Reader question - Should I hire an architect?

Today I recieved an email from a reader with the following question:

I was wondering if it is a necessary evil & even more critical to hire an architect before you hire a Contractor to build a couple of major additions on your house (estimated at $100K), and just as importantly, is it the architect who takes your wish list to redo the whole interior with high end, cedar, tresses, stone etc.; or does the contracting company have the structural engineers and designers working for them to do this. When you hired your architect, how much did she charge? Did she have the exact knowledge of the structural supports, readjusting H&V, electrical or is that the Builder? Before you did any of that did you have to make a trip to the municipality to ask what the land regulations were? What did you learn from your process, if you had to do it over.

These are all really good questions and exactly the questions I had when we embarked on our little house renovation/building adventure almost a year ago now.

First, let's deal with whether or not it's critical to hire an architect before hiring a contractor. The short answer is no, it is not absolutely necessary, but chances are you will almost certainly need to have an architect at some point in the process given the size of your renovaton.

In my earlier post Architect, Designer or Design-Build? Lot's of choices for renovating a home I talk about the differences in the qualifications and services provided by architects, designers and design-build companies. Basically, all of the advice that I received boiled down to the fact that if you are doing something really complicated, or if you want to preserve a certain look, then hire an architect first. In any case, if you are adding square footage to your house or your are doing major structural changes, then you will most likely need an architect to sign off on the drawings before you can even submit them to the municipality for a permit.

That said, it does not mean that you must hire an architect before hiring a builder. If you know a builder with a stellar reputation who you have upmost confidence in, and you know exactly what you want, then you could take the cheaper route of hiring an architectural technologist to produce the drawings and then hire an architect just to review and approve the drawings for the permit application. A slightly more expensive route is to hire an architect just to do a design and construction drawings and then take these to several builders to get a quote. The most expensive option is to hire an architect to do the design, produce the construction drawings, run the tendering process and oversee the administration of the builder contract. This last option could cost 15% or more of the overall construction cost in architect fees, but it's a great way to go if you don't feel like going toe-to-toe with a builder because they haven't done their work correctly.

The bottom line is that before you start anything you need to have some sort of drawings or specifications that you can give to a builder to get a quote. The more detailed these specifications are, the more accurate the quote will be. If all you have is a vague, very general description of what you want, then I think you run the risk of a builder either giving you a very high quote in order to cover off many different possibilities, or worse, a very low quote for the most basic of work that will quickly ramp up as you start to specify details. If you really trust the builder, then you could have them design and build it, in which case I think you should pay them produce the design first before you sign a contract with them to build it. In any event, someone is going to have to design the final product and produce the construction drawings, and nobody is going to do that for free. No matter what you do, follow Mike Holmes advice and check lots of references before you hire a builder.

Second, let's deal with whether it's the architect who takes your wish list to redo the whole interior with high end, cedar, tresses, stone etc. or whether it is the contracting company that has the structural engineers and designers working for them to do this.

Architects are certainly capable of doing interior design, as are designers. If you look at the work of Linda Chapman or Chris Simmonds, they do a lot of their own stunning interior design. Again, the benefit of producing a very detailed design first with an architect is that you will then have a specific set of drawings to take to builders to get a quote, which means the quotes you receive will likely be more accurate and more competative. You could also get an architect to design the basic structure of the addition and then have a designer design the interior finishes, but not all architects like to work that way. Finally, a lot of builders do have a good design sense and can put together a pretty nice interior. The only down side is that it is too late to find out that their design sense does not mesh with yours once you have signed the contract with them.

In my research, I certainly heard lots of stories about how architects will design a fabulous house that cannot possibly be built for the budget you provided. Mostly, I heard these stories from design-build companies, so the veracity of the statement is somewhat dubious in my mind. I think that most architects actually have a pretty good idea of how much it costs to build a house and if you give them a budget, they will design a product that fits within that budget. Furthermore, many architects work directly with builders to get more accurate cost estimates. In fact, it is wise to factor in a couple of thousand dollars so that the architect can hire a builder as a consultant to help estimate the costs. In terms of keeping the construction costs down, your biggest enemy is probably yourself. You see a fancy kitchen island or bathtub in a magazine and you tell the architect to add it in and the next thing you know you planned renovation is thousands of dollars over budget.

