Budget

What Does An Architect Need to Know to Help?

If you are at the stage of your project planning where you have realized it is time to get help from a design professional, how do you kick off that process?  First and foremost, please consider the three legs of a good project, as every architect will want to know these things coming in.  If you don’t have everything figured out, that is perfectly normal, as the design professional should be available to help fill in the blanks.

Beyond the basics of the three legs of a good project, there is a long list of things an architect would like to know about their client and project before diving in.  I will break them up into three simple categories, Accomplishments, Aspirations, and Aesthetics.

Accomplishments

When referring to accomplishments in this article, I am specifically referring to past home renovation project experience.  Most architects will want to know if you have a history of using architects, or similar design professionals, and how that experience went.  Similarly, if you have had experience with home renovations going straight to an expert (pool builder, chimney contractor, etc.), or a general contractor without the help of a design professional, an architect would like to know how that project went in order to make sure any lessons learned are carried over.  This is also helpful in case there is a network you have built up over that time that you would like to incorporate into your next project.  Most architects will want to hear both negative and positive feedback from past accomplished projects to understand where your expectations land for future projects.  It is our job as design professionals to make sure we set expectations, and meet them.  We will always need your help, as the client, to set them at the right level.

Aspirations

When discussing a project, the scope is important, but typically it is described physically to help define the space.  When hoping to achieve intangible goals, making a room feel more inviting, or  cozy, for example, these aspirations need to be communicated with the architect.  Similarly, if the goal for the project is to make the space produce the greatest return on investment, this will provide additional information for the architect, that a scope description of spaces to be designed could not. If you, as a client, have certain expectations of your architect that may be out of their normal scope of work, please bring that to their attention.  We cannot deliver what we do not know is expected of us.  For example, if you expect your architect to produce a master plan for your home renovations, meaning a phased plan with a set of guidelines to help inform future projects, and design decisions, this would be out of the normal scope of work for an architect, but not out of their ability.  Another example may be that you would like your architect to bring you to some of their previous projects they have completed with similar scope to your own.  This is not typical of an architect’s services, but again well within their ability.  Aspirations, when it comes to your project, and your experience with an architect is a huge opportunity to ensure that nobody on either side of the relationship has an assumption that is not voiced.  Assumptions in the architectural field are dangerous, and it is our goal, as architects to answer as many questions as we can to keep everyone informed, and the entire project team going in the same direction.

Aesthetics

As a client, your personal aesthetic, and an architect’s ability to integrate it into a project, is critical to the success of a project. My personal favorite way to compile samples of what defines my aesthetic is to use Houzz, and the ideabooks function built into the website.  I will discuss further the best way to use Houzz as a communication tool between yourself, and your architect in a future article.  Unless you approach an architect asking them to produce their masterpiece, and that you will then live in it, most projects have to maintain an existing architectural integrity of a home, or begin to create a new aesthetic.  In order to do that, these ideas must be conveyed, and understood by both parties.  Pictures being worth a thousand words is an egregiously overused phrase, but it is because there is so much truth to it.  As an example, if you solicit the services of an architect, and want to remodel a bathroom, having a handful of pictures of projects you like, and reasons for liking their features, at your first meeting with your architect puts you several steps ahead in the process allowing for the entire project to hit the ground running. An architect is formally trained to develop their own aesthetic with its own identity and preferences.  The sign of professional is the ability to understand a client’s aesthetic, and how to properly apply it to their project.

Sticky Note Conclusion

Accomplishments, Aspirations, and Aesthetics are key items to consider when beginning a conversation with your architect.  As archtiects, we are happy to express our thoughts and ideas, but in order to truly make home your own, we need to know about your experiences, what you hope this experience will be, and what your personal style is.  The more information the better.

If you have any questions about the things an architect needs to know, or you have compiled these and are ready to discuss your next project, please reach out, and tell us what you have in mind.

Budget

When to Spare No Expense

This article is going to focus on budget, a topic we began to cover in the article on the “3 legs of a successful project“.

Almost every project will have room for strategic budget decisions to allow for the total cost to come down while maintaining the integrity of the project.  However there are certain instances when the expense of a specific element, or the extent of a new finish cannot be minimized without compromising the quality of the overall project.  This article is aimed at educating you on how to identify these parts of your project, and how to maintain project integrity even in the face of impending cost cuts.

There are several ways to consider a budget when planning for a home project.  One type of budget for planning your project is an overall budget, the money available to do the whole project, and this approach tends not to put any hierarchical preference to any one piece of the project.  A second approach to budgeting for a project is to segment the overall budget into pools based on what the project is.  For example, if you are planning for a kitchen renovation, you may have a budget for cabinets, countertops, flooring, paint, and appliances, and each of these items has its own budget within the overall budget.  A final approach to budgeting is to have an itemized budget.  This strategy would require a lot of pre-planning, and would benefit from  coordination with an architect.  An itemized budget would have every single element of your project listed, like a shopping list, providing the most accurate overview of your project.

When considering a home renovation project, I find that the second approach, segmenting your budget into pools under the umbrella of the overall budget is the best way to plan for a successful project.  This allows for you to appropriate funds to parts of the project you want to be the best, and can cut back where a more economical option would still keep the project in budget, and maintain the overall quality.

Example

Example

Now, to the meat of this article, when to spare no expense.  In the end, this is a judgement call on your part, but prioritizing goals on a project is the key.  I will use my kitchen renovation example once again (sorry, but I will keep bringing it up as it is easy to relate to).  In this example, your overall budget is $10,000.  Your budget for countertops is $4,000, your budget for new cabinets is $3,000, and the remaining $3,000 is for appliances.  You really want new quartz countertops, and thought that while you were replacing them, you might as well get new cabinets and appliances.  This sets up your expectations, and priorities.  It is critical that you do not lose sight of your original goal, so that the final project will reflect that rather than dilute it.  Now that you have a budget, and scope in mind you contact an architect, and they explain to you that the design and construction will be approximately 6 weeks.  You now know the three critical components to your successful home project, and you decide to move forward with the project.

After design work, and initial bids from contractors you find that your project is over budget by $3,000 for a total of $13,000. This could have happened for several reasons, but for the sake of this example, the breakdown ended up being as follows:  $4,500 for countertops, $5,000 for cabinets, and $3,500 for appliances.  At this point it is imperative that you consult with your architect on how best to bring the project back to within your budget.  Together you should have a clear idea of what is critical to the success of the project, where you can spare no expense, and what may be made more economical, or eliminated altogether.  A sample solution to this could be to eliminate the new appliances from this project, and complete the countertops and cabinets for the original budget.  The finished project would have successfully included new quartz countertops, and cabinets (the majority of the cost), and allow for future replacement of appliances when funds become available.

A separate article on effectively phasing projects is forthcoming for those of you who would like each project to spare no expense, and have time to build up budgets for each portion of your project to complete them as the funds are ready.

I hope this article was helpful in educating you on how to keep perspective when budgets may get blown, and how an architect can aid in maintaining project integrity, and allowing the project to move forward on budget, even if some more economical choices need to be made.

Sticky Note Conclusion

When to spare no expense can be an incredibly hard decision to come by when you have so much emotionally, and literally, invested in a project, but maintaining clarity on the goals of the project are essential to ensuring the final product is a success.

If you need help planning the budget, and setting the goals for your next project, please reach out, and tell us what you have in mind.

*Photo credit for the featured image: toolstotal