How to pick an architect and how to manage the build
Experts suggest thinking about how you’ll use your home in future when considering a building project.
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Extending your home or remodeling your kitchen and bathroom may be an exciting prospect but it’s worth carefully planning the design and build to manage the risks involved, according to specialists who spoke to CNBC.
If your project is fairly large, such as a home extension where you’ll be knocking walls down, it’s a good idea to hire an architect because they can guide you through the relevant planning permission and building rules depending on where you live. They can also help you appoint a building contractor (known as a builder in the U.K.).
Write an initial brief — essentially a wish list for your project — before approaching an architect, is the advice of a spokesperson from the U.K.’s Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), in an email to CNBC. Think about how you’ll use the new space now and how that might change in the future.
Then, consider your budget before you approach architecture firms, said Richard Parr, founder of design studio Richard Parr Associates. “Do the math before your first meeting,” he said in an email to CNBC.
He also advocates thinking about the “emotional” brief — Parr likes to get to know his clients by asking them questions like how they spend their time and where they like to go on vacation — as a favorite destination might influence their design choice.
Green building
Finally, consider green credentials. It’s worth focusing on any sustainability goals upfront, according to Ruth Lang, lead researcher in low carbon housing at the Future Observatory, a research program run by London’s Design Museum.
“Thinking about how your project can make better use of passive heating and lighting, and use reclaimed or natural materials, which have a lower carbon impact, can hugely change the manner in which a project would be conceived,” she told CNBC by email. You can also ask your team how they might minimize waste or repurpose materials, Lang said.
“If you were thinking of taking out a marble kitchen countertop, for example, you don’t have to reuse this in the kitchen again. You could instead consider how the material available could be used in other applications, such as being cut up for bathroom tiling,” she said.
Appointing an architect
RIBA’s online Find an Architect service asks for details such as your project’s aims and budgets, design style (such as whether you want it to be in keeping with the existing building), your overall aims — including more space, flexibility or more light — plus any restrictions like being in a conservation area.
In Germany, the Association of German Architects (known as the BDA), has around 5,000 members and you can search its directory by region, while the American Institute of Architects also has a listing of firms that is searchable by state or zip code.
RIBA advises meeting four or five firms in person to see how you get on, and to…
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