John Walshe: Grand result depends on design

John Walsh. Photo / Supplied

Opinion

A residential construction project, whether it's a new house or a renovation, is a great opportunity - and a significant risk. Get it right and you'll enjoy rooms custom-made for your lifestyle. Get it wrong and you'll wonder why you spent so much on spaces you don't want to be in.

The time to start getting it right is at the very beginning, when you choose a person to design what you want to build. In penny-wise, pound-foolish fashion, people often skimp on this stage, even though design is a minor expense compared to the cost of construction. Money well-spent at the outset of a project is insurance against money wasted at the end.

So, who do you choose? Numerous people offer residential design services. The best space-makers are architects. There is a qualitative difference between their training and skills and those of other building designers.

By the time anyone can claim to be an architect - a title that has statutory protection - he or she will have completed an architecture degree, which is now a five-year course, and will have gained sufficient practical knowledge and experience to satisfy the Architects Registration Board. In order to maintain their registration, architects take part in an ongoing professional development programme administered by the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA), the professional organisation to which the great majority of registered architects belong. The NZIA also runs an extensive awards programme aimed at raising the standards of New Zealand architecture.

Architects can take a building project from its inception, with site selection and design, through the often-complex consenting process to tendering, construction and completion. They know how to manage, on your behalf, relationships with the council, builders and other consultants, such as quantity surveyors and engineers, who may be involved in a project.

Of course, an architect's most important relationship is the one with the client. How do you find the right architect? It might be a matter of recommendation, research or audition, or a bit of all three. It pays to look at examples of any architect's work, and it's best to explore a few options. There are several New Zealand residential architecture magazines on the shelves of bookshops and libraries, and the NZIA has a website - www.architecturenz.net - which lists all of its members, presents examples of their work and has links to the architects' own websites.

As for communicating with an architect, how do you go about that? The NZIA has another website dedicated to the subject - www.talktoanarchitect.co.nz. Trust is essential to the client-architect relationship. Building projects are inherently costly, often protracted, and are prone to encountering unforeseen circumstances. You have to know that when you talk to your architect, he or she will listen.

But the discussion must be two-way. As a client, you also have responsibilities, and you should be assertive. It's up to you to tell your architect what you want; the architect can then help you turn a wish-list into a brief. You may have articles about houses or buildings you like. This material can be helpful, although it probably defeats the purpose of engaging an architect, who provides individual solutions, to say: "I want one of these." An important function of the architect is to determine what is possible. Many clients want more than they can afford and often an architect will have to point out that some compromise is necessary to reconcile ends and means. As a client you'll have opportunities to intercede in the planning process as it progresses from concept design though preliminary design and developed design to detailed design.

Having decided to use an architect, how much will you pay for his or her services? These days, there is no set fee rate. Rather, there are several ways in which architects' fees may be calculated - by lump sum for each stage of service, by hourly rate, by percentage of the contracted works, or by a combination of all three. Needless to say, the subject of fees should be addressed in your first meeting with your architect.

As for how much the overall job will cost, most architects acknowledge that it is a challenge to keep project costs down to below $2500 per square metre.

* Author and communications manager of the NZIA.