Residential Building Design: The Advantages of Hiring an Architect

It’s perfectly possible to complete a building project without an architect. This is particularly true if you have a builder whose judgment you trust. However, lots of people choose to hire an architect for expert knowledge and peace of mind.

You can usually hire an architect to do anything from producing basic plans to managing a whole project from start to finish. Taking on an architect to do your residential building design can be a great way to get professional design without breaking the bank.

What’s involved in residential building design?

If you hire an architect to design part or all of your home, they’ll produce one or multiple plans for you. There are different types of plan that an architect can produce depending on what you ask them to do.

The most basic plans that an architect will usually produce will include:

  • Site layout
  • Floor plan
  • Exterior building elevations

These will be based on the information that you give your architect about what you want, and standard industry practices. If the plans are accurate and scaled then they can be used for a basic budget discussion with a builder. This is useful if you want to work out how far your budget will stretch.

An architect can also create plans that are specifically used for planning permission and building regulations approval applications. These will contain all the information that your local authority needs and can speed up your application.

Lots of homeowners engage an architect to produce construction plans for them. They can then pass these onto the builder that they engage for their project.

If you choose you can hire an architect to manage your whole project and not just draw up designs and plans. To learn more about this take a look at our project management page.

Top tips for working with an architect

  • Meet them
  • If you want good results you should make an effort to meet your architect. Any type of residential building design should usually involve your architect making at least one site visit and talking in depth with you about what you want.

  • Communicate

Good communication with your architect is key. Be sure to be clear about your budget and what you want. If you’re not you’re likely to end up with plans that you’re not happy with or are too expensive.

Price

Around 2-5% of the construction cost

Design time

1-5 months

Depending on the size of the project


Advantages and disadvantages
  • Provides professional knowledge and expertise for your project
  • Can increase how quickly your applications are processed
  • More expensive than just relying on your builder
  • Your architect will only help with the design element of your project