Useful thoughts to help you navigate the process of choosing an architect
Wherever you may be, I am certain you can find many talented architects that can competently complete your project. However, that does not mean you should hire the first architect whose work you like or the one that your friends happened to use (that said, despite being fond of referrals). Choosing an architect does not need to be a complicated process, but it should be thoughtful one.
The design of a custom home is undoubtedly the most stressful and intimate of all architectural propositions. It is an expensive, time consuming and often-times frustrating process. It will test your relationship with your spouse/partner in ways that you cannot foresee. You will also find yourself discussing areas of your life that you may have never talked about before even with each other. Your architect will be in the middle of many of those conversations. You will spend a great deal of time with him or her discussing a great many personal things. He or she will need to be part counselor and part mediator. As such, you will need to trust him or her on both a professional and personal level.
Additionally, a fundamental goal of any custom home design is not merely to provide an adequate and aesthetic space for your family’s functional lifestyle but hopefully to encourage and enhance the deeper patterns and rituals of your family life. In entrusting me to design your home, you are literally allowing me to forever enter into the life of your family. Your home will, if I can speak metaphorically, be imprinted with my DNA. You will, in a very real sense, live with your architect for the time that you live in your home.
Best wishes as you choose wisely.
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