Hire an Architect
Hire an Architect to maximize your investment, protect your interest, and elevate your final design results. Architects are essential to executing successful projects because we bring expertise, communication skills required for coordination, and additional oversight for new projects. When seeking an architect for your project, you'll need to check credentials and likability.
New patio at Rackets Tap House in Abilene, KS.
When considering the qualifications and experience of an architect, there are a few key factors. First, working with a licensed professional for the jurisdiction is essential. Each state adopts legislation for businesses and individuals to maintain their license. These include initial licensure requirements and the rules to keep your eligibility, including continuing education and ethical requirements. For projects seeking special certificates, one will need to seek out professionals with those credentials, for example, LEED buildings. Lastly, the type of project one is pursuing is additionally important to verify experience and qualifications. Projects with high levels of complexity or unique features may require specialists in those sectors. Most project teams are composed of a variety of team members, each providing professional designs for their specialties.
In addition to the credentials, likability is needed when hiring your architect. The most beneficial architects enter a project at the very beginning and follow through to the end. The architect’s role is to provide critical guidance for health, safety, and welfare while learning what makes your project unique. The architect presents concepts and designs to owners through presentations and communicates approved designs to a contractor through drawings, specifications, and presentations. This relationship requires open communication, transparency, and integrity. An ideal architect is both an educator and a student, able to adjust to challenges that arise and effectively manage the multiple roles the architect fills.
Progress from Midwest Pickleball Club in Papillion, NE.
The highest quality projects are the ones that are most coordinated. The ability to read and review drawings from other trades takes years of practice. From shop drawing review to engineering drawings, developing the communication and review skills required to identify conflicts within a design before building it in the field is the number one way to avoid costly mistakes. My number one question as an architect, every time I make a hire is, “what does successful coordination look like to you?” I seek out action words like strong submittal reviews, proactive problem solving, early conversations, and all-trade meetings.
The benefit of an architect is best when utilized for their services. The architect is responsible for verifying the compliance of construction with the design intent. This is completed through periodic site visits to review work and document those reviews through field reports. These reviews are clear indicators of progress and give talking topics for discussions involving the schedule, budget, and quality of work.
At Foxtail Studios LLC, the processes implemented in our projects seek to capture these requirements for our architectural project. In addition to those listed above, we strive to be a great introductory firm to someone pursuing their first major renovation or new construction work.