Third, let's deal with the question of how much an architect costs, whether they have exact knowledge of the structural supports, readjusting H&V, electrical or is that the Builder?

The cost of hiring an architect varies. Some of the more established architects charge a set fee. We interviewed one architect that wanted 15% of the final build cost. The one we settled on cost 10% of the final build cost. Other, mostly younger architects that we interviewed charge a set fee for each service. So, for instance, the initial design drawings might be $5,000. Construction drawings would be$ 5,000 - $10,000. Running the tender process to hire a builder might cost $5000. and so on. The younger architects argued that this was a fairer fee schedule because the amount of work to design and draw a house with cheap fixtures is the same as the amount of work to design a house with expensive fixtures. After all, just because you decide to put in $60,000 worth of exotic wood kitchen cabinets, there is no reason the drawings should now cost $6,000 more. It's a fair point, however, I think for an average quality house the cost will work out about the same whether one hires an architect for a set percentage of the build cost or based on a fee per service. It's when you get into a house with lots of expensive finishing that the price will sky rocket with the former fee schedule. In my blog post Picking an architect for our renovation I talk about some different ways to pick architects and how much they cost.

It's absolutely true that architects will have knowledge of structural components, H&V and electrical, often better knowledge than the builder. For anything really tricky, they may call upon the advice of a structural engineer. In any event, most structural changes to your house must be signed off by an architect or a structural engineer.


Fourth, let's deal with whether we had to make a trip to the municipality to ask what the land regulations were.

Fortunately, I did not need to go to city hall because the City of Ottawa has a pretty good website. However, depending on what you want to do, it's wise to check things out with city hall first. For example, if you wanted to open a B&B, or put in a rental apartment in the basement, your zoning may not allow for that. Similarly, you may not be able to add a floor on to your house because you are already at your zoning's height limit. Before even thinking about doing renovations on our house, I checked out our zoning and the required setbacks to make sure we had enough room to put on an addition. Still, that said, any architect or builder worth their weight in salt should know where to find the relevant regulations and one of the first things they should do before they start to design your renovation is look up the relevant regulations. I talk more about this in my blog post Getting zoning information and old air photos of your property.

Fifth, let's deal with what I have learned from the process so far.

I think going into our renovaton project we vastly underestimated the cost of bringing the home up to the standard we wanted. Part of that was because we came across expensive problems, like the foundation, that there was no way to predict. But part of it was because we really had no idea how much renovations could cost. If I had known from the begining that the cost to renovate would be almost as much as the cost to build new, then I think we would have gone straight to Uniform to begin with and skipped everything with the architect. That said, I loved the process of working with the architect, I felt a good connection with our architect, Linda Chapman, and when I do it again, I will go into the project with a much more realistic budget and the intention of building a new house with an architect.

I would also say that I feel the cost of hiring an architect is worth it, especially for big custom jobs. I had lots of builders tell me it is a waste of money to hire an architect, but I don't think it is. With an architect, you do all the planning up front and end up with a very specific design which can then be taken to a builder for a quote. In turn, the builder's quotes will be accurate and competative, saving you money. Certainly, I did not get the sense through my research that it is any cheaper to go with a build-design company or a designer, at least for big jobs. However, for smaller jobs, where there are no structural changes, then I think a designer would be just fine for the job. It also depends on how confident you are reviewing the work of your builder. If you feel that you have both the time and the technical skill to check the work of your builder on a regular basis, then it may not be worthwhile hiring an architect. But most of us don't have the time or knowledge, which is where hiring the professional expertise of an architect comes in.

E. P. Connors House - Classic Prairie Style in the heart of Westboro

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If you read this blog regularly, you'll know that I love to find examples of architectural styles in the Westboro neighbourhood of Ottawa, particularly Modern and Prairie style architecture.

Once in a while I find a real gem in the 'hood that deserves its own post. In this case, it's E. P. Connors house at 166 Huron Ave.

