Everyone complains about contractors doing site plans and bad work, but when my friend calls around to different firms to get a few rooms redone, no one will even talk to her!
What type of firms is she calling? Typically in a large city there are several residential firms that would be happy to do small remodels of a couple rooms.
One thing to remember is that most homeowners balk at the fee an architect would charge, believing they could design it better themselves, or a contractor could do just as well. Remember, you get what you pay for. 15% can be a bargain when it comes time to sell that house.
depends on the locale...here in the sf bay area, there are tons of architects doing all kinds of residential work.
some design/build, some additions and remodels, and some new construction too.
although there's a great urban context to san fran, it's by and large a pretty residential place, so there's lots of room for architects to ply that end of the trade.
One of the things I loved about my old firm in Philly was that if a call came regarding a job that seemed too small for us (a 20+ person office), we would always recommend some other smaller offices we knew. Friends of the firm, former classmates, even former employees out on their own. A caller always received a helpful response from us, never a hurried brush-off.
I fear there are a lot of firms out there who feel so competitive that they won't recommend another firm. I think this attitude is wrong and contributes to the GP's idea that architects are elitist.
LB - I agree with you to an extent. In every firm I've worked in, we have always had smaller residential oriented firms that were often reccomended.
From the perspective of the larger firm, I am skeptical the small firm would reccomend a larger firm if a client called wanting something they couldn't handle.
I've known of 4 person firms trying to tackle projects as large as 2000 student high schools where they had zero previous experience and were far understaffed. Sure the little guy wants a leg in the door, but often I think that comes at the expense of the client and their final product. For the same reason we don't do residential is why the other firm shouldn't be doing large commercial projects.
More architects should do residential work
Everyone complains about contractors doing site plans and bad work, but when my friend calls around to different firms to get a few rooms redone, no one will even talk to her!
What type of firms is she calling? Typically in a large city there are several residential firms that would be happy to do small remodels of a couple rooms.
One thing to remember is that most homeowners balk at the fee an architect would charge, believing they could design it better themselves, or a contractor could do just as well. Remember, you get what you pay for. 15% can be a bargain when it comes time to sell that house.
depends on the locale...here in the sf bay area, there are tons of architects doing all kinds of residential work.
some design/build, some additions and remodels, and some new construction too.
although there's a great urban context to san fran, it's by and large a pretty residential place, so there's lots of room for architects to ply that end of the trade.
where's your friend located?
One of the things I loved about my old firm in Philly was that if a call came regarding a job that seemed too small for us (a 20+ person office), we would always recommend some other smaller offices we knew. Friends of the firm, former classmates, even former employees out on their own. A caller always received a helpful response from us, never a hurried brush-off.
I fear there are a lot of firms out there who feel so competitive that they won't recommend another firm. I think this attitude is wrong and contributes to the GP's idea that architects are elitist.
LB - I agree with you to an extent. In every firm I've worked in, we have always had smaller residential oriented firms that were often reccomended.
From the perspective of the larger firm, I am skeptical the small firm would reccomend a larger firm if a client called wanting something they couldn't handle.
I've known of 4 person firms trying to tackle projects as large as 2000 student high schools where they had zero previous experience and were far understaffed. Sure the little guy wants a leg in the door, but often I think that comes at the expense of the client and their final product. For the same reason we don't do residential is why the other firm shouldn't be doing large commercial projects.
lexi, im sure youve thought about it, but why dont you help her out
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