Whether you own a property out in the countryside, in a coastal town, on a trendy suburb or right in the middle of the city, you should expect your architect to really get to know your project site.
Modern technology allows architects to research and find out a lot of information about a particular site. However, there’s no comparison to having your architect visiting the site, in person, and being able to experience what your property has to offer and the challenges it may present. Site visits should occur before, at or about the time you engage your architect, and throughout the life of a project.
Before the design process starts, a site visit not only allows us to conduct site analysis, but also exposes us to the local way of life and the unique culture of the place. No amount of research from the office can compare to being on-site and being physically and intellectually immersed within the environment. This is important so that we can create design solutions that are sensitive and responsive to the particular needs and characteristics of a place.
The long and complex process of designing architecture that responds to the client’s brief and the site’s urban and environmental context, inevitably presents a series of challenges, but this is precisely why being present is so important.
While we may think we know a space or building inside out from all the time we put into drawing plans, elevations, sections and construction details, not to mention creating photorealistic renders – site visits might indicate that changes need to be made. Physical factors such as time of day, temperature, and human traffic all affect our perception of a space.
Site visits must also take place during the construction phase of a project and play a central role to its success. It’s during this stage where a team of multidisciplinary professionals must physically get together to realize things previously drawn on paper in a real, three-dimensional space.
When a project runs into a problem at the construction stage, we often need to have discussions with other professionals to arrive at a decision, thinking on our feet when required. It might be the substitution of materials to revising construction methods, these things force us to be alert to various factors and consequences under tight time constraints. Many of these decisions have major impacts on a project timeline and cost, so it is important to have the critical awareness and thinking skills needed to make such decisions when they are required of us.
With our combined background of project management and construction at RUBI Architects, it’s a learned priority to maximize site visits for our projects, to keep a close eye on each stage and development in real time.
Whenever a new potential client contact us, we make the effort to arrange a meeting with them on the subject site, so we can both learn about them and the context in which our work will take place. We do not charge a fee for these meetings – it costs nothing to the clients. We see the time invested in getting to know you and your site as a wise investment in the success of your project and our practice.
If you wish to discuss how our refined architectural design process can help bring your vision into reality, make sure to contact us.
