Architecture is a luxury design profession, and design is a solution-based practice, unlike art. At its best, it is grounded on deep listening and understanding, with no preconceived ideas about the outcome.

Design evolves through dialogue with you (the client), the builder, and various trades and regulatory bodies because they all contribute to the final outcome. Unlike art which is often an exercise in self-expression and can push against its environment, design should embrace and even embody these influences. Design is a complicated process requiring the removal of egos. Still, in this, something fantastic can evolve as a building slowly comes off the paper and out of the ground.

This contrasts with ‘Architecture’ as an art form. Home design is a process based in the market, working to truly understand the goals and how it fits on the site and into your budget. Not once but constantly. It is more work to design this way and even more difficult within tighter financial constraints and lower build costs. This means you have to get it right the first time because redesign is extraordinarily expensive and painful for everyone and is where projects go to die.

It is better to do it properly upfront, systematically, and constantly value engineering against the goal because, for me, the core competency of an architect is to get buildings built.