Read This Before Working with an Architecture Design Firm

Choosing who will design your next home or addition can be a stressful, high-pressure decision. Should you start working directly with a home builder, or should you hire a home designer first? Learn why architecture design firms are the best choice to create a plan for your next home.

Why Hire an Architectural Design Company?

Avoid Design Mistakes

The blueprint of your home will dictate how successful your build will be. Selecting a design off of the internet or hiring a novice could result in costly mistakes at nearly every stage of the building process. Design mistakes are costly but could easily be avoided by hiring an experienced architecture design firm.

Save Time

Trying to create a plan on your own, or buying a one-size-fits-all internet plan, might seem like a great way to save both time and money. Unfortunately, these plans often require extensive changes to fit within your property and municipal guidelines. Additionally, costly errors and design mistakes can result in significant delays. Selecting an architecture design firm is ultimately the most efficient way to plan a build, whether it’s a new construction home or an addition to your existing building.

Budget Effectively

When you work with an architecture design firm, you’ll know what your design costs will be upfront. Having a solid understanding of your project’s costs is important to ensure that you stay within your budget. When there isn’t any guesswork involved, you can budget effectively for your project.

Leave It to the Experts

When timelines, budgets, and plans are in play for expensive projects like building a new home or building an addition onto your property, why take a gamble on the success of your project with amateurs? It is best to leave the design work to the experts. Hiring the right architecture design firm can save you headaches and keep your vision intact, resulting in complete satisfaction with the finished product.

The Process of Working with an Architectural Designer at a Glance

While all architecture design firms have their own design processes, working with a professional architectural designer should have some commonalities. Let’s take a look at what’s important to the process of planning and building your next home.

1. Introductions and Discoveries

Your home is your personal space, which is why it’s so important to have a personal connection with your designer at your architecture design firm. They can combine their expertise with design with your vision to create a plan that will work for you now and in the future. 

Our team likes to have an initial meeting with our clients before any designing can occur. This gives us time to get to know you and what you want, as well as learn about what you love (and hate) about your current space. 

2. Tours of Your Current Space

Your current space is so important to planning your new space because it speaks volumes about what will make you happy. Often, we learn the most about what someone needs from a space from what they don’t like in their current space. Such insight provides critical information, and the architecture design firm you choose should factor this into your design plans.

3. Initial Designs

Once we have a good handle on what you envision for your space, we’ll be able to start crafting a design. This often starts as a bigger-picture plan with nuanced details added in as we go. It often helps to have clients review the architecture design firms’ portfolio so they can see what styles they like beyond functionality.

4. Making Adjustments

After the initial plan is created, it’s time to get those details in place! This is where slight tweaks and nuanced details can get added into a design to truly make it customized for you. Our goal is to make you completely satisfied with your space, which is why it’s important for not just us but any architectural design firm to be flexible enough to make adjustments before construction begins.

5. We Consult On Construction

You shouldn’t be left in the dark by your design firm once construction begins. Be sure to choose an architecture design firm that makes frequent site visits and is there to be your partner and advocate helping to bring your space to life!

Work with an Architectural Design Firm in Grand Rapids, MI

If you’re ready to have your next project designed, contact the architecture design firm that cares and wants you to be happy in your home. Based in Grand Rapids with nationwide capabilities, the team at 42º North can’t wait to learn more about your vision. Contact us today to tell us about your project!