This house, designed in 1915 by Francis Conroy Sullivan, is a classic example of the modernist Prairie school of architecture in Canada. Sullivan was strongly influenced by the Prairie school and worked for several years with Frank Lloyd Wright, the best known architect of the prairie school movement.

Sullivan, who once worked for the federal Department of Public Works, was a prominent architect in Ottawa from about 1907 to 1917. In addition to frequently designing schools for the Ottawa Catholic School Board, he designed several buildings of national historical significance, including the Banff National Park Pavillion and the the Horticulture building at Landsdown Park in Ottawa.

Although strongly influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, Sullivan's style was different in several important ways: For example, whereas horizontals predominate in Wright's creations, Sullivan used strong verticals to create tension in his designs.

It's interesting to see how architects working in Ottawa today are influenced by Sullivan's and Wright's work. Barry Hobin, for example, at least to my eye, seems to be a disciple of the prairie school and often seems to incorporate strong vertical elements reminiscent of Sullivan's work into his designs. Just take a look at some of Hobin's designs in the pictures below.

(If your interested, you can see more pictures of the interior of these homes at the Modern Ottawa blog and on Helen McCallum's website.)

Barry Hobin also designed the houses at the the old Olgivie estate in Westboro, which were built by Uniform Urban Developments. Again, notice the influence of the Prairie school.

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Is Ottawa seeing a resurgance of the Prairie school movement. I think so. Arts & Crafts is still very popular, but there is no doubt that there is a shift happening.

The Dream is dead! Long live the Dream!

Well, it has been a while since I last posted any information on the house renovation project. That’s because we have been going through a lot of machinations trying to come up with a design that we will both enjoy and afford for many years to come.

Earlier this week we told our architect and our builder that we are abandoning the project with them. The reason was simple. Cost.

We loved the design that Linda Chapman, our architect had come up with. It had everything we were looking for in terms of form and function, and it really took advantage of the slope of the land with the walk-out basement. Unfortunately, as we worked through the process, we found more and more things to fix in the existing house that would eat into our budget. First, we found that the floors were sagging or uneven in parts of the house, then we found major cracks in the foundation, then we found a section of foundation that was bulging inwards and needed to be replaced, then we found that the house had settled shortly after being built and had a 5 inch drop from one corner to the other. All of these things could be fixed, but the price was getting to high. I just couldn’t justify spending that kind of money on a renovation and still have seven foot ceilings in the basement, slightly tilted floors on the main floor and nagging doubts about the foundation. So we looked at building new instead.

When we calculated how much it would cost to tear down the existing house and build the house that Linda had designed from scratch, it came out at about just slightly more than the reno including landscaping. But, add to that taxes, permits and architect fees and total cost to build the house new came to about $233.00 per square foot. From what I can tell, this is still a pretty fair price for the house. Generally speaking, new build construction runs about $200 per square foot. But, bungalows are more expensive than two-storey houses, and houses with more bump-outs and wings are more expensive than simple square houses. Add to that the quality of construction, such as better quality windows, real wood siding, plywood instead of OSB for the roof and floors, and the price starts to go up. So all in all, I think that Rex Engel’s quote was a fair quote, for the house we had designed, but it was still too expensive for us.

So, since we were now convinced that we needed to build new, we went and asked Uniform Developments if they could build a house for us. Uniform has a good reputation in Ottawa as a builder, we like their designs, and they are one of the few developers that are also willing to do infill projects (we also checked with Tamarack, as we like their designs as well, but they only build on their developments). As it turns out, Uniform offered to build us a 2800 sq ft house for $161 per square foot plus tax. That includes demolition of the existing house, all permits and basic landscaping. We will add on about $10,000 of energy efficiency upgrades to bring the house up to an ESR rating of 80 and will budget about $20,000 for landscaping to make the sloping back garden more usable. All told, the Uniform house should cost about $200 per square foot including tax. That’s gives us some wiggle room to add in some kitchen upgrades that we could not have afforded with the house that our architect designed.

Now, it’s not like the Uniform house does not come with some compromises. They use cheaper white vinyl windows, CanExel hardboard siding and it’s a basic square structure without any bump outs. Still, it is an attractive design, and it is hard to argue with the savings.

