Skip to main content

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.
 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Recent changes to the Building Regulations and how they might affect your extension

Roles and requirements under the Building Safety Act (BSA) 2022 I am sure that you are all aware of the horrific scenes at Grenfell Tower and discussions about building safety that were prompted by the aftermath. The main result of this investigation has been a new Act of Parliament, called the Building Safety Act, which came into force on 1 st  October. This has sought to ensure the process that we use to create and construct buildings is properly managed, monitored and complies with Regulations in a clearer way.   In practice, if all those involved in the building process are competent and communicate properly, this may not make any difference to the thinking, building and process that we currently undertake. However, it will require us to be able to demonstrate that this is happening. It applies to every size of building project that falls within the Building Regulations approval requirements, from skyscrapers to garage conversions.   The Act has defined some roles and...
Post a Comment
Read more

Doing it yourself – my own experience at the sharp end

8 things I learned from renovating and extending my own home It’s nearly five years now since the dust settled on a complete refurbishment and extension on my own house. But I still recall the experience regularly when I’m talking to clients about the process and complexities of extending a home. To accommodate the needs of my growing family (their physical size rather than an increase in numbers!) our choice was to move or to extend. This wasn’t the first extension I had made to my home, having built on an office for my business several years before.  But it would have a far greater impact: to allow a larger bedroom for my son, we had to rework a large part of the house and move the stairs to gain access to a new first floor space over the garage. In addition, we needed to be able to stay living in the house while the work was done, and my office had to be functional at all times to keep the money coming in to pay for it! My design didn’t create a huge area of extra spac...
Post a Comment
Read more

How much will my building project cost?

  Why your architect can't give you a simple answer "How much will it cost?" It's literally the million dollar question - though my clients are usually hoping for an answer that doesn't run to seven figures in sterling or dollars. Architects are not costing professionals, though they'll have an idea of typical costs in your area, based on experience. They'll have asked broad questions about your budget before getting to work on designs. But it's difficult to establish costs accurately at the outset of a project, in a variable market with many factors that can affect cost considerations. If you want to get an accurate costing for a project, you could employ a quantity surveyor - a building cost specialist. Some quantity surveyors will give you a broad-brush estimate for the build cost that you can use as a benchmark for comparison with tenders. If you want very accurate prices, they can also do a more detailed assessment, but this can cost a lot. Your a...
Post a Comment
Read more