So what exactly does an architect do?

It’s probably not what you think

Everyone has heard of an architect as a title of a job, but when you ask people what they think I do, I get a raft of different answers. When I go to a party and meet someone for the first time, in conversation people often ask what I do as a job. They always say “Wow, that’s interesting!” (or cool, or arty or other positive descriptions that I’m happy to hear!) but when we get talking about twhat it entails, it turns out that’s a lot to do with what they’ve seen in the movies – a sexy man with directional specs standing at a drawing board with a cardboard model beside him on the table or striding around a building site with a blueprint in hand.

In fact, my big drawing board now lives in my loft, gathering dust, cardboard models are more often than not replaced by 3D computer imagery… and while I do have my own hard hat for site visits, the plans in my hand aren’t blueprints, they’re just as likely to be on my iPad!

So, what do I really do?

The Oxford dictionary says an architect is: “a person who designs buildings and in many cases also supervises their construction.”

That’s a good start. What does it mean in practice? I produce drawings and instructions to builders to translate the needs and requirements of the users of a building into built form. So that’s about listening and understanding, coming up with creative solutions that take into account what’s possible. And I do it in an aesthetically considered way, which is where the design flair comes in.

A key part of my skills is that I can imagine three dimensional spaces as a response to a set of circumstances. I then produce images so my clients can visualise them too. Then I get down to the nitty gritty with drawings and instructions to builders to show exactly how to turn those concepts into reality.

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