So, that is where we are at with the house renovations. I’ll try to post some pictures of the new house design in the near future.

Traditional style wins out

After much back-and-forth, we decided to go with the more traditional looking house. The contemporary design was nice, and we loved the porch that Linda designed, but in the end I think I'm a sucker for the strong horizontal lines produced by the prairie style. I also didn't care too much for the windows in the contemporary design. I felt they were too plain, even though they were very characteristic of the Modern style. In addition, the hipped roof of our house does not really lend itself to the modern look.

In terms of deciding factors, cost was not one of them, as both styles cost about the same. Similarly, fitting in with the neighbourhood was not really an issue, because all around we can find examples of Arts and Crafts, Modern, Mid-century Modern and Victory houses.

Another consideration that was raised, which we had not thought about, was that our house might end up looking too squat in the modern style. If you look at all the examples of modern houses in my previous post, they are all tall; they have a lot of presence on the street. Our house would lack that height (at least in the front) making it potentially look squat from the street.

So, with that sorted out, its onto the next step, designing the kitchen and starting to find a builder.


Examples of Craftsman and Modern style homes in the neighbourhood

The Wright Stuff

One of the styles of architecture that we like, and which we think our new house lends itself to, is the Prairie style. This style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in horizontal bands, integration with the landscape, solid construction, craftsmanship, and discipline in the use of ornament. One of the most celebrated architects associated with this style is Frank Lloyd Wright, and Robie House, the house he designed in 1910 for the Robie family in Chicago, is often considered to be the greatest example of this work.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocean_of_stars/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

In designing this house, and others like it, Wright emphasized an open plan for the interior. He took the kitchen, sewing rooms and reading rooms, which were typically the domain of women in the house and hidden away at the rear of the house behind closed doors, and integrated them into the family space. The focus in the interior of the house is on the function of the family. Form then followed function. From this idea came today's open concept houses with the kitchen at the heart of the home.

Unfortunately, Wright's ideas had not been widely embraced in 1950s Ottawa, and as a result, the kitchen in our bungalow is securely ensconced at the rear of the house, through a door and down a passageway, thereby ensuring that whoever is working in the kitchen is separated from the rest of the family.

From the outset, we emphasized Wright's principles of interior design to our architect. Everyone knows that if you have a party, everyone ends up in the kitchen, so the kitchen must be at the heart of our renovated bungalow. You can see from our architects plans that she has done that, placing the new kitchen right smack in the middle of the house with excellent sight lines to all of the public spaces in the house.

On the exterior, I like Wright's emphasis on strong horizontal lines and the use of natural materials like wood and stone. As I mentioned, we already have a hipped roof with no gables, so the house already lends itself to the Prairie style. I also like Wright's idea of concealing the front door so that it cannot be easily seen when looking at the front of the house. This gives a sense of privacy and security, which is important when the interior plan is so open.

We have not yet seen our architects concept drawings for the front or sides of the house, but she knows our influences, so I am looking forward to seeing what she comes up with. In fact, today our architect, Linda Chapman, was featured in an article about the Prairie style in the Ottawa Citizen. The house shown below, which she designed, is showcased in the article. With its deep roof overhang, natural stone exterior and square columns, the house pays homage to Frank Lloyd Wright.

Interestingly, today's Citizen also ran a story about how major subdivision developers are starting to pick up on the Prairie style. Urbandale, for example, is marketing its new Horizon Collection of townhomes to be built in Kanata. Urbandale says that they are modeled on Wright's timeless classic, Robie House, although I would say its a fairly conservative take on Wright's house. Still, Urbandale says they have not revamped the exteriors of their townhouses since the '80s, and it was time for a new, fresh look. I find it interesting that they went with Prairie style. I am wondering if this will be the next trendy style in Ottawa as people start to feel that Modern is overdone? We'll see. Maybe we will be trend-setters with our house.

10 examples of Modern Architecture in Ottawa

Recently, Ottawa Magazine did a spread on the recent rise of Modern Architecture in Ottawa. Not that this is a new style. It got its start in the early 1900's, but it appears to be seeing a bit of a revival in the residential sector in Ottawa.

