Architect needed for small extension?

bren1916

Registered User
Messages
376
Hi,

We are looking at adding on circa 25sqm to the back of a 3 bed end of terrace and have a good idea of what we are looking for, ie. Downstairs w/c, small utility area, extend kitchen area and create more living space.
Having read a lot of posts regarding similar projects, I feel we have a good understanding of what we need/want and can afford (thanks ONQ).
My question really is;
1. Is an architect necessary for such a small job and would 10% be a correct figure?
2. If so, can anyone reccommend an architect in the North Dublin/Meath/Louth area?

Thanks,

Brendan.
 
(bows)

Yes - always - you'd be surprised what a fresh eye can bring.
Plus you should be able to negotiate great deals on fees at the moment.
Most people put the utility in a position that undermines the amenity of the house.
As regards location, choose and archtiect whose work you like - distance really is not a problem.
While I say this often myself, I was surprised by one Cork based colleague who told me she's in Dublin regularly!

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand
 
We got an architect to design a small extension very like the one you describe. Like you, we had a good idea of what we wanted but the architect had much better ideas than we had and good advice about light and other issues that we hadn't thought of. We ended up with a much better space than our original plan.

Sadly, they have gone out of business, so I cant give you a recommendation for them.

I know it is stating the obvious, but you really need an architect that you can work with and who listens to you, so make sure to get a recommendation from a previous client.
 
Hi

I dot know whether you got sorted with an architect but I could highly recommend one that did work on my own house.
 
Brendan,
Don't know if you have had one sorted yet but I would recommend the guy that did our extension last year.
I would agree with what Huskerdu said. We had some good ideas but he came up with better ones and as we do not plan on moving for a very long time it was worth a few thousand euro to have it designed right.
If you are interested in his details PM me and i'll forward them to you. He works for a flat fee rather than a %.
 
I can recommend the one working on our house.
He recently completed work in Skerries, so I know he has recent work/referrees out that direction.

Pm me for details.
 
One word of warning I will offer about architects and designers in general.

Learn how they work at your initial meeting and read the FAQ at the start of this forum on what to ask your architect at your first meeting.
Some can be very strong and border on overbearing, but its this very control and allwos them to deliver quality design and push the builder to deliver.
They will also tend to want to compromise less if you decide you need some carbuncle stuck on the side of their potentially award-winning scheme later in the day.
However some people WANT to have the design delivered, having written and agreed a compreheisive brief and being shown what can be acheived by their designer and this suits them.

Other people prefer to be more involved in the process, both during the design phase and on site.
This can give rise ot difficulties both in terms of using up the architects projected time/fees to complete the work and with changes of mind mid-build.
Some clients can't commit to a brief until the last minute, some are not good at visualizing, some cannot read drawings, some cannot think very well in three dimensions.
Most of these factors can be addressed by your architect at the brief formulation stage and they can be worked to a degree around using models, visiting houses you like as examples, providing three D sketches of interiors.

The main thing is to get most of the decisionn made before finalising a set of drawings and specification and try to stick to them - changing things on site during the programme of works costs a lot more than redrawing a line on plan at design stage.
This trend may be on the rise as budgets become tighter, but whatever the reason, you employ a professional to deliver competent work and you expect to be kept informed at all stages but at some poitn you have to put your trust into them.
But some people cannot get the feedback they need from anythign other than the build as they see it progressing on site - and that's fine as long as they are prepared to pay for it - changes on site cost money.

Its important that these squirks of behaviour are understood from the outset for both clients and designers.
This allows them to get the most out of the design process, and the build and proceed to site on a professional basis having agreed the plans, specification and agreed a reasonable price.

For the record;

The building professionals posting to AAM are not allowed to advertise their services here - if you see any, report them.
They cannot tout for business or recommend themselves or their businesses directly or through proxies.
They are not trying to be rude or stand offish and they aren't just ignoring your requests.
The user policy of the site prevents marketing or direct approaches to posters.

A website address is all that is allowed for professionals.

