Read why you definitely need an architect. Why you may need an architectural technologist too. And how my Creative Workshop enables you to appoint both.

So what’s the difference between an architectural technologist and an architect? Since both, separate, professions earn respect? The difference between them is about process. Meaning the process of design. Which is a sequence of stages. The first stage is design of the concept. By concept I mean the core idea. And design responses to various constraints which inform that idea. Architects train intensively and widely for this key stage. So they are ideal for it. But architectural technologists do not. The strength of an architectural technologist is found in a later stage. That’s to say the technical design stage. Which is the stage producing drawings for construction. You can learn more about both professions at these links:-

RIBA

CIAT

So can an architectural technologist design the concept?

Some say they can. But very rarely as well as an architect. When I study concepts by an architectural technologist I worry. Finding possibilities and options missing. In one case this caused a client to waste a lot of time and money. Very disappointing. The client may realise what’s happening. But there are other clients who will never know their new house or extension could have been better. Much better. And often for the same construction cost. How? It would have been better if they’d employed an architect. At least for the key first concept stage.

Can an architect do the technical design stage?

Yes they can. Architects train in technical design as well as in concept design. But they are not necessarily as efficient at this stage as an architectural technologist. However the technical design stage is regulated by the building inspector. Meaning that that inspector must approve it. So regardless of who does this stage you have to get approval anyway. Architects with experience are usually able to do the technical stage as well as most technologists.

How can I get the best of both worlds?

Meaning how can you get the best quality designer for your concept? Whilst also getting the best quality technical design? All in one project. The answer is :- Always employ an architect for the first key concept stage. And if your architect is experienced they can easily design all stages. By appointing me you can get the best of both worlds. In a choice of two ways…

Creative Design Workshop

…Firstly you can simply appoint me for all Stages. Starting with the concept stage. Because my training and long experience qualifies me to do all stages well. Therefore I am often appointed for the entire process.

…Secondly by appointing me for just the Creative Design Workshop. In this we design the best concept. And usually explore alternatives for it. We set you on the right path. That is, I explain all steps onwards. And we root your project in firm ground in terms of cost control. The Workshop is self contained. You do not need to appoint me further. So you could continue with an architectural technologist. After I ignite the key creative spark in the Workshop.

A word of warning! If you do appoint an architectural technologist…

…make sure they are fully qualified. Beware of the “plans drawer” who isn’t even a qualified architectural technologist. I warn you of this out of respect. Respect for the excellent architectural technologist I worked with on many large projects. He knows who he is! Sometimes I take over projects which are going wrong. For example because the planning officer will not approve a weak concept design. For example one project by a naive architect. But another was by an architectural technologist. A word of warning. The clients of that architectural technologist assumed they were employing an architect. And he or she did not care to inform them of the truth. It happens rarely. But still does.

Designer architects are not always designing architecture!

Designer is a familiar label. It’s tagged to many products. Advertising agencies like this word. Why? Because it adds value.  A ” designer ” product seems more desirable. If we value the product more we will pay more for it.

The creative.

Ad agencies use another key word.  “The creative”. The respected figure in the room. For he or she is the one who creates the vital idea. Words images and music combine in the advert. But they must combine around intellectual content . With no vital intellectual spark there is nothing to publish.

Our personal relationship with the creative.

We want such products because they link us to creatives. So we buy a personal relationship too. Therefore when we buy we link ourselves to an alternative lifestyle. Creativity is often recreational. So we pay designers to have fun! Therefore creating for a living is attractive. This is the reason to be a “creative”. We like to call ourselves a writer, a painter, a musician, an architect? How we earn is often our main identity. And we want our identity to be attractive.

Just specify the bubbles?

Designer architects specify designer products. An example is this bath. The obvious question is “what type of bath?” This bateau is the answer. But architects who design architecture ask more questions. This is because many answers enrich architecture. The second question is “where shall we put it”.  A third question “how can bathers enjoy more than just bubbles?” The answers are shown here. The architect places the space with the bath at an external wall. So this space can have a window with a view. The chosen external wall is private. Because it faces the garden not the drive way. So bathing can be private. But it can also be done in the tranquil garden atmosphere. Thanks to that big window. This architect does more than just specify.

 

…thanks to the recent outline planning approval in Wilmslow I piloted this year.

