What Does an Architect Actually Do? (And When Do You Need One vs. a Technician)

We design carefully considered eco homes and luxury holiday homes that perform well, age gracefully, and make long-term financial sense. RIBA Chartered Architects.

Introduction - Architect or Technician?

If you're in the early stages of planning an eco-home, a garden room, or a holiday cabin, one of your earliest choices will be: do I need an architect or a technician?

The role of an architect can be difficult to pin down, particularly for members of the public. I will therefore do my best below to define the architect's purpose and role.

The architect is responsible for managing the delivery of a building project and mitigating project risks. This is done through the delivery of services such as, but not exclusive to: site visits, feasibility studies, construction drawings, contractual agreements, lighting studies, and appointing and vetting contractors.

On the other hand, a technician will provide you with drawings.

Now, in my view, most projects require more than just drawings. It's the risk mitigation outlined above that a good architect offers, which is practically critical to the project's success.

Let's be clear on something. Developing an eco-home, even small projects such as a garden room, carries a number of risks. These risks become big project problems, but only become apparent during the planning phase or during construction.

Many good technicians share skills with architects, but professional registration, and ideally RIBA Chartered status, provides a public guarantee of competence. The title "Architect" is also protected under the Architects Act 1997. "Technician" carries no such protection, so it's worth checking their qualifications and experience before assuming they can deliver the services that you require.

Risk Mitigation during Construction

I recently worked with a client who had commissioned a technician to design and renovate her basement into a livable space and an additional bedroom. The work cost £50,132.11. Everyone was happy when it was completed — until the problems started to show.

The project did not comply with Building Regulations and, therefore, the basement could not be considered a bedroom. The client decided to retrospectively comply and redo the work. As you can imagine, this costs a significant amount of money, an additional £38,580.00, as well as a considerable amount of stress.

Most people would think a basement is a simple enough project. What could go wrong? As this example shows, quite a lot, the architect is supposed to mitigate and deal accordingly with the risks, of which most people are not aware.

An Architect’s Design Skills

I recently worked with a lady who was looking to design 4 eco-homes on a plot she had owned. She had sketched the floor plans out. When we sat down, it was clear that the spaces were not resolved and were not working as efficiently as they should have. Through a more critical, considered design approach, I was able to more efficiently arrange the project space. Now, each square meter for the homes ended up costing £2,981. For each of the 4 homes, I saved at least 9sqm, 9x4 is 36sqm x £2,981 is £107,316, now this more than covered my project fees.

Conclusion

If all you require is a set of drawings, then a technician may be all you need. However, for most projects, the reality is that they don't just require drawings. It's the risk mitigation, as well as the design skills that a good, skilled, qualified architect can offer, something that's hard to see upfront, but painfully clear when it's missing.

Not sure whether your project needs an architect or a technician? That's exactly the kind of question we cover in a free 20-minute strategy call.