The following is a description of the role that I typically assume in a project's execution.

Regardless of a project's scale or budget, there are four phases of design work in the typical project. These phases include Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documents, and Contract Administration.

Schematic Design Phase

This is the most important phase for ensuring a purposeful project. At this point, the client proposes the "wish list" for the project. This wish list is used as the starting point for a discussion of the client's needs relevant to the proposed project and might be as straightforward as the client simply explaining his/her perceived needs concerning the types of spaces that will comprise the proposed project. However, from my point of view, the most constructive initial exchange leading to schematics entails a precise description of how the client lives now and how the new home, office, commercial space or landscape might be occupied.

Fundamental issues to be considered in the schematic design phase often include the following factors:

—What are the client's needs now and what might those needs be in the future? It is my role to help clients anticipate such needs and to develop an design strategy that responds accordingly.

—Will "phasing" allow for the maximum realization of the project? Perhaps a client knows that ultimately he/she may want a home or commercial space with certain features but it is outside the budget at the moment. It is often possible for me to find a way to build in phases (that could be separated even by years) so that one portion of the work may be completed up front and when the remainder of the project is completed in the future, construction will be less intrusive and also cheaper than if the later phase of work had been tackled wholly separately.

—The more extensive the construction, the more the client has an opportunity to satisfy the real complexities and nuances of life rather than fitting his/her life into a space made or designed without specific needs, quirks, or passions in mind.

—The usual tradeoff in a building project involves quality versus square footage; for a certain fixed budget, the larger the built area the lower the quality is likely to be. While good design is not directly linked to a large budget, a realistic budget must be identified early in the process.

 

With the above information I work with the client to prepare a wish list that is achievable and this becomes the project's "program." This program is the basis for a series of preliminary drawings and models yielding the Schematic Design, which gives design form to the client's carefully-considered needs, site, and budget. Usually, I take the information provided in the program and initially develop at least two very different proposals to illustrate how the same program can be handled very differently respecting the same given parameters of the project. With these proposals as a point of departure, my clients and I are able to discuss the pros and cons of various design approaches. Often it happens that the strategy ultimately pursued is a combination of several Schematic Design proposals.

Design Development Phase

During this period I develop, through computer drawings, physical models, and sometimes a computer model that simulates a "walk-through", the design agreed upon in the Schematic Design. By the end of this phase clients have a very thorough idea of the entire project: its spaces, views, materials, fixtures and probably even such items as door hardware, paint, etc.

Regarding the selection and the detailing of materials for construction purposes, I do not believe that materials conventionally considered luxurious are necessarily desirable or make for better design. To me it is always a question of when, where, and how materials are used, rather than what the materials are in and of themselves. In general, I much prefer to take simple and inexpensive materials and detail them meticulously, rather than to take costly materials and call for a mediocre installation detail due to the fact that in allocating funds for the splashy materials, little is left for the actual construction budget.

Construction Document/Contract Document Phase (or "Blueprints")

At this point I take the design approved in the final Design Development stage and begin to draw all components of the house ranging from the floor plans to the methods of assembly for cabinetry. These drawings are for the purposes of the actual construction by the contractor and also for obtaining required building permits. I prefer that these drawings have as much specificity as possible, in order that the contractor have very clear instructions as to the materials, methods of joining materials, and methods of placing services (plumbing, electrical, heating/cooling, etc.). Lack of specific instructions will ultimately give the contractor discretion as to the details, where they are not specified, and this is likely to lead to mistakes and reduced overall project quality.

Contract Administration

Once the Construction Documents are complete I distribute them to a group of general contractors for their preparation of "bids" — a fixed cost for the construction of the project. It is my responsibility to produce Contract Documents that define the proposed scope of construction work, which aim to yield bids close to the realistic budget initially established by the client. Wide variances in the bids can be an indicator that the contractor furnishing a very low bid is not intending to provide construction quality of a suitable standard and such a bid/contractor warrants careful scrutiny. This is to say that the contractor with the cheapest bid is not necessarily at all the best value. The greatest credential a contractor can have is a good local reputation for honesty and quality, demonstrated by references from people who completed projects similar in scale and budget to the project at hand. It is also customary to interview contractors prior to awarding the contract for the project. This is time well spent because it is important to find a contractor who is not only competent but someone with whom the client and I can have a positive professional rapport during the long and complicated collaborative construction process.

A contract is used to create a legal relationship between the client and the selected contractor, whereby my Contract Documents become a portion of that total agreement. It is my responsibility during construction to check on the contractor's progress and to ensure that the project is being built in accordance with the Construction Documents. Because I am the client's agent and have no legal ties to the contractor, on the construction site I am always representing the client's best interests.

Fee Structure

Standard design fees for the four phases I have outlined above are determined as a percentage of the anticipated construction budget. Fees may be adjusted to fit the numerous particularities of any project. For smaller projects, or in cases where I am asked to perform only a portion of "full services," I bill on an hourly basis. As I mention in my biographic statement, it is a misconception that only wealthy clients with large budgets employ designers; the mainstay of design work is provided to intelligent quality-minded clients with modest means who are seeking to take a very limited budget and to create added value for that budget than would be otherwise possible if instead that individual rushed into a construction endeavor without sufficient thought and preparation. Likewise, it is commonplace for the cost of design fees to be ultimately recuperated in the course of a project through fastidious design planning that ensures for the client close control over construction cost, quality, and schedule.

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