An architect is a skilled professional who creates designs for redevelopments, alterations, and new construction projects. By using their high-level drawing skills and construction knowledge, they design safe, sustainable, and functional buildings. Furthermore, they operate as part of the team throughout the whole construction process.
Before the building process, architects visit the site location to visually prepare and do up scaled drawings. Plus, they estimate materials, costs, and the time-frame of the project.
What Other Activities Does an Architect do?
Architects’ activities involve responsibilities more than just the artistic elements of design. If they have a team behind them they often have to manage and look after employees as well as manage construction projects if they’re in the position to do so.
Depending on the job size, a job for an architect can span for a long duration, that’s why it’s important they look after coordination duties as well as oversee projects as it undergoes the initial design stages later to the stages of construction and completion.
It’s easy to forget the many steps that are taken in the design process too. These include writing proposals, reports and doing up contracts before a plan for the design is set into place.
When working with a client, they’ll communicate and share ideas during the process and be able to present their ideas into schematic designs which is essential for ensuring both the client and architect are on the same page for the whole design and construction duration.
What Are the Different Types of Architects?
Under the architect umbrella, there are several different architect titles that one may have, such as:
- Technical architect
This architect is responsible for the fine details of a building’s planning. The planning should ensure that the project will be built and it will function. The technical architect creates construction drawings and also participates in construction administration.
- Design architect
A design architect is responsible for conceiving a project’s overall design. They analyze the building site and consider the clients’ budget due to their needs.
- Project manager
Project managers are responsible for developing a work plan and coordination. This profession requires an in-depth knowledge of the architectural process providing the right communications with third parties, solving problems, and leading.
- Landscape architect
The responsibility of a landscape architect is designing outdoor spaces like gardens and parks to not just look visually pleasing but also function according to the area’s surroundings. This type of architect requires similar skills as other positions, but they also require extensive knowledge on planting design and stormwater management.
Do I Need to Hire an Architect?
After learning more about the duties of an architect you may be wondering, do I need an architect for my next house build or big project? Many are tempted to leave it up to the project or house builder or even take it on themselves. What needs to be kept in mind though is that these are the professionals and in addition to creating pristine projects that “wow”, they also are able to solve problems that some other professions can’t.
So if it is a larger office or an outdated home that you need assistance with they work with you to make that happen. If you do decide to go ahead with an architect’s help, Co-Lab Architecture are a Melbourne based architectural firm and do have a residential emphasis if it is your home you’re planning to work on.
It does depend on where you’re based as to who to hire but they have built many personal environments and you can find more about their previous work and projects on their website, if you need some inspiration before giving the go ahead too.
To sum up, we need architects. People need places to live, eat, work, learn, shop, and play and architects are responsible for designing all these. They work on the public as well as on private projects and create outdoor and indoor spaces that do more than just satisfy the eye. Architects can design anything from a single room to an entire complex of buildings that’s why it’s worth investing in the right architect to help bring your vision for your home or space to life.
