Many people do not understand what benefits using an architect rather than an ordinary designer can “bring to the party.” First off, an architect has at least five years of intensive design education including structural engineering, design theory, practical labs, etc. An architect is also state or nationally licensed, having passed an extensive battery of examinations over the course of many days to demonstrate competence in both engineering and design aspects of buildings.
There are no such requirements for a “designer” — anyone can call themselves a designer and get away with it. This means that these individuals either learn by experience (possibly at large cost to you if they make a rookie mistake) or that they stick to the “safe” world of “boxes connected to boxes” as opposed to truly creating one of a kind designs for you. Architects are trained to design specifically for the site and for the homeowner. At Sheriff Architecture Studio, our trademarked “Home Suite Home” approach and Lifestyle Interview ensures that your specific needs are taken into account in the design… and that you won’t pass “your house” when driving a few streets over.
Another service an architect offers is that they can provide construction supervision of your contractor, paying attention to the changes in scope that almost always occur during construction and advising you as to whether the contractors charges for scope increases are reasonable AND pointing out scope decreases that should have occurred in the original bid because of the change. Many people do not think about this aspect of the construction, and therefore the “scope creep” gets out of hand, resulting in huge cost overruns on their project. Without someone to advise the owner about pros and cons of change orders, the cost of extras can quickly overwhelm the typical homeowner and pretty soon they are frustrated AND out of money. An architect can meet regularly with the homeowner and the contractor, serving as the interpreter of the homeowners design vision to the contractor and the interpreter of construction issues for the homeowner. The extra cost of the architectural fee is almost always far less than the savings that this aspect of having an architect brings to the project alone.