Working with an Architect for Your Whole Home Remodel or New Home
When you are looking for a high level of design for your new home or whole home remodel and want an innovative approach that is tailored specifically to your needs, working with an integrated team that includes licensed architects is essential. Architects collaborating with designers and construction professionals from the initial conceptual phase of your project assure your objectives will be met with a feasible, on budget and on-schedule design.
The architectural design discipline includes organizational and technical expertise; it also requires the intangible aspects of emotion, psychology, and artistry. To attain these skills requires years of formal education and a state license examination. When any of the following are required for your project, a highly skilled architect is essential:
- Adding levels or additions or making any other changes to the exterior structure of your home
- Significantly changing your interior floor plan
- Moving interior walls, adding new windows or doors
- Your desire for a high level of design with an innovative approach
Expertise: Architects are licensed professionals who have undergone rigorous education, internships and exams. The role of an architect is not just to design buildings. Through the design, the architect must also protect the health, safety and welfare of the general public and the users of the buildings. Therefore, like medical doctors, one must have a license granted by a U.S. state or territory in order to refer to oneself as an “architect.” (source: AIA – American Institute of Architects)
Perspective: A home remodel is a complex fusion of planning, design and construction. Architects are able to see the many aspects of a remodel – the homeowner’s needs, space and materials requirements, budgets, timetables and permits – and develop the best possible solutions.
Vision: An architect can help you clearly define your project – its scope, features, purpose and functionality – and achieve your goals both functionally and aesthetically. Giving the responsibility of designing your new home to a draftsman or design consultant can often lead to inappropriate, inaccurate and uninspired design solutions. An architect helps you express your own very personal vision.
Value: Because an architect is able to forecast how new construction ties into your existing home’s structural and technical systems and ensures that construction documents are prepared efficiently and accurately, you avoid any costly mistakes during the transition from concept to reality. Architects are also trained to capture energy savings and improve the overall efficiency of your home. The enduring marketability of good design contributes to your home’s value.
All-Important Details: The permitting process is another aspect of the whole home remodel process that architects are uniquely qualified to perform with expertise and efficiency. When you work with a skilled architect, you can rest assured that the building codes for your area and the structural demands of your current home have been incorporated in a proposed design.
Learn more about the benefits of working with an architect for your new home or whole home remodel.