Ottawa Magazine's spread focused on houses in Hintonburg, a once rough-and-tumble neighbourhood now referred to by the chattering classes as "Ottawa's arts neighbourhood." I suppose that's because it's close to the fashionable Westboro neighbourhood, but, until recently, has been relatively cheap, which makes it a good launch point for struggling artists. With land prices in Westboro going through the roof though, land in Hintonburg is quickly being snapped up by potential home owners who want a great house in central Ottawa without spending a fortune on land.

Because Hintonburg is a well established neighbourhood, any new houses are infill projects, and a number of them have adopting a notably modern look, such as this row of townhouses at 1133-1139 Gladstone Avenue designed in 2002 by Urban Keios:

or this house at 41 Grant Street Designed in 2008 by James Colizza, which is actually two semi-detached homes placed back-to-back:

and this house designed by Phil Castro being built on an impossibly narrow 12 foot wide lot on Armstrong Street. Despite being only 12 feet wide, Castro has managed to squeeze 1700 square feet into this Hintonburg home that was recently featured in the Ottawa Citizen.

This house at 98 Stirling Avenue designed by John Donkin has been featured in several publications. Its rusting iron front wall matches the colour of the surrounding brick houses but, together with its galvanized steel second story, has a Modernist feel.

However, Hintonburg is not the only place that the Modernism is making steady inroads. Throughout Westboro, the style is prominent, with a number of exisiting and under-construction infill projects adopting the style.

For example, this house on Beechgrove Avenue:

This one being built on Ferndale Avenue:

and this pair of semi-detached houses being built at 224 Royal Avenue:

And this very attractive house on Duchess Avenue that was built a number of years ago

[UPDATE] Next door to this house on Duchess, Jason Flynn has designed another lovely modern house, which will meet Gold LEED standards, to be built by September 2010.

In Champlain Park area, these three houses were built on a large lot on Keyworth Avenue this year.

And just down the street, this house on Keyworth Avenue has incorporated elements of Modernism with more traditional elements.

If you have nothing to do on a sunny afternoon and fancy taking a walking tour of these houses, simply print this map to show you the way.


[UPDATE: In a newer post, I give five more examples of Modern style houses, including one originally built in 1958]

Revisions to the concept drawings for our renovation

Thanks everyone for your comments via this blog, email or facebook. We have sent some ideas back to the architect for her to incorporate into a second draft of the concept drawings.

Basically, we like the upstairs of Option 1 with the downstairs of Option 2. In particular, we like the architecturally interesting staggered design of the rear of the house in option 1, the kitchen at the heart of the home, the south facing aspect of the main living spaces that will be flooded with sunlight through all those windows, and great access to the terraces that will allow them to become outside rooms in summer. We also like the sequence of spaces in the main living area with an away room that can function as a play room while the kids are young, but can be converted to a library with a computer when the kids are older. Downstairs, we preferred option 2, with the bike storage off the garage, large play room and spacious office.

However, there were a few changes that we want to make. We prefer the foyer, mudroom and stairs of option 2 on the upstairs level. We are also willing to get rid of the powder room on the upstairs level in order to give the kids' bathroom more space. We also need to have a larger kitchen and slightly larger bedrooms for the kids. So, we have asked the architect to bump out the rear of the house by another three feet or so. This should give us enough room to create a more U-shaped kitchen with more counter space. Downstairs, we have asked the architect to increase the size of the mechanical room to allow for more storage and to combine the laundry and mudroom into a single room with lots of cabinets for storage, a sink, and enough space to open an ironing board. In the play room, we have asked to incorporate a wine fridge, cabinets, counters and a sink, which will come in handy for cleaning up after art projects and serving food during birthday parties in the back garden.

We hope to have a new set of drawings to look at by the end of this week, or perhaps next week, so check back then to see how our ideas have been rendered.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Concept drawings for our Ottawa renovation

With much anticipation, we met with our architect this afternoon and she showed us two sets of concept drawings for the renovation of our Ottawa bungalow. Generally, we are pretty pleased with what she has shown us. I think we are leaning toward the main floor of design one, while liking the lower floor of design two. We have suggested a few changes already, but we have some time to mull things over and get back to her. We'd sure like to hear what others think. Feel free to give us comments on the designs.

