#413 - ADVICE FOR CLIENTS: WORKING WITH AN ARCHITECT
SUMMARY
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design share their advice for clients working with architects. They discussed finding the right architect; effective communication with architects; respecting the process; remaining open-minded; bringing good energy and professionalism to the project; ego and creativity; and more. Enjoy!
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Introduction.
(00:35) Finding the right architect.
“The most important thing about selecting an architect is having philosophical alignment. Yes, you should like their work, absolutely. But do you need to like their work so much, or be so specific that you want to do a version of a house they’ve already done? No. You should choose an architect who does the type of work that’s roughly in the direction of what you're thinking. But you don't need to be so closed-minded as to say it must be an architect who does exactly what you’re looking for.” (01:17)
(07:16) Communicate effectively with an architect.
“You don't want to micromanage. Oversharing is also not great because it can be overwhelming. You have to filter what is important for you to communicate to your architect because they already have a lot in their head to figure out. You need to leave space for the professionals to do their work and not bombard them with a lot of small things. Or if you do, send them one giant email and throw everything in it, so they can read it at their own pace and extract what's important. It's about the pace and frequency at which you communicate. Sending texts every hour because you thought about something new is too much.” (08:13)
“Don't let your concerns fester and grow. You have to communicate the issue. As a client, you want to feel comfortable and confident in what's happening. You cannot feel that way unless you know the explanation for why things are happening the way they are. Most people ask questions near the beginning, and at some point, they stop asking. It’s not because they're not interested, but because we've built trust. If I'm a client and I ask you, the architect, 12 questions over the first three months, and you have very detailed and thorough responses, the next time I have a minor concern, I'm probably not going to voice it because I know it'll be taken care of. As a client, you're trying to build trust in the architect for yourself and the way you do that is to ask questions.” (18:08)
(22:41) Respect the architect's process.
(33:04) Remain open-minded.
“Short design feedback clients provide such as, “I like it or I don't like it,” is counterproductive and harmful because you're training the architects to not ask questions or have further conversations because you are not willing to do that. [In the long-term] this makes it hard to move forward together. This problem also happens in architecture and design offices, where the principals swoop in after the team has done a week of work and they say, “No, no, yes, no, yes, no.” Then after the meeting, the team will try to create a design just to get a ‘yes’ answer from the principals instead of thinking critically. In this case, you're not getting the most out of the team. The same applies to clients working with architects. As a client, this is the last thing you want. You're paying them to be critical and to produce something phenomenal that you didn't think of before. They will only be encouraged to do that if they feel like you are giving carefully thought-out information and being collaborative, [and not just saying you like or don’t like something].” (39:44)
(42:45) Bring good energy & professionalism.
“The energy the client brings to meetings, emails, or phone calls impacts everyone else in the team directly or passively. If you bring bad energy, people will feel it and probably think about the project negatively...Bringing good energy means keeping everybody excited and involved in the project, paying attention, and giving their best. It just trickles to everything that everyone's doing in the team.” (44:57)
(52:09) Architect's ego and creativity.