A prime development site beside the High School in Wilmslow has been created beside my clients’ home on Broadway. Only appearance is a reserved matter in the approval meaning that use, layout, landscape design and scale are now fixed. So the size of this four bedroom new house in Wilmslow is defined whilst leaving its appearance flexible for design my others. The crucial issue of overlooking was managed by a thoughtful design which maintains views out of the house, and natural lighting, whilst preserving  privacy for neighbours and the new residents at this prestigious Wilmslow address. Light will beam into the rear of the house via interior glazing through a transparent stairway wall facing Broadway. Privacy is also preserved by an ingenious upper balcony window with no lateral view but transparency over the plot’s gardens. Much of the existing mature garden can be conserved at the rear. Its sunny lawn will be directly accessed through a sliding folding door screen from a spacious multi-function living space. The master bedroom is located overhead with panoramic views, ensuite and dressing spaces. The design concept is shaped by a careful survey and appraisal of the existing street scene enabling it to be finely tuned in massing and height. The Wilmslow planning officer recognised that these key attributes have been balanced with a distinctive contemporary architecture. The result is a design capable of easy and economical technical development whilst appealing to buyers. This is typical of my value driven design approach. For full details go to the public website of Cheshire East Council inserting application reference 14/0949M at http://planning.cheshireeast.gov.uk/ApplicationSearch.aspx

October! Welcome to my new website completely updated and re-built by Sue Fernandes who I recommend for friendly professionalism. I will be keeping you updated with all my latest projects and talking about the themes of my architectural life. There will be regular blog posts of my personal insights and observations on those buildings and places which have a message for all of us interested in the design of high quality architecture for our homes and businesses. September was rich with new enquiries, several new commissions and my architectural study tour to Chicago. So thank you to new clients in Bowdon and Macclesfield.

Here is a so called “prairie house” which revolutionary Chicago architect Frank Lloyd Wright regarded as the finest example of this new architecture.

It is called the Robie house, after his client, who made a fortune in the 20’s making bicycles. When you compare this with a typical house of the time you can see how radical a new design philosophy the “prairie houses” was. The new architecture is made from a few typical forms such as deeply over-handing roofs, horizontal emphases, for example bold eaves  strips of windows, and simple undecorated rectangular surfaces. The old is complicated with surface decoration and often refers to other architectural styles:- Look in this example for cylindrical forms originally found in military architecture and reproduced in French chateau and Scottish manor houses and also for a triangular classical pediment. In contrast to this is an arch too which adds to the recipe of styles served up.  Remember that both of these houses are three-storeys but this is far from obvious in Wright’s tiered massing.

FLW’s genius is widely acclaimed; how many architects appear in a popular song such as Simon & Garfunkel’s “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright”  about one of the twentieth century’s most significant architects from one of the twentieth century’s most loved albums? “ So long, Frank  Lloyd Wright….architects may come and architects may go but when I run dry I stop awhile and think of you….”

One of the many themes in Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture is the prominence and elaboration of the hearth. Fireplaces and their chimney’s are often positioned centrally in his plans. They are the core of the home in his vision, a warm inviting place to gather in retreat from the glazed perimeter of the house on cold winter nights.

My client sold his home quickly after our collaboration. The existing house was a village hall before conversion to an unusually large house considering it has only two bedrooms. My client wanted to sell but pricing was limited by the bedroom number. So this design shows buyers a vision of how additional bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms can be integrated within the same floor area. Larger kitchen and utility spaces are created plus re-vitalised “kerb appeal” with a new transparent entrance on the back of footpath.

The face of the house is uplifted, brightening its presentation, with more natural lighting whilst enhancing the street scene within the Conservation Area of a finely detailed stone-built village.

The immediate effect of my design, fully costed by quantity surveyors Dawson Green, was a sale for an increased price after over two years of no acceptable offers. My clients have therefore been freed to move into a refurbishment project for their new home which has yielded two further commissions for myself and Dawson Green.

This project demonstrates the advantage of commissioning an architect rather than those offering to ” draw plans”. The drawing is second to the design process. Architect’s are trained over many years in design and therefore are unique amongst professionals in their ability to conduct a design process. This is the first step in which ideas and visions are created. A drawing without the initial creative content of this design process is like an oyster shell without the pearl.