What To Expect from Your Architect: Construction Phase

In our last What To Expect post we told you Studio MM would absolutely be involved during the construction process…

“you should ALWAYS have your architect involved in the construction process. During construction, issues are going to come up. Sure, a good contractor can and will solve them. But that doesn’t mean you’re going to get the same result.…”

and today we’re going to explain more about WHY?!

We are extremely lucky to have an excellent contractor on board with our Lake Wylie project… To be honest it wasn’t exactly luck – we interviewed a lot of contractors and were very selective in our process – after all, the relationship between contractor and client is almost as important as your relationship with your architect. (Don’t hate me for that one Kyle!)

Our contractor has put a great amount of energy into learning our project and understanding our design intentions so he can lead his construction team in building our clients’ home. We all understand the importance of getting it “right” and how much our clients are counting on us to build their dream. As I said above, issues are going to come up. Having the right team on board to turn issues into solutions is the most important part of our collaboration during construction.

Lake Wylie House – Under Construction, view looking from the north to the front of the house.

Lake Wylie House – view from northeast, front of house is to the right.

Lake Wylie House – Under Construction, view from south looking towards the back of house.

Today’s post is part of our What To Expect from Your Architect series in which we document the process of one of our projects here on the blog, so you will know what to expect when working with an architect. In this series we are following the progress of our Lake Wylie House, a contemporary home in South Carolina.

What To Expect from Your Architect During the Construction Phase

So, as I said, we have an excellent contractor….some people may wonder why, then, would our clients need an architect to continue to be involved. Well, I share the following examples not to point out the problems, but to highlight all of the little things your architect thinks about during construction.

1. We had an issue come up during construction a couple months ago – there was a discrepancy between the structural foundation drawings and the architectural plans, and we ended up with a wall in the middle of a window opening. This was no fault of the contractor, but as we were talking through things one day he said, “Oh don’t worry, I can take care of that. No problem.” Which is an awesome response. We didn’t have to get into a conversation about “why the discrepancy” or “who’s at fault” – it was a problem and it needed to be solved. But this is where the architect still needed to be involved. Moving the window a few inches would be a simple solution, but what if a window placement was designed to align with windows above or below or across the room or the center of a hallway…every little detail matters.  Even moving a window 6″ in one direction could ultimately be quite noticeably “off” in the final product and is probably a detail only an architect would notice BEFORE the project is complete. Centerline of clerestory windows in your master bathroom aligning with the center of your shower door is probably not something a client is thinking about during construction. But after your house is complete, I hope every time you walk into your bathroom you don’t wish you had!
2. Often a contractor will present cost-saving ideas for construction during the process – whether his subcontractor can get a certain material less costly than one we specified or he has an alternative sketch for a detail than what we’ve drawn – we always welcome these suggestions and ideas. We prefer contractors who will work with us to find the best AND most effective way to build. But again, it’s always best to have your architect involved in the discussion… Can you be sure what the contractor is suggesting is the same quality as the original design? How does the new detail relate/respond to the other architectural details in your home? Your architect is your advocate. With your architect as part of the discussion you know all of those things are being considered.

“We want the experience of designing and building your home to be as much a lasting memory as the home itself. The only way we can ensure our clients are happy is to make sure we’re there every step of the way…”

As you can see construction is moving right along on the Lake Wylie House – we are very excited to share our latest Time Lapse Video with you below.  Things are moving so fast since we uploaded the daily videos last week, they’ve already got the roof going up…. Another update coming soon! Enjoy!

LakeWylieHouse_April from Studio MM on Vimeo.

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