A-Z of Self Build Guides Finding The Right Architect

Date Published:

30/05/2008

The relationship between client and architect is key to the success of any self-build, so Grand Designer Andrew Davies from the Carmarthen TV house reveals how to get it right.

Credit: James Morris

What We Wanted

Shortly after deciding to build, the 'architect' question started to buzz menacingly above our heads, much like the crop-dusting biplane in the film North By Northwest.

Seemingly a no-brainer, what pestered me personally was whether or not we actually needed one. After all, many acquaintances of ours had succeeded in self building without the know-how of an architect, either by garnering the services of a mate who sort of knew how to fit rooms and roofs together - usually a civil engineer, quantity surveyor or builder - or by plumping for off-the-peg designs as provided by timber frame companies. And there's the rub. The buildings that resulted were almost always devoid of imagination, frequently impractical and not user-friendly. Many were badly built and, in certain cases, environmental bullies.

Knowing that we had firm design ideas of our own, and that no-one could bully us into abandoning them, we decided to employ the services of an architect, mainly to avoid erecting a building of the aforementioned quality, and the idea of bouncing ideas with another 'creative' was also exciting.