By Bob Hoebeke
President, Hoebeke Builders
Don’t you always feel safer sitting on a four-legged stool as opposed to a three-legged one? Sitting on a two-legged, or one-legged stool — well that’s impossible! So, why would you plan your building project without the four-legged stability a team that includes an architect, builder, interior designer, and landscape architect offers? Seems pretty nearsighted not to use all four disciplines, don’t you think?
Webster’s defines “complimentary skills” as, “… combining in such a way as to enhance or emphasize the qualities of each other.” In street lingo that’s, ‘What one ain’t got, the other one does!’
A Full Table For Your Home
If you’re truly interested in saving money on your project, and speeding the process along, you’ll invite all four of the major disciplines to the party, right from the start, and let their skills “compliment” each other!
But who are these guys or gals? Let’s sort through their basic job descriptions to understand why each is invaluable to the process:
- Architects are the custodians of the entire design/building process. If your home ends up ugly, blame them! All of the good ones are highly trained in the basics of design, and follow time-tested theorems of size, shape, and proportion when designing projects. Though the really good architects have exquisite taste, beautiful design balance, and a keen eye for proportion, even they can design ugly homes if not properly managed.
- Builders are gigantic puzzle “puter-togetherers” who think about where materials are, which materials hold up the best, how to assemble those materials, and how much they cost. Every day they live in a world of cost, so builders are best able to guide the other disciplines to bring your project in on budget.
- Interior Designers make your life beautiful! If the architect is responsible for designing the “bones” of your home, your interior designer will “dress” those bones to make the house a home. Neither of the other two disciplines has the training or experience the interiors people have in color, pattern, shape, texture, or fabric. Sometimes homeowners are tempted to leave this discipline out until later in the process. Doing so misses furniture placement and acquisition, or the early recognition the architectural design needs just a touch more room in a certain area for traffic flow.
- Landscape Architect/Designers integrate your home design with its surroundings. More importantly, a landscape architect pays close attention at the beginning of the project to the finished floor height of your foundation as it relates to existing trees and other site amenities. Water is a project enemy and MUST flow away from your home, so tree roots, tricky topography, and a neighbor’s run-off all become significant issues. Many a tree has been killed during construction by overzealous builders banging into them, cutting their roots, or burying the roots with dirt. Your landscape architect will make sure that doesn’t happen. With an eye towards the finished gardens, a good land designer will identify pathways, flower bed footings, etc. at the team design table, so provision can be made for inclusion both in the budget and when the foundation is poured. That’ll save you LOTS of time and money.
Simply said, architects know design, not cost; builders know cost, not design; neither one of those disciplines have much of an idea about where the furniture goes; and none of the three of them have a clue about what’s going on in the yard!
An Incomplete Team Costs You Extra
Think of the gaps in knowledge missed when homeowners hire only one, or maybe two disciplines at project inception. It’s easy to understand why so much money is wasted by hiring a discipline later in the building process (can you spell “do-over?”).
Though counter-intuitive, hiring all four disciplines BEFORE you start your project insures most, if not all gaps are covered. The efficiency of having your four TEAM members working together at the same table not only adds synergy to your project, but speeds the process along while minimizing costly mistakes.
Next Time: Let’s talk about managing your team by defining your goals for the project, and establishing project parameters.
From, developing a “Lifestyle Inventory,” to building and monitoring your Project Team, Hoebeke Builders Consulting Services has all the tools necessary to dramatically increase your project’s efficiency, while decreasing your project’s cost! www.hoebekebuilders.com
