October 2023 has proved to be quite a busy month for all at IGB Architectural Design with multiple projects across the residential and healthcare sectors all at various stages of design, applications or construction.
One of the hardest unseen aspects of managing an architectural practice is keeping everything running smoothly when you have multiple ongoing projects across various different sectors, all at different stages of design, planning, building or on-site project management.
One day you can be sitting at the computer designing a new extension for a property in The Lake District, the next day was spent beginning an on-site study for a large plot of land in Carlisle for a national haulage company that is considering options to relocate and expand.
The day after that was back in the office working on detailed specification drawings for a complex Building Control application in collaboration with a local structural engineer and the day after that was spent at multiple meetings including our local NHS hospital discussing lifecycle and redevelopment ideas as well as several on-site progress meetings.
Truly, no two days are the same in the building trade!
How Is An Architectural Practice Organised?
As a very broad structure, the functions and management of a small to medium size architectural business practice can be divided in to 3 areas: architectural design, project management and practice administration.
The architectural design aspect typically accounts for the largest chunk of time in any given month and includes completing site and property surveys, working with clients to develop planning proposals, producing detailed technical building regulation and written specification documents for building regulations applications and contractor tender use.
Some of the projects at IGB Architectural Design this month has consisted of collaborating with our clients to plan several design ideas for 2 separate projects on large detached properties in the heart of The Lake District that simultaneously provides the practical space many families need as well as taking advantage of some fantastic views but also provides the best value for money for our clients in terms of both construction costs and gained equity value.
We also completed a Building Regulations application for internal alterations to a 3-story townhouse and were very pleasantly surprised when the approval came back in less than 10 days allowing our clients to begin work sooner than anticipated.
We also had an office day out to attend 2 building shows at the National Exhibition Centre (N.E.C) Birmingham at the beginning of the month. The first was ‘UK Construction Week’ which hosted a wide range of talks, showcased various new digital technologies and was attended by various existing suppliers, many of whom we have used on current and past projects and proved to be an interesting mix. The other was ‘Grand Designs Live’ which we were thoroughly disappointed with, although the Alpine F1 car was very cool.
In terms of project management this month, we had regular site meetings and inspections on several building sites to ensure works are progressing.
Another project for a private social housing provider, which we have been working with for several years has also completed an important stage with the principal contractor selected for a series of future refurbishments for several retirement properties that includes applying vastly better insulation to keep the winter heating bills to a minimum, window replacement, new modern kitchens and more accessible bathrooms as well as discussing options for air-source heat pumps.
Finally, the practice administration role covers a wide area but in a typical month would include archiving and record-keeping for completed projects, preparing new quotes and issuing invoices and meetings with potential new clients to discuss ideas.
This month included several meetings with a couple whom are in the process of purchasing a listed Grade II residential property in a conservation area with an attached plot for potential development, a meeting with a Bowling Club to potentially extend and refurbish their clubhouse, liaising with several local authority planning departments to ensure several other ongoing planning applications are working their way through the system as well as various ongoing meetings to progress works at the local NHS hospital.