Thus when a poster asks for a recommendation, other posters must recommend.
Otherwise the professionals on AAM can only respond to PMs sent directly from the inquirer.
This policy encourages independent, professional replies online which supports the aim of the AAM website to be a free online resource for the public good.
Posters are thus free to ask questions and answers are given without the OP being pestered by people offering their services instead of answering the question online.

FWIW

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.
 
For the record;

The building professionals posting to AAM are not allowed to advertise their services or tout for business or give themselves or their businesses recommendations directly or through proxies.

They are not trying to be rude or stand offish and they aren't ignoring your requests - The user policy of the site prevents marketing or direct approaches to posters.

That way posters are free to ask questions and answers are given for the benefit of all in response to these questions without the OP being pestered by people offering their services and not answering the question online - this is no benefit to AAM.

A website address is all that is allowed.
When a poster asks for a recommendation, the other posters must recommend.
Otherwise the professionals here can only respond to direct PMs from the inquirer.

FWIW

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.

In a roundabout way ONQ, you have just drew the OP's attention to your website, I love it, well done & hats off to you. ;)
 
hi,
we're currently putting extension onto back of an old 30's house in donabate- it has small long narrow kitchen so we're opening up back putting in downstairs loo, utility and big kitchen dining area. my architect has done a lovely design with big open space( on very tight budget !) and work just about to start on site- you've be very welcome to come over see our plans , we've a model done up and i can arrange for you to meet the architect if you PM me. hes based in donabate and is MIARI registered
 
hi,
we're currently putting extension onto back of an old 30's house in donabate- it has small long narrow kitchen so we're opening up back putting in downstairs loo, utility and big kitchen dining area. my architect has done a lovely design with big open space( on very tight budget !) and work just about to start on site- you've be very welcome to come over see our plans , we've a model done up and i can arrange for you to meet the architect if you PM me. hes based in donabate and is MIARI registered

How did your extension turn out? Were you happy with the result?

I am looking for an architect for a house renovation/rebuild in Donabate.
Would you recommend your architect?
 
Thought I'd better respond to my original Query and update - the results which may be of benefit to others;

Thank you Shawady & Mommah - I got sorted in the end with a local architect who came recommended.

Initially, I outlined what I was looking for and he offered 3 design plans - of which we agreed on one (with a couple of alterations).
We agreed a set fee figure for his services which included detailed drawings, building specifications, tender documents & site visits.
All in all - I felt it was a worthwhile exercise to involve an architect.

We went for a single storey rear & side extension of circa 40sqm as we had side & rear access to the house (which helps a lot).
We did require planning permission for the side extension, which was very straightforward as we applied in Nov planning to build in April.

We went to tender with 4 builders (there was up to 40% difference in final quotations) and we settled on a local builder, with a good reputation.

Build completed in July 2012 & we are extremely happy with the end result.

Hope this helps..

Brendan
 
Thought I'd better respond to my original Query and update - the results which may be of benefit to others;

Thank you Shawady & Mommah - I got sorted in the end with a local architect who came recommended.

Initially, I outlined what I was looking for and he offered 3 design plans - of which we agreed on one (with a couple of alterations).
We agreed a set fee figure for his services which included detailed drawings, building specifications, tender documents & site visits.
All in all - I felt it was a worthwhile exercise to involve an architect.

We went for a single storey rear & side extension of circa 40sqm as we had side & rear access to the house (which helps a lot).
We did require planning permission for the side extension, which was very straightforward as we applied in Nov planning to build in April.

We went to tender with 4 builders (there was up to 40% difference in final quotations) and we settled on a local builder, with a good reputation.

Build completed in July 2012 & we are extremely happy with the end result.

Hope this helps..

Brendan

Only 4??

We put our recent new build in Dublin out to tender and had 10 builders come back to us.Both ourselves and our architect sat down with and interviewed the various building contractors and reviewed their costings with the QS too.

One building contractor was from as far away as Armagh
 
Back
Top