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Architect has done a wonderful scheme but-


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Just now, Vijay said:

lol had the same exact thing, was so frustrating after the 3rd or 4th or 5th time! lol

Nooooo!

 

ive been building 30yrs and I said to him- please listen and translate my sketches into cad. I haven’t even got a garage ?

 

it’s an awesome design mind. 

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16 minutes ago, PeterW said:

I wouldn’t be paying for rework if he’s missed the brief by that much .... 

 

I don’t think there’s a cost involved, im

more concerned with getting planning in with the current delays in the system ?

 

 

13 minutes ago, the_r_sole said:

Very strange, what have they been working to if not your brief?


I don’t know! Honestly- it looks fabulous but it’s miles off the mark.

wrong shape.

no garage

no carport

no annexe for my mum

no plant room

no covered seating area or letterbox windows-

( the wife’s wish list!)

sedum roofs not trusses with sl8 tiles

brickwork areas (I’m a carpenter- and was specific about my time being free)

 

just wondered if architects have a free shot at what they like and then knuckle down to the brief?

 

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I doubt they're trying it on, but missing so many clearly listed essentials (I assume they were all listed as essentials, not wants or "nice to haves"?) is a red flag about attention to detail.

 

2 minutes ago, DragsterDriver said:

just wondered if architects have a free shot at what they like and then knuckle down to the brief?

 

Like every profession, there are good and bad architects, with most sitting somewhere in the middle. Certainly getting something so completely wrong from the start is not the usual way of things.

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3 minutes ago, jack said:

Like every profession, there are good and bad architects,

I admit I am generally not a fan of architects, come across too many problems with designs in the past. I did use an architect for my self build but only to convert my drawings (proper drawing board jobbies) into CAD as I can’t do that, he got so many things wrong several times but at least he didn’t try to charge extra (he recognised I was not impressed ?). 

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10 minutes ago, joe90 said:

I admit I am generally not a fan of architects, come across too many problems with designs in the past. I did use an architect for my self build but only to convert my drawings (proper drawing board jobbies) into CAD as I can’t do that, he got so many things wrong several times but at least he didn’t try to charge extra (he recognised I was not impressed ?). 


yeah that’s the case, they were scale drawings fully labelled- just wanted cad drawings and a nice planning letter. I’ve had ‘my moments’ over the years with architects ?

 

17 minutes ago, jack said:

I doubt they're trying it on, but missing so many clearly listed essentials (I assume they were all listed as essentials, not wants or "nice to haves"?) is a red flag about attention to detail.

 

Like every profession, there are good and bad architects, with most sitting somewhere in the middle. Certainly getting something so completely wrong from the start is not the usual way of things.

 

I dunno! He’s a very good architect, designs lovely places- good track record- nice guy.

 

I feel like I need a non covid sit down with him at his office. Emails don’t seem to be cutting through!

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2 minutes ago, DragsterDriver said:

yeah that’s the case, they were scale drawings fully labelled- just wanted cad drawings and a nice planning letter. I’ve had ‘my moments’ over the years with architects 

 

Out of curiosity, why did you give him all the other info about your needs and wants if you were just asking him to do CAD drawings of your design?

 

Also, usually it's very clear what is involved (and what you're paying for!) at each stage, so again it's surprising that you could have been at such cross-purposes with each other.

 

It sounds like he's just completely misunderstood what you wanted from him!

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13 minutes ago, joe90 said:

I admit I am generally not a fan of architects, come across too many problems with designs in the past. 

 

It's a common theme on this forum.


I had one bad experience when we started. Expensive, and just didn't seem capable of designing something that met all the requirements of our brief. We'd have a meeting, point out what was missing and what we didn't like. They'd come back three months later with a new design that fixed many but not all of our concerns, while throwing out a couple of things we liked and changing a bunch of other stuff for no apparent reason.

 

We then found someone else to take over, and their first design just blew us away. It had everything we wanted, was set out on the block in a way I'd never considered (and yet was perfect for both planning and tree preservation reasons), and just needed a few tweaks before we signed it off. No way we'd have come up with something like this ourselves.

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12 minutes ago, jack said:

 

Out of curiosity, why did you give him all the other info about your needs and wants if you were just asking him to do CAD drawings of your design?

 

Also, usually it's very clear what is involved (and what you're paying for!) at each stage, so again it's surprising that you could have been at such cross-purposes with each other.

 

It sounds like he's just completely misunderstood what you wanted from him!


All the info was in labels on the plans so he understood the materials and what each room was, to save me drawing toilets etc in.

 

honestly- using an architect is because I need their planning experience and relationship with planning- I can’t afford a rejection. I submitted a pre app in January @£400 and haven’t even received the report back. The planning system is in meltdown around here. I need to get it right first time!

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13 minutes ago, jack said:

 

It's a common theme on this forum.


I had one bad experience when we started. Expensive, and just didn't seem capable of designing something that met all the requirements of our brief. We'd have a meeting, point out what was missing and what we didn't like. They'd come back three months later with a new design that fixed many but not all of our concerns, while throwing out a couple of things we liked and changing a bunch of other stuff for no apparent reason.

 

We then found someone else to take over, and their first design just blew us away. It had everything we wanted, was set out on the block in a way I'd never considered (and yet was perfect for both planning and tree preservation reasons), and just needed a few tweaks before we signed it off. No way we'd have come up with something like this ourselves.


three months! Good Lord no!

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1 hour ago, PeterW said:

I wouldn’t be paying for rework if he’s missed the brief by that much .... 

