The Design Process

The Design Process

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Define the Problem

You can't find a solution, until you can spell out what the problem is. Architects work with the
client to define the project. The problem may be something like "A new school kitchen with
cafeteria that seats 300 students" or "A new high school for 1,000 students."

Collect Information

Once the problem is defined, architects will spend time gathering information to help them
understand the neighborhood, the site, the users of the building, any existing buildings.
Typically this means taking photographs, sketching, and interviewing the client. It's also
valuable to collect information on the natural environment, so architects may gather data on the
path of the sun around the site, the direction of the wind, the climate, as well as what types of
plants are currently growing around the site.

Brainstorm/Analyze

During this stage of the process, architects may begin sketching or making diagrams to help them
understand how all the data and information they've collected may impact the design of the
building. These early drawings - which may include bubble diagrams, for example, will help the
architects document their ideas, because it's likely the solution will change as they go along.

Develop Solutions

At this stage in the design process, architects will create drawings with specific solutions to be
shown to the client. Schematic drawings, as these are typically called, help illustrate the big
ideas and space requirements of the project. Schematic drawings usually do not include
dimensions or other construction-related notes.

Feedback

No solution is perfect the first time around, so it's critical that the architects continue the
discussion with the client to receive feedback.

Improve

With feedback in hand, the architects will go back and continue to revise and improve the final
solution. Over the next several months, or even years, the architecture firm will work with
the client to refine the original design. Based on an analysis of cost vs. needs, together the firm
and the client will closely review the solutions and make balanced decisions on which features
will stay, which will be redesigned, and which may be eliminated. The architecture firm will
also work closely with the general contractor responsible for constructing the building.
Depending on the size of the project, other partners – such as structural engineers,
mechanical/plumbing engineers, acoustical engineers, lighting designers, civil engineers,
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landscape architects, electrical engineers – are brought into the process and hired for their
expertise.

Build It

The precise details of the building will determined over several months while the firm is
developing a set of construction drawings and specifications - called construction documents -
which will be part of the legal contract between the architect and client. These construction
documents will be used by the contractor to construct the building.