Under what circumstances would you consider hiring an architect/interior designer?
If never, what’s the biggest reason against?
Trim/moulding can be beautiful but it’s also useful. Allows distinct material joints to be within reasonable tolerances. Drywall can’t be cut reliably square, windows can’t fit in perfect openings, flooring moves seasonally.
Give me your real thoughts on heat index.
“feels like” does not feel like a quantitative measurement
I’ve run head first into this problem at a number of different offices…and the trickle down effect for me is that it dampens my growth in terms of responsibility, impact, and salary.
The problem: For residential projects, architects are often thought to be too expensive and clients want to pay less.
The result: a professional career requiring 7 years of school, 5 exams, and 3000 hours of internship is chronically undervalued and underpaid.
Why?
Architects do a poor job at defining the value they provide and the problem(s) they solve.
Why? (excuses only)
Hard to articulate the value of spending 3-5M on a house when the same core function can be had for 1/10th. It’s easier to proclaim the wonders of the design.
Inefficiency is hard to fix, learning from the past is an admission of fault. Status quo seems OK, don't push it.
Architects shy away from calling themselves "experts" because the legal language draws the line of responsibility at what an average architect would do.
Straddling new and old across the divide
Context: Rather than add the expense of underpinning and blindside waterproofing, we opted to over cut the existing slab and dig out a 3 foot trench to make room for someone to climb down and waterproof the new foundation walls the old fashioned way.
The ledge had a say tho
Sweating the little things. It won’t get built this way—boots on the ground and all
About to spend the next 9 hours walking the 20 mile trail loop around my town with a few friends. Should be fun to explore some new trails and neighborhoods on foot.