I work with two distinctly different kinds of clients, industry pros (contractors, developers and people who have worked with architects many times before) and people who may be doing their first construction project.
With the industry pros I generally start and proceed quickly because time is money and there are usually well defined project objectives and budgets at the start.
With people who have never done a project before I generally start carefully.
This article is about the beginning of my “careful” approach.
With inexperienced clients the first questions for me are , what does the client want to do ? and are their goals achievable ?
To understand what a client wants to do I general like to receive a list of the new spaces required and the spaces to be remodeled ( assuming we are working with an existing house). Then I like to know all the client can tell me about how those spaces will be used. I can receive and review a list like this or develop it as we talk together.
Once I know the objectives I guess at how many square feet of spaces will be added and remodeled. I multiply the square footage by a possible cost per square foot and then compare that to the clients budget. If that works the project is on track financially.
The next step is to determine if the new work can fit on the site. To do this we need to know the size of the lot and the distance the existing structure is from the lot lines. Next we need to review the zoning standards we will be working with. What is the height limit and setbacks and are there any restrictions on allowable built square footage or any other restrictions that affect the allowable building envelope.
If all this works we have completed the first step. Sometimes all this can be done on the phone and with email and sometimes a site visit is necessary to accomplish this first phase.
A call to me at 510 654-5084 or an email at jparchitect@sbcglobal.net can get the ball rolling, then we can set up a meeting time. I work evenings and week ends so it is usually not hard to find a time when we can get together.
