Designing a bespoke house should be a fulfilling and rewarding experience. A professionally qualified architect will help you to realise your vision and gain the most of your site and budget. An architect does a lot more than just provide you with a set of drawings, they will help you set a viable brief and budget, guide you through the planning process, obtain quotes for the work, manage consultants like surveyors and engineers, monitor the budget and administer the construction contract. Working with a professionally qualified and RIAI-registered architect will be the best investment you will make as part of the building project.
- What do you want to achieve with your new house?
- Do you have a site selected? What is the planning status of the site?
- Describe your current home. What do you like about it? What’s missing? What don’t you like?
- What do you envisage in your new home that your present home lacks?
- What is your lifestyle? Are you at home a great deal? Do you work at home? Do you entertain often?
- What kind of spaces do you need – how many bedrooms, living spaces and bathrooms, kitchen size – and how much time do you intend to spend in these?
- How should your new home look like – what kind of materials, design style?
- How much time and energy are you willing to invest to maintain your home?
- What is your budget – how much can you realistically afford to spend?
- How soon would you like to be settled into your new home? Are there rigid time restraints?
- Is there anyone in the family with a disability or do you envisage staying in the house for a long time so that the mobility problems of aging may need to be addressed?