We will be getting pdf versions of the drawings soon, but in the meantime, I have these lower quality images to look at.

First, here's what it currently looks like inside.






Below is design one:




Below is design two:

Dying with anticipation to see our renovation concept drawings

Tomorrow is the big day! That is when our architect is going to show us her conceptual plans for the renovation of our little Ottawa bungalow. We are both really excited.

Of course, there is always the possibility that we will not at all like what she gives us. But that's OK, it's going to be a back and forth process. One of our architect's references told us that the first set of concept drawings they saw were way different from what they were expecting. In fact, they were worried that the architect had not listened to them at all. However, the architect explained that she just wanted them to see what the house could be and then they took ideas from those drawings and made new ones.

Anyway, we hope to post pictures of the concepts here, and we are looking forward to reading any comments.

Picking an architect for our renovation

Once we had settled on a neighbourhood in Ottawa in which we wanted to live, the next step was to find a house. In August 2009, we bought a bungalow on a pretty 56' X 119' lot. The house has good bones, but is just a little too small for our needs. Thus, we need to add more space, either by adding an addition on the back or front, or by adding a second story to the house. This is no small undertaking. There are a lot of structural changes that we are planning for the house. Therefore, we decided that it was best to use the services of an architect rather than hiring a design-build company or an Interior Designer to do the work.

The next step was to filter through the scores of architects in Ottawa to find one that was available, interested in our project, and able to provide a wide range of creative ideas to produce a design that is aesthetically pleasing, adaptable to the growing needs of our family, and affordable.

To tell you the truth, I had absolutely no idea where to start. Fortunately, though, the Ottawa Home Show just happened to be on at the beginning of October, and offered the perfect launch point into the world of designers, builders and architects. The home show had two things in particular going for it. First, a cornucopia of professionals to talk to, and second, pictures of all the finalists for this years Ottawa home building awards.

At the home show, I met a couple of architects as well as representatives from the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA), who were only too happy to describe the usual process for working with an architect as well as the different ways an architect can be compensated. One architect, Toon Dreessen, was especially helpful. He outlined a selection process that is essentially like a mini design competition. He suggested first interviewing six or so architects to find 3 or so who are interested in the project and who we thought we could get along with. Then he suggested that we offer to pay each a small fee to come up with some conceptual ideas for what they might do with the house. Finally, based on the submissions, we could either select the architect whose work we liked the best, or select a different architect who we thought we could get along with, but incorporate ideas that we liked from the other architects. In the end, we selected an architect who we really clicked with, so we did not pursue Dreessen's competition idea, but I thought it was a good one all the same.

But how to come up with that list of 6 or so architects? Dreessen suggested that we first narrow the list of architects by using the Ontario Association of Architects website to search for Architects in Ottawa with the experience and portfolio we like. Using the OAA site search function, we first narrowed the list down to 46 Ottawa Architects with websites. Then we looked at each website and selected only those Architects who do residential construction. This narrowed the list down to less than 20. Then we winnowed it down to seven architects who had portfolios with styles that we liked and who have been in business for several years - two who I had talked with at the Ottawa Home Show, four who were finalists in the home building awards, and one recommended by a friend.

I then contacted all architects on this list. One was too busy to take on any more work until after Christmas, one was located too far out of town, and five agreed to meet for an initial interview. After the interviews, one architect declined to submit a fee proposal, leaving four architects who we asked to submit a fee proposal and a list of references.

The reference checks are essential. The references can tell you a lot about what it is like to work with the architect in question. For instance, we were quite surprised when one reference said that while their house was beautiful, there really did not get along with their architect. Another said their project came in way over budget. In addition, references may have knowledge of other architects on your list, either because they have worked with the other architects in the past, they have friends who have worked with the other architects, or they interviewed the same architects during their search.

