Current Value of the Architect Firstly, what is an Architect? What does the title mean? And where does its value lie?
These findings from the 2016 RIBA Survey, ‘What clients think of Architects’ show that there is a consensus that private domestic and commercial clients are very, or fairly, satisfied with the work of Architects (below) [Fig.4] [Fig.5] [Fig.6] [Fig.7]. The same opinion is not, howveer, shared by contractors. “Contractors agreed that Architects were great at design but not so good at providing the wrapper around the design process, such as design management” (RIBA, 2016). This statement from the survey findings shows areas of improvement required by the contractor and the lack of addressing such issues led to the creation of roles such as Design Managers. Roles like this were created due to the issues surrounding risk, information delivery and accuracies that are typically found within the design team (RIBA, 2016).
It is important to acknowledge the current value of the Architect as a prerequisite to the exploration of its opportunities to increase its value and empower the future Architect. The value of the Architect lies within the eye of the client, and it is imperative that an attempt to increase the value of the Architect is related back to the Architects value to the client. “The best architecture generally derives from the best client-Architect relationship” RIBA (2016) and if Architects can engage in emerging technologies and new ways of practice, improving this relationship and providing efficiencies, it should inevitably drive better architecture.
contractor
commercial
Type of client private domestic
per cent ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied
Overall
76
51
73
66
Technical Deisgn Performance Technical Deisgn Performance Project meets brief Effect project has on funtion of building
78 78 79
64 52 49
78 54 72
73 67 66
75 73
56 29
68 62
66 54
69 66 59 68 61 63 n/a 55 51 55 n/a n/a n/a
46 36 43 36 36 27 30 30 26 18 31 16 17
68 66 65 60 56 60 60 51 54 50 42 49 49
61 56 55 54 50 49 45 44 43 40 36 32 32
highlight in blue where 50 per cent or more are ‘very’ or ‘farily’ satisfied
Other deisgn qualities of project Effect project has on maintenance of building Process Management Developing/interpreting brief Explaining deisgn proposals Communication with client Understanding client needs Collaborating with project team Managing their work Technical design spec Managing the handover process Efficiency of admin Adhering to programme Data management approach Commerical understanding Value adding activities
An unwillingness to adapt and evolve to meet client requirements, led to a reduction in responsibility within the Design and Build procurement route and inevitably the marginalisation of the Architect. A means of overcoming this limitation of the current role would be to directly provide more value to the client with regards to cost, time reduction, increased efficiencies, accuracy and precision.
Private Domestic Contractors Commercial 76% 73%
51%
Per cent of clients who are ‘very’ or ‘fairly’ satisfied with the project overall [Fig 5] Client Overall Satisfaction
[Fig 4] Client Satisfactory Levels
3
Private Domestic Contractors Commercial 77%
