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Get it here: The Value of Working With an Architect Guide

It’s hard to measure cost savings and put an economic value on investing in good architecture and design. Good design and the values it brings don’t always translate into actual tangible dollar savings right away. These first two ways architects add value focus predominantly on qualitative values, ones that are harder to measure, but over the long haul, these can have significant impacts.

The first two ways we are going to discuss where architects add value focus predominantly on qualitative values. These are obviously harder to measure but over the long haul can have significant impacts.

Improved Quality of Life, Well-Being & Health

One way architects add value is by simply creating a house you’ll enjoy living, working, and growing in, because a more enjoyable home experience increases happiness, health, and overall well-being.

Pride, comfort, happiness, safety, and mood may seem like intangible benefits in the short term. But over time, they have a direct correlation on your physical and mental health – and ultimately have direct costs savings that accumulate over time.

Better Quality of Life, Well-Being & Health = Healthier & Happier YOU (AND lower medical bills)

• A good architect will provide adequate air and light quality in your spaces. Providing fresh air and appropriate light levels for specific tasks will reduce glare and eye strain.

• A better-equipped space with the appropriate HVAC system, light levels, and acoustical properties keep you, your eyes, ears, and body healthy and can prevent expensive medical expenses.

• Physical safety is also important. Architects design safe spaces that minimize falling, tripping, and slipping. These risks have associated medical costs as well that can be minimized or eliminated.

• A good architect will design spaces for equal access among users. Whether spaces must accommodate persons with mental or physical disabilities or for aging-in-place situations, anticipating and designing features for easy adaptability and flexibility will improve user comfort, safety, and livability while also saving on costly renovations down the road.

Improved Productivity, Functionality & Efficiency

Another way architects add value and save you money is by improving productivity, functionality, and efficiency in your home. Oftentimes it’s hard to directly see the correlation of value and savings that improved performance can have but make no mistake, there are savings there.

For example, a good architect will work with you to lay out spaces and functions in your home in a more optimized and logical manner. We listen to how you describe your behaviors, tendencies, and workflows and create an ideal layout of space for you and your family. The personalized layout will help make you more efficient and productive; carving out more time to focus on other more important activities, like spending time with family, friends, or hobbies.

As we lay out your spaces, we can organize spaces with space efficiency in mind. An efficient use of space can reduce your home’s total square footage, and as a result, reduce the overall construction and maintenance costs.

Related Article: Affordable Home Design: Efficient Floor Plan

Improved Productivity, Functionality & Efficiency = More Time to Spend Doing What You Love (AND lower construction & maintenance costs)

There are many ways that an architect can help increase your productivity or make tasks more functional in the house. Here are a few more examples:

• By understanding how you use your kitchen, an architect can lay out space more efficiently to minimize distances between appliances and certain areas where you find yourself spending a lot of time. In addition, we can create a layout that accommodates more storage space if you have specific storage needs.

• If you spend a lot of time doing laundry, an architect can find an optimal place for your washer and dryer that minimizes the amount of travel distance to and from the laundry machines. Simply locating the laundry area in a more optimal space for you will make you more efficient and productive in your normal cleaning routines.

• If you’re a morning person and perform at your best in the morning, an architect may suggest locating your bedroom on the east side of the house where the morning sun would be. You may find that you are waking up an hour earlier naturally with the sunrise and accomplishing more tasks than before. Or if you live or work more efficiently with lots of natural light, an architect can work to incorporate this into the design to maximize the benefits of natural daylight in the spaces.

A good architect will efficiently lay out spaces in such a way to optimize the overall size of your home. Reducing the square footage of your home while still providing adequate spaces for your needs will always cost less than an inefficient larger home.

In addition, a good architect can work to carve out usable space in an area otherwise seen as wasted space. Providing additional storage or programmable space without increasing the size of the home is always good. Improving the space utilization (ratio of gross square footage to net usable square footage) of your home may also be desirable. Who wants to pay for unusable space? Who wants to heat and cool unusable space?

