Is Working With an Architect Right for You?

Is Working With an Architect Right for You?

If you’re a prospective client looking to get an architectural project underway, you’ll find plenty of articles and advice pieces out there analysing and unpacking what to look for in an architect — questions to ask, attributes to consider, important signs to be wary of, and so on. Indeed, if you’re doing your due diligence for a home building or extension project, chances are you’ve read a few of these and gained some useful insight into the different approaches and specialisms that are out there.

Rather than spend time repeating the good advice of others on how to find the perfect architect for your project, we’re much better placed to express our own personal perspectives on working with new people — so, if you’re considering working with us, these are five key questions that we think will help bring some clarity to your decision.

1. Are you ready to be involved and invested in the process?

We love nothing more than when you commit to being an integral part of the process. Time and time again, we learn that clients get much deeper satisfaction from stepping into a fully realised project that they have been intimately involved with, and we work better as designers and architects when the client’s fingerprints are on the project.

It’s also important that the journey is enjoyable, not just the final result — and some of our most rewarding projects over the years have been working alongside clients who have relished each phase of developing a new home perfectly tailored to their lives, from early discussions to completed construction and furnishing. You may only do this once in your life, so enjoy it!

2. Do you feel comfortable placing trust in professionals and architectural experts?

There’s nothing more important to us than making sure your project works out as well as it possibly can, and we’ll always prioritise this over time, fees, and any other consideration. With that in mind, it’s imperative that clients trust us to do the right thing and guide the project in the best direction at each stage.

We look for clients who place supreme confidence in us and know that we are on their side — it’s not a responsibility we take lightly, and you’ll see that at each stage. The trust between Brown & Brown and our clients is integral to our shared success and it’s the bedrock of the projects you see on our website and social media feeds.

3. Can you remain open-minded throughout the project?

Your project will be shaped by a wide variety of factors — including the ideas and requirements you bring with you to our first discussions together — but our approach to architectural design means we’ll often present you with interesting alternatives along the way.

For us, it’s so valuable when a client considers each with due care. If you come into a project open to new ideas and possibilities, the process can be richly rewarding — and some of our most distinctive and successful work to date has come from considering the option less ordinary.

4. Are you decisive?

With a variety of options, ideas and design routes to consider throughout the concept stages and into design and construction, it won’t surprise you to learn that there are lots of decisions to be made by you. We look for decisiveness in our clients, and (as mentioned in point 2) we look for clients who will make these key decisions in the full confidence that Brown & Brown will deliver the best as a result.

Our appreciation for decisive clientele is not to say that we disregard the difficulty of certain decisions, and we always make ourselves available to clients with honest, professional advice on each choice — weighing up all factors, including the site, the budget and what we’ve learned about you and your life.

5. Will you challenge us?

Trust and confidence in our experience and expertise does not mean that challenging, questioning and seeking clarity is off the table — far from it. We appreciate a client who is so enthusiastic and committed to their new home that they will analyse each aspect in detail and query anything that requires more context or adjustment.

We also appreciate a challenge in the shape of a client who brings us a unique or tantalising objective to meet with their project — or perhaps a site that has distinct or unusual qualities to it. We savour each chance to do different — and we look for clients who aren’t satisfied by the usual approaches to architecture and living.

If you see yourself in these questions, then working with an architectural practice like Brown & Brown is likely to be an excellent choice. Clients who commit to all of the qualities outlined always draw the most satisfaction from their projects — from the early discussion stages, to completion and in the years that follow.

The true sense of 'ownership' that comes with conceiving and developing your own home is hard to adequately describe, and the connections we've made with each client and their completed projects are meaningful to us too, as professionals and as people.

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