Notes

20 Questions before you start
Ask yourself these 20 questions before you get started on your project!

The more detailed information you give, the easier it will be for the architect to address your needs.

Describe your current home. What do you like about it? What's missing? What don't you like? Do you want to change the space you have?
Do you want to build a new home?
Why do you want to build a house or add to or renovate your current home?
What is your lifestyle? Are you at home a great deal? Do you work at home? Do you entertain often?
How much time do you spend in the living areas, bedroom, kitchen, utility space etc.?
How much time and energy are you willing to invest to maintain your home?
If you are thinking of extending, what functions or activities will be housed in the new space?
What kind of spaces do you need, e.g bedrooms, bigger kitchen, family room, bathrooms, etc?
How many of those spaces do you think you need?
What do you think the extension/ renovation/ new home should look like?
What do you envisage in your new home that your present home lacks?
How much can you realistically afford to spend?
How soon would you like to be settled into your new home or extension? Are there rigid time restraints?
If you are thinking of building a home, do you have a site selected?
Do you have strong ideas about design? What are your design preferences?
Who will be the primary contact with the architect, contractor, and others involved in designing and building your project? (It is good to have one point of contact to prevent confusion and mixed messages)
What qualities are you looking for in an architect?
Is there anyone in the family with a disability or do you envisage staying in the house for a long time, mobility problems of aging may need to be addressed?
Do you want to pursue options, and establish the additional inputs required, to optimize your buildings performance to achieve zero energy inputs, healthy materials, or other sustainability goal?
How much disruption in your life can you tolerate to extend or renovate your home?



12 Common Questions An Architect Will Ask You:
How did you come across our firm?
Tell us about the project you are working on.
What is your goal for this project?
Has your company worked on a design/build project before? What was the experience like?
Have you had any problems thus far in starting the project or do your foresee any issues? E.g. Environmental, Land Use, Funding, Utility, Permitting etc.
How did the project originate? Who thought of it? Will they be involved?
Is there any opposition to the project within the company? Outside of the company?
Who is vested in the project within the company? Outside of the company?
What is the source of funding? Has it been secured?
Has anyone/firm already been selected to work on any aspects of the project?
Who will the design team be reporting to? Have they led a similar project/worked with a design team before?
What is the desired schedule for completion?



This short list should help you feel more comfortable in meeting and evaluating potential architects:
1. How busy are you?
It is obviously important to work with a well-qualified professional, but often the biggest names in any given city will be very busy. In an ideal world you want to work with an architect who will have time to really focus on your project and give it his or her best effort. Asking the potential architect about a timeline for your project is the first step to building a relationship where expectations are always met on both sides of the table.
2. What is your design philosophy?
It is important to understand the design style of the architect you are working with, especially if you are coming into the project with some specific ideas about what you want.
3. What do you see as the important issues and challenges of my project?
This question is designed to make sure that the firm you are talking with has actually taken the time to think about your project and not just handed it off to an assistant to crank out the design plans on a software program.
4. What experience do you have on similar projects and can I see examples?
This is perhaps the most important question to ask a potential architect. It is not just a mater of experience working on a particular type of structure; being able to see the finished building gives you a real sense of what your project will look like when complete.

5. Will I be working directly with the principal architect or with an employee?
If you are just doing a small residential remodel, working with the principal or one of the partners of the firm may be unrealistic, but if you are discussing a larger project, you have the right to expect to work with the best available talent.
6. How do you determine your fee structure and how are additional fees calculated if the scope of the project changes?
It is essential to get specific details about fees nailed down in advance to prevent unpleasant surprises later.
7. What services do you provide after the actual construction begins?
Having ongoing consultation in case problems crop up can make the building process go a lot smoother.



About your client:

Describe your current home. What do you like and dislike about it? What is missing, and what you change.
What kind of ideas do you have about design and / or materials? Do you have any images from magazines/internet that show us a style that you like?
Are there any particular design features that are important to you?
What kind of style do you require for the project e.g.. contemporary, traditional, industrial, bold, elegant, minimal etc.
Do you have any specific materials or surfaces in mind that you would like to see included in the project?
Do you have specific time requirements for the project to be complete?
Do you have any specific accessibility requirements, for example is anyone in your family disabled or do you have any regular visitors that would have special needs?
Do you have any specific considerations toward sustainability and energy efficiency – is there a particular system you would like to use: i.e., solar panels etc.
How much time and energy would you be willing to invest to maintain your home?
About the site:

Is there anything about the site that you particularly like or dislike?
Are there any views within the site that are particularly important to you?
About the occupants:

How many people will be living in the new home?
Any pets that will need to be accommodated?
About the lifestyle:

Describe your lifestyle and the kind of spaces that you need? For example, work from home, entertain often, etc
How much time do you spend in the different areas of your home (indoors and outdoors)?
What type of entertainment systems do you require? Music, TV, projectors, speakers throughout the house?
What type of storage do you require? Specific hobbies that require lots of storage space? Large wardrobe space?
Indoor spaces:

Number of floors / rooms / spaces and use for each?
Are there any particular areas that are to be more private that others? Or particular rooms that you would like to be connected?
Do you have any preferred room layouts/relationships or orientations – a south facing kitchen for example
Outdoor spaces:

Do you have any specific ideas or plans for the outside spaces that you would like us to consider?
Specific questions for clients looking to extend or renovate current homes:

What would you like to see in your newly extended/renovated home that it currently lacks?
What additional areas / functions / activities will be housed in the new proposed space
Do you have any particular preferences to the relationship between the rooms? Would you be happy to reconsider the internal layout?
Commercial Client Checklist:

Client Information:

Does the client have any specific wishes with regard to design?
What attitude do they have towards architecture and design?
Will the drawings need to be understandable by non experts?
Has the client worked with an architect before? If so who?
What are the time constraints of the project?
Are there any particular phasing requirements?
Fees:

On what basis is the calculation of fees based?
Should the project cost be estimated in order to base the fee calculation?
What is the client budget?
Basic Design Factors:

Depending on the type of project questions will vary, however some of the domestic questions may apply.
What is the client looking to achieve with this project?
What do the surroundings look like? Landscaping, trees, orientation, climate etc?
What are the existing buildings and surround buildings? What materials are they?
Does any later construction need to be taken into account now?
What sort of materials would the client like to use?
Does the client/company have any leaning toward a sustainable energy efficient ethos?
Would they like to include new technologies in the project?
Occupants:

Who will use the building?
What are the requirements of the users of the building?
Are there any specific accessibility requirements?
Spaces:

What floors / rooms / spaces are required? Indoor and Outdoor
How would the spaces need to connect?
Are there any specific external landscaping requirements?
Are there any specific mechanical or electrical requirements?