How To Choose An Architect For Home Building

1 Sep

Whether you’re looking to build a new property to add to your investment portfolio, or you’re a first-time buyer looking to build a home, part of the process will be ensuring that you find the best-suited architect for the job. Selecting a good architect will give you peace of mind that your build is going to be complete to the highest standard.

Your architect can help you design the look and layout of your home while also ensuring that the overall design is functional, safe, and energy-efficient. Ideally, you want a home that successfully encapsulates your lifestyle, values and personality. It is the role of the architect to help capture each of those unique elements and create a property that will be suited to your day-to-day life and your personal vision of comfort and luxury.

Things To Do When Choosing An Architect

If you’re wondering how to choose an architect for home building, there are certain things that you can do to help make the selection process easier.

Research the industry

The first step is to create a shortlist of potential architects. Do a search for architects in your area, keep an eye out on social media channels for property designs you like or an architect that matches your style, and speak to your neighbours and friends as they might even have a recommendation. Slowly you will start to develop a list of business and architect names. You may even find yourself adding and subtracting to this list as the days go by, but this is all part of the process of developing a greater sense of which architect could be right for you.

While on your search, keep in mind that an architect is different from a building designer. Architects will have five years of university level design training, plus professional registration requirements. This level of training means that architects are well equipped to understand and navigate the potential risks of building.

Meet with architects

Once you’ve narrowed down your shortlist to a few potential matches, arrange a meeting with three or four of your favourite architects.

It’s one thing being able to design houses, but being able to manage a project and successfully work with clients is another. Meeting the architects will help to give you an idea of what they will be like to work with, what their professional and communication skills are like, and you might even be able to see some of their previous designs and technical drawings. Taking the time to look at an architect’s work is extremely beneficial for you to understand the kind of projects the architect has worked on in the past, any tricky design obstacles they have overcome, and the type of property designs they are familiar with.

Choose an architect you can trust

While it is important to keep the architect’s style and skill in mind, it is also crucial that you assess the chemistry you have with them. You will be spending a lot of time going back and forth on ideas and designs with your architect throughout the planning and building process, so having peace of mind that you can have an open line of communication with your architect is an absolute must.

Know your budget

Going into the initial meeting with your architect, it is extremely important that you have a rough idea of your budget. Some property designs can be extremely complex, so in turn, could require a larger budget. Being open about your aspirations and budget from the start means that the architect will be able to identify any obstacles early. This will allow you to refocus your priorities and make important design decisions. Some architects may also have a price range that they work within and may not be suitable for your build.

Professional architects, for outstanding results

At JDA Lammin, we're Bayside architects ready to work with you to create homes and properties that are suited to your location, needs and budget. We make it our mission to get an understanding of your dream property and convert this vision into a reality. We aim to build strong partnerships with our clients and involve them at every step of the way. In addition, we have a strong team of creative specialised partners who all have a wide breadth of local knowledge and the skills necessary to resolve your planning and building issues with the utmost care and efficiency.

We have the experience to design and deliver a broad range of homes and building types, including single dwellings, multi-residential townhouses, small apartments, and hybrid residential-business spaces. Our spectrum of service spans from renovations and home extensions through to full builds.

We’re here to help your vision come to life, whether it is to design your dream property or assist with permit approval. Simply give us a call at 0439991887 to request a consultation.

Harriet Lammin

Harriet Lammin is the business owner and Principal architect at JDA Lammin Architects. She has been an architect for 30 years practising both in Australia and the UK, working on residential and commercial projects of all sizes.

After completing her studies in the UK and working for several years in the London, she emigrated to Australia in 1997 and began her career in Melbourne working for large practices such as DCM and Bates Smart. In 2001, she transitioned to small practice at JDA Architects and became the business owner and Director in 2018.

Harriet specialises in small to medium sized residential architecture and brings a rich variety of experience to her projects at JDA Lammin. She forms meaningful relationships with her clients and the project team, which she believes results in the best outcome. Harriet takes great pleasure in seeing a building come to life, however big or small.

https://www.jdaarchitects.com.au/