Ask an Architect
What Design Professionals Do I Need to Work on My Project?
Not every project has the budget for an architect, an interior designer, a landscape architect, a mechanical engineer, a geotechnical engineer, an acoustical consultant, a lighting designer, a code consultant, an accessibility consultant, or a myriad of other professions. Which ones do you need for your project?
October 4, 2012
As an architect, I’m trained in a lot of things and have to know a good deal about a million of them. Site planning, window details, the pros and cons of interior finishes, who makes a great furnace, what products are ecologically friendly, what kind of window coverings are best, and on and on. There are times when the amount of stuff I research or keep track of becomes almost humorous.
One of the great things about being an architect though is knowing that I don’t have to know EVERYTHING about every topic. What I do need to know is WHO knows everything about each topic. Knowing what you know and knowing when to look to an expert is probably the best piece of advice I ever followed and it serves me well when working on complicated projects.
So what does that mean for you? Well, it means sometimes it makes a lot of sense to hire the experts in their field and bring them to the project and work it into the budget. Not every project has the budget for an architect, an interior designer, a landscape architect, a mechanical engineer, a geotechnical engineer, an acoustical consultant, a lighting designer, a code consultant, an accessibility consultant, or a myriad of other professions. That’s fine and that’s where the “know a bit about everything” mantra of Architecture comes into play. I know a good amount about each one of those fields. But in some cases, we need more than that. Finding the right balance between skills and budget is something that I can help my clients help navigate with a discussion on the pros and the cons.
And that’s also when “my entourage” comes into play. Knowing and working with talented and skilled professionals in their respective industries is one of the cool things about what I do. When I get to work with them on projects it always adds that extra something. After years in this profession, I have a built a pretty great network of the people to call for different situations (because there are always unique challenges. I’m still surprised at some of the funny questions I get).
So while some architects can have contentious relationships with other design professionals, perhaps out of fear that they’re stealing work or trying to pass themselves off as architects, I don’t fall into that camp. Where appropriate, bringing different skills to the table with surgical-like precision is truly helpful to the design process. And in the end, I’d rather have a fantastic project than a great project where I had to do every single thing.
Remember, my job is to be my client’s advocate, not my own.
