3 Step Guide that Will Help You Plan Ahead and Provide All the Information Your Architect Needs In Order to Create Your Dream Home that Meets All Your Objectives
Building your dream home can end up being the biggest expense and investment in your life. As such, it is wise not to rush into building your home without doing some brief-searching exercise. In order to get the best possible solution- and results- driven outcomes out of your architect, it is essential that you know how or what to brief your architect.
Step 1: What Is Your Budget?
I strongly believe that being upfront about money is best for both you and your architect. Revealing your budget is necessary for a simple reason: knowing your budget enables your architect to guide you toward a design solution that fits your needs and preference and helps you avoid design solutions which are outside your price range.
If your architect knows your budget at the onset, he or she can work with you to adjust the scope of your project, adding and removing some features to ensure that it meets your financial expectations.
Step 2: Your General Concept or Idea Is?
Do as much research as possible into what you'd like your dream home to look like. After all, it is you and your family who will be spending most of your time in it. Dedicate a couple of hours to scouring through the pages of some home magazines and searching for images on Pinterest. This will help communicate your general concept more effectively to your architect. Your architect needs to know what is in your head only then will he or she be able to produce something that is to your liking. Just like doctors, would they prescribe medication if they do not know what their patients are suffering from?
Step 3: Creating a Program
When working on smaller projects like building a house, a program is simply a list of spaces indicating specific rooms and their intended use. It outlines the size of the rooms and specials features that you might want to have and be included in the list. Developing a good program is a process that is almost as complex as building a house, and can often take considerable skill and time to explore possible options in a wide variety of settings and contexts. Having said that, fret not. Make a list of everything you desire and let your architect do the rest for you.
Just as a reminder of some of the things that are helpful to know, here's a random list of some basic things for you to think about:
- Overall estimated square footage of house;
- A lists of rooms, sizes and preferred general locations, if possible;
- Description of each room or space, if possible, with the features you want it to have;
- Ceiling heights;
- Special architectural features and details you would like to incorporate;
- Exterior and interior materials that you have in mind;
- Kitchen arrangement - how do you like it to work?
- Closet and storage requirements;
- Places for views out;
- Need for and degree of privacy - room to room or inside to outside.
