Would You Design Your Building by Yourself?

If you’re an architect, probably, your answer will be yes. But some who know a lot about drawings may want to design their own homes by themselves and there are also some that will employ the help of rookie architects because they don’t have enough money or are just not ready to shell out money to take up the services of a qualified architect.

Now to further drive the point home...as to why you will need to have an architect on board, lets understand what does an architect do and what all falls under the architects work profile?


Preliminary Design:
An architect first understands client requirement. He visits your site and gathers the demographics required. Further housing needs are analyzed and a basic schematic design is drafted, a rough budget is prepared and proposed to the client. A general view of how the building will look and fit into the site is prepared. If your site involves expansive landscapes an architect might design photomontages to give you a clear idea of how your residence will look amidst a landscape when designed.

Architectural designs need collective experience at most times. That’s how the great architectural works were produced.

Design development:

Once the preliminary concept is approved, the nitty-gritty’s of turning a concept into a fully fledged design starts. The rough sketches are developed into detailed blueprints and architectural drawings for residential buildings. The spatial demarcations and trims and details that add a distinct style and give character to the interior and exterior of the building are added into the floor plan and perspective drawings.

Construction documentation:

Today modern tools and architecture design and drafting software enables creation of highly accurate 2D architectural drawings for houses, 3D modeling and 3D walkthroughs that help represent the design exactly as visualized by the architect. Further building design documentation done in the right manner helps property owners obtain permits.

Every design tells a story. They story of the people who reside there-in. If it is your house, it should tell a story that represents you. Hence simply replicating someone else’s design will not work.

Virtual and augmented reality has taken the center stage today when it comes to design communication. While CAD drafting, 3D modeling animations and walkthrough are highly popular, BIM i.e. building information modeling is another technology that has created waves across the AEC community. The technology is based on the concept of collaborated efforts towards building design, construction and maintenance in addition to being effective tools that intelligently stores all the building information and hence provides comprehensive construction documentation. Another technology, known as stereographic projection is making its presence felt. The technology delivers the viewer a complete experience of a 3D environment.

A new method which is 3D architecture modeling has appeared to us to facilitate the process of planning and designing. This modeling can be done through using 3D software programs on computers such as AutoCAD or 3DS MAX.

Contactor and your architect need to work in collaboration

Here it is very important that the contractor also analyses the architectural plans and designs and approves them (tells you whether the suggested design is practically possible to erect or not), so that every minute detail is replicated and built in the most efficient manner. The contractor and architect should hence work in total collaboration to avoid any kind of rework or design compromise when the building is actually being constructed. In Nigeria, some contractors seek to twist architectural designs.

Why is understanding the lifestyle of client and giving due importance to what the client says is important?

Every design tells a story. They story of the people who reside there-in. If it is your house, it should tell a story that represents you. Hence simply replicating someone else’s design will not work. An architect hence makes note of the client requirement and develops plans based on analysis of client’s lifestyle and requirements.

A good design is not the one that just looks good, an architect’s understands this and hence places his/her efforts towards creating a space that guides you through your day to day activities making it very easy and natural to become a part of that space.

About Author:
Nikunj Patel is a design engineer working with Hi-Tech CADD Services for several years.