The EXCITEMENT of ARCHITECTURE

This has to be one of the best times to be creating a new home in Scotland

Scottish architecture today is exciting, just look around you; there are a great many people out there who are at the top of their game. Some stunning homes are being created, lifting everyday life out of the ordinary for their owners. Stewart Henderson, president of the RIAS: ‘The quality of architecture being produced the length and breadth of the country is hugely impressive. Practices, large and small, continue to demonstrate the strength and purpose of the profession in Scotland.’ Using a building consultant or designer to simply draw up plans might be suggested as a way to save on costs but hiring a chartered architect means you are tapping into the services of a professional who has studied for seven years, by far the longest training period within the building industry. Only when qualified can they be listed with the Architects Registration Board and apply to the profession’s chartered bodies to use the initials RIAS or FRIAS, the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, and RIBA, Royal Institute of British Architects. Members must carry professional indemnity insurance and uphold the reputation of the profession. RIAS says its members provide ‘freedom from worry and value for money’ as they steer your project through the labyrinths of planning and building legislation. A good architect listens to what you need the property to do for you and how you want it to look. Their expertise, experience and attention to detail interprets dreams into a reality which will extract as much home as possible from a plot, materials and construction costs, saving money in the long run. You cannot put a price on the quality of imagination an architect brings to a project. Architects’ fees are part of the overall cost of any project and usually calculated in three ways. Percentage is based on the total construction costs in the building contract including site works; agreement is needed on the services provided, nature of the work and an approximate construction budget. Lump sum fees work best when the project can be clearly defined right from the start and there are no surprises for either side. Time charged is the flip-side of that coin and best where the amount of work cannot ‘reasonably’ be seen; an agreed upper limit is needed and fees are often staged. Decide whether expenses will be included within the agreed fee or charged separately.