In a similar scenario, improving space utilization is especially beneficial for buildings that generate cash flow, like rental spaces where a lot of prices are based on net square feet.

Now that we’ve covered the more elusive ways architects add value and save you money, here are the more tangible and practical ways.

Lower Construction Costs

An architect can help create a home design with affordability in mind. Efficient floor plans, simple home designs, and cost-effective material selections are just a few of the ways architects can help reduce construction costs. Architects also review cost and performance information about different wall assemblies and materials and design a house that minimizes costs while providing adequate performance.

Cost-Effective Home Design = Lower Construction Costs

In addition, we help get your ideas down on paper and flush out the design before construction is underway. Making changes during the design process is much less expensive than during construction when changes could be costly to implement. This also means accounting for code and zoning regulations early on so that you don’t have to change things during construction when the building inspector spots them.

Early Design Planning & Decision Making = Lower Construction Costs

The most well-known task that an architect does is create drawings of your design. This is also an area where you can see cost-savings during construction. A thorough set of coordinated construction drawings helps the builder give you a more accurate construction estimate instead of leaving it to them to make assumptions (many of which could be inaccurate). Understanding the true cost of the project before construction begins is a good way to evaluate whether to move forward or find areas where you can reduce costs.

Lower Life-Cycle Costs

Did you know that the upfront design and construction cost of a project actually only account for 25% of the total life-cycle cost of a project?

Reducing the upfront cost is good, but finding ways to reduce the remaining 75% could yield the largest amount of savings for you in the end.

Over the useful life of a house, the upfront capital cost pales in comparison to the operation and maintenance cost. By working closely with design team, you’ll be able to make educated decisions about the kinds of materials and equipment to use—things that really save money over time. Choosing efficient and cost effective materials will save you money month after month, adding up to huge savings over time.

Smart Material, Equipment & Fixture Selection = Lower Utility Bills & Maintenance Costs

In addition, architects perform construction observation to ensure the house gets built to meet the drawing requirements and follow leading industry standards. Ensuring the home adequately seals gaps to minimize air leakage and has appropriate levels of insulation and meets other performance criteria helps lower long-term costs.

Confirming flashing details are properly constructed helps minimize the potential for water infiltration and other potential issues that could arise years later that could reek havoc on your interiors.

Architects’ Construction Observation = Lower Operating Costs & Minimizes Risk of Poor Construction

Related Article: Affordable Home Design: Efficient + Cost Effective House Construction

Higher Market Value, Resale Value, Better Investment

Put simply: Good design sells.

A well-designed house has a higher market value, resale value, and is a better investment than most traditional homes. Because an architect has improved the functionality, efficiency, and visual appeal of the home, in most cases, property values increase.

Good Design = Higher Market Value & Better Investment

For these reasons and the reasons mentioned throughout this article, an architect can add tremendous value to your project. The question should not be “How much does an architect cost”, it should be “How much can an architect save me, and what would my return on investment be?”

Sure, good design does have its price, but it pays for itself over the building’s lifetime.

The above article shares examples of the 5 ways architects add value and can save you money.  The most appealing reason people work with architects is the design sensibility we bring to projects. But by providing the less glamorous (although equally important) services such as optimizing the floor plan, vetting material and equipment selections, and preparing thorough drawings and proper oversight, we increase the amount of real money that goes back into your pocket during the construction and operational lifetime of your project. This also can justify spending the money on architects’ fees if you think of the thousands of dollars you can save later.

For more examples of ways to build a cost-effective home, check out our series on affordable home design which gives more specific ways architects can save you money.

One additional note: One of the best ways to evaluate the value of working with an architect is to compare your project with your next best alternative, what you would do if you didn’t build a custom home (ex. buying a cookie-cutter/tract home) and then evaluate the costs and benefits of both options to make your decision. Working with an architect is not for everyone, but for those that do, it can be a very rewarding endeavor.