Warwick Mihaly-- Why engage an architect?
Warwick works in the firm Mihaly Slocombe with his wife Erica. They started the business in 2010 and are based in Carlton North. The firm has had 32 commissions, 8 of which have been built, 13 unbuilt and 3 are in process. While many architects work only in a particular sector of a city, Mihaly Slocombe does not.
Warwick spoke about the concern clients have about architect fees in construction projects. They want a good justification for spending the money. Because everyone lives in buildings, they can think it is easy to do architecture, but it is complex. Architects have to be jacks of all trades, with skills as teachers, volunteers, writers, environmentalists, public speakers, business people, photographers and travelers.
Warwick gave 10 reasons to engage an architect:
- Their work is all about you, i.e. tailored to the unique needs of the client.
- Their work is site specific, i.e. tailored to the requirements of the site, including history, landscape, and relation to street.
- What you see is what you get. Architects are highly regulated.
- They have creative vision.
- They tell you how it is. They can guide the client in how to deal with various construction trades.
- They do research and development. Building materials are constantly changing. Architects can produce custom made elements.
- The emphasize quality rather than quantity. Houses are getting bigger, but not necessarily better in quality.
- They design for your future, e.g. changing needs of a family as children grow.
- They design for the environment, e.g. it may require less energy to redevelop a house than to knock it down and start from scratch.
- They are surprisingly cheap, e.g. about 10% of total construction project costs.