Category: sustainable design

A person new to the process of having a home designed asked us to recommend appropriate reading materials to help him learn more about what to expect. We thought we share our process to help those of you who dream of having a house uniquely yours but are hesitant by the process.  Most potential homeowners pick the easy paths: buying an existing home; a home that is already built or they approach a contractor or a builder to build them a home from a plan they found. Often the builder will build them a house that he is familiar with and built over and over already.  An even larger percentage will opt for a home in a subdivision that is an exact duplicate of every other home.    For a nation that prides it self on being individualists, the majority of us would not think twice about living in cookie cutter homes.  We do so because it is easy to pick and choose what we have available like types of crackers on a grocery shelf. Mass produced homes are safe and predictable choices but they represent designs that fail to take into account our individuality, the quality that makes us human.   An ill fitting home could ruin lives and marriages without the homeowners’ awareness.

Where we live and how we build our homes has a social impact and also a larger impact globally on our environment. Mass produced homes are built cheaply and quickly to maximize the developer’s profit often with out consideration for the local environment.  Model house plans designed for the temperate climate are often being used in the tropics for example. These houses are insulated and most likely designed to be mechanically air-conditioned.

We realized that as a future homeowner you have many choices to make and for you to inquire or pursue having a home designed by an architect deserves praises for making the appropriate steps to help the environment and realizing your dream.

House Designed by An Architect Process:

Property Acquisition

Assuming that you already made the decision to use an architect, he can help you narrow your choices to a property that best suites your goals.

Selecting an Architect

Review an architect’s portfolio, design philosophy and goals. Choose one that qualifies and more importantly shares your goals because both of you will enter into a relationship that may last two years or more depending on the duration of the design and construction process. The architect is hired to serve your best interests, to design a product that suits your needs, satisfy his design goals and to help you through the construction process.

Owner and Architect Contract /Agreement

The architect shall prepare a proposal for his services for your review and acceptance. The more detailed the proposal the better it is for you. Typically, the architect will itemize his fees based on services that he is willing to provide including his assumptions about the project that is unknown.  He may also include items that you are to provide or reimburse, i.e. site information or pay for reproduction costs, travel or mileage etc.

Once both parties accept the proposal and the architect is selected you should enter into an agreement or a contract. This is sometimes referred to as a contract document, which can be formal or informal and is usually prepared by the architect.  Informal agreement can be the architect’s proposal. Formal forms are found on the American Instituted of Architects, AIA, site http://www.aia.org/contractdocs/new/architects/AIAS076593

Contract document contain provisions that can be tailored to specific terms and conditions designed to protects you and the architect from defaulting on your agreements.

Design Process

Preliminary design is a short period where the architect take in your requirement or goals, sometime is referred to a program or programming process, then generate a conceptual design(s) to be reviewed and approved by you. This concept design(s) is meant to let you know if the architect is on the right track.  Depends on the personality involved, initially, what you envisioned and the architect’s conceptual design does not mesh, and before you discount the concept, you owe it to yourself to sit back and let the architect explain his vision.  If you do not understand his vision in two dimensions, request that he provide you with a three dimensional, 3D model.   Or it could be love at first sight, which is sometimes comforting or could back fire later in the process. The key in the initial stages is for you to be flexible yet you need to have a clear fix on your goals and let the architect be creative. If you hired and architect then insisting on your own design then he is not needed.  The architect’s vision along with your goals may produce an exceptional product that will delight both parties to a win-win situation.  Changes to the design are possible and encouraged in this early stage within reason because changes take time.
Construction document process is when the concept design is being detailed so that it can be constructed. This process will take the most time and effort for the architect and his team of consultants which may include: structural, electrical, mechanical, civil, and wastewater engineers, interior designer and lighting designer Periodical progress meeting with the architect will keep you inform and involved. You may be required to make material selections and design decisions along the way on your initiative or at the architect’s request.  Keep in mind, as the design gets closer to finish even small changes initiated by you has rippling affect and may cause delay. As a rule of thumb, you should stay involved, informed and make clear decisions to help the project move along.

Permitting Process

Permit Process is when the construction document is finished and the project is ready to be built. First these documents have to go through local public works or building department to get approval and permits for construction. The architect or the contractor can do this process, which may last a month or longer.  You are responsible for all the permitting fees.

Selecting a Contractor

This process is similar to selecting an architect. An easy method is to select one whom you know and trust, or you could choose a lengthier alternate by asking three or more contractors to bid on your project. This later method will hopefully give you a fair price to select.  The architect should be involved to guide you through the contactor selection process and especially during the bidding process since he is most intimate with the construction document and is knowledgeable of the industry.  The ideal situation is for the architect to provide you with a list of contactors whom he had good working relationship which in turn will reduce a great deal of potential conflicts during construction.

Owner and Contractor Agreement

Once you are comfortable with the contractor you selected and are in agreement with his bid to construct you home, you must enter into a detailed contract using AIA forms http://www.aia.org/contractdocs/new/contractors/AIAS076601, or one prepared by an attorney.  Again contracts protect you and the contractor in case either party should default. Construction usually involves a great deal of financial burden and the more you are prepared and insured the better you will be when the going gets tough.  We highly recommend a formal contract or an agreement versus an informal one.

Your contract with the contractor should have detailed instruction on the payment schedule on how and when he is to be paid.

Construction Phase

Once contracts are signed and the contractor has your go ahead with construction, he will mobilize and break ground. The construction usually takes one year, but will depend on the contractor’s schedule.  However, you should allow yourself some flexibility to when a project is “finished” or more precisely when you are able to move in. Though the contractor may be finished enough for you to move in, he is not through with construction until he has complete all that is required according to the construction document, or sometime referred to the plan, and receive the final inspection from the local building department.  If the contractor is deficient, you may withhold his final payment until he is complete.  The construction process is usually the most stressful time for the owner even if the construction document is precise. The stress arises from many decisions you have to make along the way, the dynamic nature of construction or the personalities of the parties involved or all three.  We highly recommend you retain the architect’s services until the very end.  The architect acts on your behalf and stands between you and the contractor during construction to ensure that the project is built according to how it was designed and to protect you from unforeseen costs such as change orders.

Your desire to have a house by an architect has made you a minority. The process may take up to two years to complete and maybe very stressful at time, but ultimately you will have a home that is uniquely yours, oriented specifically for your site and designed to fit in your environment.  Further more you will live in comfort knowing that your house was designed with sustainability principles and actually help you to make a better world.  The misconception that architects are expensive prevails, so as is the misconception that contractor can build inexpensively.  Social, environmental and maintenance costs are often not factored into the price of a home.   Especially in circumstances where a home price per square foot as designed by an architect is less or equal to a spec home built quickly, cheaply and looks like thousands of others.

We summarized the process of hiring an architect to design your home to express the main points of a complicated process that we at fins architecture repeatedly deal with professionally and successfully. An otherwise very daunting task if you are approaching to do it on your own for the first time.

Please also see what an architect can do for you: http://www.aiahonolulu.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=36