First Visit to Architect

Shoe Lover

Hi All,

Am hoping to apply to Louth Coco for PP soon. We have a basic plan of the house done, with room sizes, window sizes, etc but are having our first meeting with our architect tomorrow evening as he will do the proper plans for the PP. I've never visited an architect in my life and have no idea what to expect really from the meeting. Have any of you more experienced ppl any questions etc that should be asked at the meeting - maybe stuff that you only thought of after the initial meeting etc?

Thanks so much!

braftery

Write down your brief .. that will make things clearer in your own head.

In addition to your basic layout / room list.
Bring any references for architecture or interior design you like / or just as valid that you dont like !
Write a list of priorities that you want to apply to your project. The list might include; Architectural style, energy effeciency, costs, use of green materials, views, etc .. number the list, From most important to least important.

Any info you can give your architect will make it easier for him to develop your outline ideas into a more cohesive plan.

And finally .. make sure you have fun !! Designing your home should be fun

sydthebeat

dont try to sketch the layout yourself... just write down your wishes in list form...

the architect will visit the site and decide how best to arrange the layout, that's what he is educated and, hopefully, talented to do.

ive experience many clients who are very hard to break away from what they have already sketched... always remember that the site designs the dwelling..

remember that the design should be a two-way conversation... you tell the architect your wishes, and priorities, and the best design, with concessions from both sides, will emerge.

Shoe Lover

Thanks so much for that We have the general idea of what we what but obviously are open to whatever the Architect thinks is best, he is afterall the expert! I'm so excited now, roll on 6pm!

galwaytt

And another thing - and don't be talked out of it - tell them you will be requiring a copy of all drawings in CAD format (.dwg file, for computer use). Don't take 'no' for an answer.

sinnerboy

Would you ask any other profession for their source material. Your solicitors word documents for instance ?

Shoe Lover

Well we went and he was very nice! Didn't actually discuss any plans for the house yet because he wants to get in touch with the Roads Engineer first to see if he would object to PP for our site, due to our proximity to the M1 and also the fact that the site is rated as zone 2 which is supposed to be very strict. He said he'll get back to us by early next week and we'll take it from there

Why would we want the CAD drawings? Will he not give us a papercopy of them? I was assuming he would?

sinnerboy

Shoe Lover wrote: »

Why would we want the CAD drawings?

Indeed. Unless you purchase AutoCAD and learn to use it .....

sinnerboy

Shoe Lover wrote: »

Will he not give us a papercopy of them? I was assuming he would?

Paper and PDF as what I issue as a matter of course.

bobbuk

a lot of trades will find the dwgs easy to use for quotations. some will be fine with pdfs but others specify dwg's.

100% agree with the first couple of posts...
im in the middle of a build and when we went to our architect originally we had loads of different ideas of what we wanted, from plan books etc... (trying to save a few quid really)

but when we spoke to our architect on site she came back to us with a completely different design and layout to the one we were originally after. we both instantly loved it and after a few changes here and there we are well on our way....

A good architect might not be the cheapest thing in the world but as far as im concerned it was the best money we have spent...

sydthebeat

im going to open a new thread on this CAD versus PDF question.