 

1 hour ago, the_r_sole said:

Very strange, what have they been working to if not your brief?

 

Sounds like this a communication issue. Seems like you get on well on a personal level.

 

A sit down meeting could sort this out quickly.

 

 

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1 hour ago, DragsterDriver said:


yeah that’s the case, they were scale drawings fully labelled- just wanted cad drawings and a nice planning letter. I’ve had ‘my moments’ over the years with architects ?

 

 

I dunno! He’s a very good architect, designs lovely places- good track record- nice guy.

 

I feel like I need a non covid sit down with him at his office. Emails don’t seem to be cutting through!

 

See, you're using your architect wrong, getting a person who's skill is in design to do cad plans from your scaled drawings is a waste of everyone's time and expertise. 

Maybe he's taken your plan and made into something that will achieve planning or comply with regs?

You've said you've paid him for his ability to get things through planning and his relationship with the planning department, but then you've given him a strict design to follow?

If you just want your drawings made into a planning set, use a good local technologist, they will do that cheaper, faster and without trying to develop your design.

 

If we have enquiries from someone who "just needs a set of drawings for planning" and doesn't want any of the design stage we always recommend a technologist who we work with. It's just not a valuable exercise to pay Architects to do the mechanical process bits of a project. 

Edited by the_r_sole
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1 hour ago, DragsterDriver said:

 

I don’t think there’s a cost involved, im

more concerned with getting planning in with the current delays in the system ?

 

 


I don’t know! Honestly- it looks fabulous but it’s miles off the mark.

wrong shape.

no garage

no carport

no annexe for my mum

no plant room

no covered seating area or letterbox windows-

( the wife’s wish list!)

sedum roofs not trusses with sl8 tiles

brickwork areas (I’m a carpenter- and was specific about my time being free)

 

just wondered if architects have a free shot at what they like and then knuckle down to the brief?

 

Good observations from the sole, much appreciated by me.

 

It does look like the basic Client requirements / needs have not been met..a garage, annex.. that is stuff you thrash out at the first client meeting.

 

 

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I have really limited experience of architects, but, if I were in dragster drivers position, I'd be massively pi**ed at what has happened.

 

Reading the op's posts, I don't see confusion in how the thoughts are conveyed. Everything is clear enough. 

 

With that in mind, and, when it comes to detailed instruction on requirements for their design, it seems to me as though nowhere near adequate attention has been paid to what the customer has asked for. In view of that, I'd say dragster driver has every right to be pretty annoyed.

 

I think if it were me, I'd be seriously considering whether to continue with this architect.

 

 

Edited by Makeitstop
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10 hours ago, the_r_sole said:

 

See, you're using your architect wrong, getting a person who's skill is in design to do cad plans from your scaled drawings is a waste of everyone's time and expertise. 

Maybe he's taken your plan and made into something that will achieve planning or comply with regs?

You've said you've paid him for his ability to get things through planning and his relationship with the planning department, but then you've given him a strict design to follow?

If you just want your drawings made into a planning set, use a good local technologist, they will do that cheaper, faster and without trying to develop your design.

 

If we have enquiries from someone who "just needs a set of drawings for planning" and doesn't want any of the design stage we always recommend a technologist who we work with. It's just not a valuable exercise to pay Architects to do the mechanical process bits of a project. 

Morning! 
 

I love the drawings, they do look amazing. None of the ‘Architect techs’ I work with on lofts or extensions want to get involved in planning for a dwelling at the moment, too much hassle. They would have banged out the plans for £1000 but would have nothing to do with the ‘planning journey’, the proper architect is £3.5k for plans and £3.8k for the building regs set but will take the pain.

 

The design we had agreed on, had a site visit, sketches, line drawing, must haves etc.

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9 hours ago, Makeitstop said:

I have really limited experience of architects, but, if I were in dragster drivers position, I'd be massively pi**ed at what has happened.

 

Reading the op's posts, I don't see confusion in how the thoughts are conveyed. Everything is clear enough. 

 

With that in mind, and, when it comes to detailed instruction on requirements for their design, it seems to me as though nowhere near adequate attention has been paid to what the customer has asked for. In view of that, I'd say dragster driver has every right to be pretty annoyed.

 

I think if it were me, I'd be seriously considering whether to continue with this architect.

 

 


 

I think he’ll be ok with it- he’s done a great job- honestly it’s a great scheme ? I just wondered if it’s usual!

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15 minutes ago, dpmiller said:

did he accidentally put your name on someone-else's plans?

 

This is something I considered, but thought, "no, that couldn't happen could it".

 

From the response dragster driver has given above though, it sounds like it may even be plausible. To me, it's just not good enough, because it brings additional stress and can potentially ruin timescales that are critical to the client.

 

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36 minutes ago, DragsterDriver said:

Morning! 
 

I love the drawings, they do look amazing. None of the ‘Architect techs’ I work with on lofts or extensions want to get involved in planning for a dwelling at the moment, too much hassle. They would have banged out the plans for £1000 but would have nothing to do with the ‘planning journey’, the proper architect is £3.5k for plans and £3.8k for the building regs set but will take the pain.

 

The design we had agreed on, had a site visit, sketches, line drawing, must haves etc.

 

But have you asked him to design something that he thinks will get planning or have you asked him to draw up your designs and try to get it through planning?

It's two completely different requests.

I can't fathom why he would waste time and energy drawing something different if his task was the latter, but then it also sounds like you've completely skipped the briefing and design development stages to get to a planning application so something doesn't feel right about the process....

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