Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Oct 24, 2010 10:20 pm Hey guys, been lurking for a while, but finally have a question to ask My partner and I have a nice big 2000sqm block in Melton that we're ready to build on and due to the size of the land and some unique designs we want, we've decided to enlist an architect to design the house for us, instead of taking a model home and modifying it for our desires. Has anyone who has built their home with an architect got any tips on using the skills of one? What sort of stuff should we plan and do before contacting an architect, as to give them the best chance of designing what we want with as little fuss as possible? Re: Using an Architect to Design Home - Tips? 2Oct 25, 2010 3:31 pm An understanding of the types of spaces you want/utilise. An clear understanding of any special need/requests (i.e single story). An understanding of budget. An understanding of finishes you like/don't like. I could go on forever. Basically the more you know the easier it is to have the conversations with the architect about all manor of things. I was doing research for 6+ months before talking to our architect. When I did sit down with him I gave him a brief of what I wanted and from there a concept was drawn up. Once I was happy with that the fine tuning around finished and details was nutted out. This was mainly done by the architect presenting three options and me picking one. Renovation Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=38489 Re: Using an Architect to Design Home - Tips? 3Oct 25, 2010 8:22 pm One thing I would recommend is to have an independent 3rd party do the pricing estimate for you like a builder. Architects may be great at design and selling a concept etc, but I have found they are generally horrible when it comes to estimating building costs. What Biff has outlined covers the basics really. The big one IMO is having a rough idea of how you want the floor plan to be and flow (just roughly, doesn't have to be finite specific). No point saying I want a 4br / 3 bath house - GO. Leaves too much to interpretation and the design / consult / redesign process could or will be drawn out longer than needs to be. Re: Using an Architect to Design Home - Tips? 4Oct 26, 2010 5:47 am My tip is: don't use an architect. Find a good building designer for a much more cost effective service. Building designers can design any sort of home you want whether it cost $200K or $2mill. Check out: www.bdav.org.au for info on what building designers do. Re: Using an Architect to Design Home - Tips? 5Oct 26, 2010 7:48 am Our architect swore she visited our block, which you would expect, but when we saw the first plan she came up with, it had a balcony off the kitchen....facing West....overlooking 20 of our neighbours behind us and huge floor to ceiling windows on the West facing walls, so apart from the afternoon sun glaring in, the entire neighbourhood would see everything we did it wasn't a problem getting rid of these things but then a new plan has to be drawn up...more time wasted. I also think they go overboard with sizing of rooms, the word "budget" isn't in their vocabulary ours started with everything big and we had to reduce room sizes to keep the cost down. Re: Using an Architect to Design Home - Tips? 6Oct 26, 2010 8:22 am Thanks for the suggestions guys - had no idea such thing as a building designer existed. Re: Using an Architect to Design Home - Tips? 7Oct 26, 2010 11:50 am Arcadia My tip is: don't use an architect. Find a good building designer for a much more cost effective service. Building designers can design any sort of home you want whether it cost $200K or $2mill. Check out: http://www.bdav.org.au for info on what building designers do. Meh, each to their own but I doubt a building designer could match the fantastic design our architect did for our renovation. Our build process has also been flawless due to the detail provided to the builder and the really good working relationship the two have. That has certainly justified the cost of the architect for us. It really depends what you are after and what you are trying to achieve. Renovation Thread: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=38489 Re: Using an Architect to Design Home - Tips? 8Oct 29, 2010 6:28 pm We have designed with an architect, we had a very difficult site, and I believe most Designers would have struggled, it ended up being a team effort, with the junior designer and the senior architect. The cheaper option than a Designer is a builder with an in house designer - Design/Construct they usually design for a very low fixed rate, as they know they are getting the building work. One thing not mentioned is the cost of the service for an Architect. Get a fixed price for all meetings and development of the plans. Ours was only till DA stage, if I did it again, I would have done it all the way to CC stage. Meet with few of them, you will soon know who you develop a repour with immediately... Unfortunately for my back pocket, we hit it off with one of the Architects immediately! Picnic Point - Subdivision and DA Approved -On Hold - March 2012 Georges Fair - Moved in Dec 2013 PP - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=25747 Re: Using an Architect to Design Home - Tips? 9Oct 30, 2010 10:53 pm Hi Saw 5 architects , 3 of them were nutcases Had 2 we thought were OK Got one to do some prelim scetches , what he gave us was rubbish didnt listen to a thing we told him essentially di what he thought would be good with no idea of cost control went thru a builder who was building in our suburb and we like the style of house He put us onto a designer they use. Was a fraction of the cost and did a good design we then fine tuned We have a difficult site sloped block and needed to get views and he did a good job Knock on some doors of houses you like and ask them who they used to design their house and were they happy, most people are happy to do this. The one thing I would agree with is after the initial design (before DA) either designer or architect get someone like a quantity surveyor to cost the build properly. These guys will unbiasly cost the build and then you should get a good idea of how much it really costs. Architects have no idea of building costs IMO, have very fancy features that cost the earth often and dont care about your budget (they are not paying and the the more it costs the more they get as a percentage if you get them to supervise the build ). Once you have a design and costed so your happy with the rough price put the design out to tender for the builders. You then know who is ripping you off and who is offering you a reasonable price . Make a short list of builders with a reasonable price (not the cheapest) and door knock houses they have built for feedback. Get your solicitor or a building advocate (whos on your side, not the builders) go thru the contract so you are happy with it if you dont fully understand everything, particularly the progress payments .(we had an issue with this) Do your homework on what level of finish you want or can really afford or things will blow out badly good luck Mike 2/3 of the way thru the build Re: Using an Architect to Design Home - Tips? 10Dec 17, 2010 10:58 am Thanks for the tips everyone, will be looking in to it further Your build is relatively simple, I believe your job can be easily done by a good building designer, you really do not need to pay for the architect. Remember, architect's… 3 8363 I've just had a look at the website. The company are just building broker's. There are plenty of similar companies that basically draw your plans (they own them so you… 8 4377 Just be careful with building stability during construction, that is when the structure may be weakened, refer to your engineering drawings for stability methodology. 1 6196 |