of time.