For the interview, most architects will come to your home for a free, 45-minute interview, although one that we interviewed would only conduct the interview in his office. Some architects may also charge a fee for the first interview, but it is rare.

So what questions should you ask during the interview? Our approach was to use the interviews to find out about what working with the architect would be like, how are their fees structured, who is on their team, who would we deal with in their firm, etc. We did not focus on getting creative ideas for the house from the interview. To do that, would have had to have spent more time discussing our needs, which would mean less time getting to know the architect.

Here is the list of questions we used for the interviews, which we got from the American Institute of Architects:

1. What does the architect see as important issues or considerations in your project?

2. What are the challenges of the project?

3. How will the architect approach your project?

4. How will the architect gather information about your needs, goals, etc.?

5. How will the architect establish priorities and make decisions?

6. Who from the architecture firm will you be dealing with directly? Is that the same person who will be designing the project? Who will be designing your project?

7. How interested is the architect in this project?

8. How busy is the architect?

9. What sets this architect apart from the rest?

10. How does the architect establish fees?

11. What would the architect expect the fee to be for this project?

12. What are the steps in the design process?

13. How does the architect organize the process?

14. What does the architect expect you to provide?

15. What is the architect's design philosophy?

16. What is the architect's experience/track record with cost estimating?

17. What will the architect show you along the way to explain the project? Will you see models, drawings, or computer animations?

18. If the scope of the project changes later in the project, will there be additional fees? How will these fees be justified?

19. What services does the architect provide during construction?

20. How disruptive will construction be? How long does the architect expect it to take to complete your project?

21. Does the architect have a list of past clients that you can contact?

We were hard pressed to get answers for all 21 questions during a 45-minute interview, but most of them were covered off either from directly asking the question, or indirectly based on what the architect volunteered.

The AIA site also has some great information on what an architect can do for you. If you have never worked with an architect before, I suggest you check out their site. There are explanations of the five phases of design, maximizing your relationship with the architect, how to identify what services you want from the architect, and how decisions with an architect are made. There are also videos of clients and architects talking about the process and their experiences working together and a publication called You and Your Architect, which summarizes the process of working with an architect.

At the end of the process we picked Linda Chapman to be our architect. She seemed easy to get along with, she is a proponent of the Not So big House concept, she's experienced - with over 26 years in the business - and she has done lots of green buildings, including straw bale houses and the Mountain Equipment Coop store in Ottawa, which is considered to be one of the greenest buildings in Canada.

If you have recently picked an architect, I'd love to hear about your experiences.

Architect, Designer or Design-Build? Lot's of choices for renovating a home.

When the time comes to undertake the renovation, should we hire an Architect, a Designer, or a Design-build company?

When we first looked at this house, we knew it could not accommodate our needs without fairly substantial changes. But we liked the lot and the neighbourhood and we felt that we could work with the house. My first thought was to hire an architect, and in particular, one architect in Ottawa whose work I like. We also told the home inspector of our intentions and he reaffirmed the importance of hiring an architect. However, as we investigated our options further, we received a lot of conflicting advice about the merits of architects, designers and design-build companies.

I learned quite a bit in my investigations about these different professions, so I thought I'd share some of that information along with links to other good sources of information.

Architects: Architects not only provide conceptual ideas and drawings of what your house could look like. They are trained in engineering and site planning and they understand how structures work and what they should look like. They can create a design for your project, prepare construction drawings, make sure that the plans meet minimum code, help estimate costs, oversee the process of hiring a contractor and oversee the project during construction. In my discussions with architects it was made clear that the architect will not renovate the house for us. What we would be paying for are his/her professional services to design and oversee the renovation. The contractor or builder is also not hired by the architect. While the architect may oversee the process of hiring a contractor, ultimately the contractor is hired by us, the owner. Because there is no financial arrangement between the architect and the builder, the architect can offer us independent advice about the progress and quality of the construction and will deal directly with the builder when issues arise.

In Ontario, Architecture is regulated by the Ontario Association of Architects. Only individuals licensed by the OAA may legally use the title “Architect”. The Architects Act and the Ontario Building Code set out the types and sizes of buildings which must be designed by an architect. Chances are, if you are adding on to the square footage of a house or making any substantial changes inside, the plans must be approved by an architect before construction can commence.

