Why Hire an Architect?

A couple years ago I was a newly licensed architect learning to manage a project on my own. I very vividly remember a day when I presented preliminary design drawings of a new school renovations to a client who waited until I was done and then simply looked at me and said "well, I could have drawn that."

I've told this story quite a few times over the years. At first, I was just shocked (and perhaps a little annoyed) by the comment, but since then, through extensive analysis of the event and growth as a professional, this has become a bit of a moment of enlightenment for me. Of course, my client didn't mean that she could have literally drawn what I showed her. She did mean, I think, that what I had shown her was expected. I had not yet lived up to the added value she expected me to bring to the project as an Architect.

The ability to use our training and gift for envisioning spacial relationships in a way that exceeds client expectations is the value I believe an architect brings to a project. We are able to be good listeners to fully understand client needs and then we are able to use or education and passion for design to create something that meets those needs but exceeds their wildest expectations and vision for the project. We create spaces that are inspiring in addition to being functional.

My biggest fear these days is for a client to walk into their new space and reflect that it is what they expected or that it meets their needs. Conversely, I absolutely love the moment when a client walks into a space and exclaims that it is so much more than they could have ever imagined.