#371 - 5 THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE BUILDING A HOME OR HIRING AN ARCHITECT
SUMMARY
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design discuss 5 things clients should know before starting a new home or remodel project:
Start by starting
Determine why you are doing the project
Do not rely on luck for success
Be efficient without shortcutting the process
Communicate with your partner.
Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
(00:30) Starting by starting.
“A more productive way of starting to work with an architect or designer is by approaching it like a close collaboration. There's no need for you to feel like you have to figure out all these design ideas and then approach an architect. Because even if you attempt doing that, we're going to deconstruct all of that information as part of our analysis to then take the right steps in the correct direction. Thinking about us as a close collaborative friend is a great way to do start.” (04:28)
(13:05) Determine why you are doing the project and what you want it to give you.
“Figuring out why you are doing the project is the most crucial information you can come to an architect with, rather than what kind of windows you want. Why are you building a new house? Why are you remodeling your house? How long are you planning to live here? Questions that tie the project to you personally.” (15:30)
“I do also believe it is the architect's responsibility to extract this information from the client, to bring these questions to the surface and require the client to think about these things. A big role of the architect is knowing what questions to ask. It's a funny thing that if you ask the right questions, the right answers tend to come with them. The solutions draw themselves.” (24:30)
(31:23) Do not count on luck as a way to have success.
“Design and construction is navigating a field of landmines—problems waiting to happen. You want to be prepared by doing as much research as possible to find out where all the landmines are so every step you take is with complete and total confidence in the right spot, for every single step for the entire mile. That's what design and construction is like. Every misstep you take triggers another problem. Sometimes that problem is triggered immediately if you're lucky. Other times that problem is triggered months down the line and it ends up being much bigger. That's a way of saying that the real way to have success in a project is to never think you're going to be the fortunate one and luck is a thing that you are going to use to have a good outcome regarding the whole project or one specific thing.” (33:50)
(35:50) Trust the process and do not shortcut it.
“In the design and construction process from the very beginning to the very end, success is all about spending a little bit of time and money now to save time and money later. So if you're ever at a moment where you think, “Well, I can spend less time and money right now and I think it's going to be okay.” Don't do that. Efficiency is gained by operating a certain way, not by removing things. That's just how the game works.” (45:48)
(46:44) Communicate with your partner or spouse.
"I don't think anyone really says this. I think it's a conversation that architects have amongst architects. But if you want to talk about efficiency, that's one thing that clients could work on… how they communicate with their significant others to be more efficient in design meetings and decision-making to move the project forward. You would be surprised how many people are not on the same page. In a way it's understandable because oftentimes couples are in different professions, therefore their brain is wired differently and the way they process information and make decisions could be very different.” (46:54)