I found that the OAA website offered a lot of information about Architects including the ability to search for an list of architects in Ottawa who specialized in residential work. The OAA publication, A client's Guide to Engaging and Architect in Ontario provided great guidance on how to hire an architect in Ontario and how much we should expect to pay. The Ottawa Regional Society of Architects website was also helpful for finding an architect in Ottawa who specializes in residential construction. Finally, the American Institute of Architects also has a great website with information about what value an architect can bring to a project. In a later post, I will provide more information about hiring an architect including a few good tidbits that I received from an Ottawa architect.

Designers: Interior designers are more than just decorators. While I believe that anyone can hang a shingle outside their door with the word "designer" on it, true Interior Designers are registered through a professional organization such as the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario. they are qualified to make recommendations about interior layouts, with the exception of load-bearing walls. They often pick up where architects leave off, helping with room layouts, space planning or storage planning. They also help with cosmetic choices, such as helping you choose wall colours, moldings, cabinetry, sinks, faucets, handles, lights, furniture, appliances, etc. You can hire a designer to do minor or substantial interior work for you - such as changing rooms around or completely replacing a kitchen. Usually, you deal only with them during the work, and they hire any sub-trades needed for the job. If an architect or engineer is needed to approve the plans, they will contract one for the job.

Design-build companies: Design-build companies are contractors that offer design services along with their building services. They may have an architect, an engineer, and/or registered designers on their staff. In this way, they can offer a sort of one-stop-shop - greatly streamlining the process for the customer, and setting themselves apart from other contracting companies. You can hire a design-build company to do small jobs or build you a brand new house. Usually, when you hire a design-build company, you deal only with them during the job and they usually hire any sub-trades needed for the job. As with designers, if an architect or engineer is needed to approve the plans, and they don't have one on staff, they will contract one specifically for the job.

Renomark is a Canadian industry program designed to set minimum quality standards for renovation contractors. It can help you find a quality contractor. Design-build companies who are members of the Renomark standard must abide by a Code of Conduct, which, among other things, includes: abide by a code of ethics, provide detailed contracts, provide minimum 2-year warranty, and return all phone calls within 2 days. I found the Greater Ottawa Home Builders' Association website to be helpful in finding a design-build company in the Ottawa area who is a Renomark member.

At the end of the day, how do you know if you need an architect, a designer or a build-design company. Mike Holmes offers some advice on this in his book Make it Right. He says that neither cost nor size of the project can determine which type of professional should be used. Instead, if you enjoy the creative process, then you might enjoy working with an architect. Also, if you are particularly concerned about maintaining the style of the home or restoring the historical authenticity of the home, then an architect could be essential. Similarly, if there is an architect whose style you really like, hire him/her. On the other hand, Mike Holmes is clearly of the opinion that many good contractors have picked up a fair bit of design sense over their careers and can often be trusted to have good design ideas.

My personal experience was that I found there was a lot of, shall we say, sibling rivalry, among many of the professionals I talked to in Ottawa. I spoke with architects who told me that design-build companies were good only if you knew exactly what you wanted in the design (i.e. you don't need any creative input). I spoke with design-build companies who told me that architects will design you a great looking house that is often impossible to build for the stated budget. And I spoke with Interior Designers who told me that Architects could not design a room for function.

My advice is to talk to a lot of different people to find the professional that will work best for you. As Mike Holmes says, ask lots of questions and check lots of references. For us, we felt that an architect was the right choice. We knew we would be undertaking potentially significant structural changes to the house, so an interior designer was not the right fit. We also liked the idea of an architect providing independent advice to us on the progress and quality of the construction (I have neither the time nor inclination to go toe-to-toe with a contractor to argue about how they have done the work wrong). And finally, when we compared the cost of design-build companies to the cost of hiring an architect and a builder, we found that there really wasn't that much of a difference in price. In fact, one of the larger design-build companies in Ottawa would have been more expensive than hiring an architect and builder.

That said, I'd really like to hear your stories. Who did you choose to do your renovation work?