Do need an architect? Or somebody else?

There’s Architects like me, technicians, draughtspeople. So who’s right for your project?

Basically it comes down to design, and complexity.

Architects train for at least 7 years, with  experience on a range of buildings like housing, private homes, public buildings, from the urban scale down to the detail.

So if you want that design thinking  – for a bespoke house extension, or to see the development capacity of a site – get an architect.

Architect is a protected title – you need to be registered with the ARB, optionally the RIBA too. And we’re heavily regulated. We use the RIBA Plan of work, a detailed tool to manage the risk in project. But that takes time, which we have to charge for. If the projects too small, it’s just gets proportionally more expensive for us to provide the full set of services from concept design through to completion.  

Architectural Technicans – look out for ones who are chartered with CIAT – often specailise in the simpler residential projects, albeit generally with more of a technical emphasis and less of a design focus.

There’s also unqualified draughts people offering ‘architectural services’. The might be fine for preparing drawings with no design work but beware. I’ve seen them design planning refusals for obvious reasons, or designs for spaces you physically can’t get into!

But if you want the architect’s design thinking, without committing to the full suite of services, we offer a layout service, so our clients get our design thinking to unlock the potential of your property, even if they end up working up those ideas with a technician or their builder.

What can you do to a Listed Building?

Just because a building is listed, doesn’t mean you can’t make changes. But you do need consent, and you need to show that the changes need to improve the heritage value of the building.

For example by restoring historic layouts. This grade II listed house had had a first floor reception room chopped up into bedrooms. We got permission to reinstate the space to its former grandeur.

We got Listed Building Consent to restore the first floor drawing room to its original grandeur.

Or restoring features, like this arcade feature, which we opened back up.

We obtained permission to reopen the blocked up archway between the front and middle rooms of this Georgian house.

Improving the aesthetic value too, here of a 1970s extension which marooned this middle room from any windows. We opened up a new arch from the dining room, and continued the arch theme in new windows opening up the view to the sea.

But what you build, has to match what you’ve got permission for, because it’s a criminal matter not to. What can seem like pragmatic decisions can be costly mistakes to put right.  So I’d strongly recommend keeping your architect on board during the build so changes are managed properly.