Tell me about the unique value that architects deliver...

This week I’m doing something a bit different on the blog. I’m compiling a list of 10 things (or more!) that only architects can do, and I’d like your help.

The purpose of this list is to catalogue all the ways that architects add value to various types of projects. Once it’s complete, you can use it to inspire your own blogs and marketing messaging, and to create client-centric stories about the kinds of value that you deliver, both to your clients and the broader community.

My motivation for compiling this list is that many architects intrinsically know and appreciate the value of good design, but in my observation, they haven’t successfully conveyed those messages to the broader public (there are exceptions; I’ve included some below).

This failure to succinctly communicate the value of architecture has - over time - resulted in a loss of market share to other service providers - building designers, builders, draftspeople, project managers, etc.

It’s also led to frustration within the profession that consumers, clients and the public don’t understand and appreciate the importance of good design, or place value on it, or choose to invest in it.

If you’re frustrated by this issue, please help me address it!

The idea for a list of unique architectural value has been kicking around in my mind for a while - it was prompted by the success of an earlier Twitter thread - Things you wouldn’t learn you about renovating from an online reality TV show.

Architect Kerstin Thompson

Incidentally, that Twitter thread - which turned into an event at Open House Melbourne in July - was prompted by a tweet from Kerstin Thompson, and she has written a great article about articulating “the value of quality design” for the ACA, which you can read here.

So without further preamble, here are some examples of the kind of stories about unique architectural value that I’m seeking, for the list:

Tourism / cultural: architect Craig Poletti worked with National Parks clients to conceive plans for a sculptural lookout overlooking the Murchison Gorge near Kalbarri. Their proposal and concept sketches were used to secure government funding for the project, and together the team delivered the extraordinary project five years later. (I’ve just written about this for the next edition of Steel Profile, so keep an eye out for that story).

The 8-star Mill House in Coombs by The Mill Architecture and Design

Residential: Design a house that’s just enough. A house that is modest in scale but generous and spacious in appearance and functionality. This house by Shannon Battison for her own family is an ”8-star house for the same cost as a townhouse”. You can read more about it - and her call for architects to design more homes for regular people - here. (POD Cairns have a similar philosophy called “The Least House Necessary”, and both of these approaches have the potential to tackle the dominance of project home builders, so let’s celebrate and amplify them!).

Prefab solutions to difficult issues: Perth architect Michelle Blakeley recently unveiled her ‘My House’ project, a prefab solution to homelessness. Two houses can be delivered in flat pack form to site, for erection in just three days, and there are plans to start building these in Fremantle. This project is the result of a fantastic collaboration of people to produce an enjoyable, embracing house to Passivhaus principles, at an incredibly small budget. You can see the demonstration model being put together in this video.

Generate FOMO around good design: Melbourne-based architect Sarah Hobday-North wrote a great blog post last month about her purpose which is: “to make architecture accessible to people who would not have otherwise worked with an architect”. She said that many new homeowners move into something that seems "OK" because they don’t know any different, but she’s keen to see architects and architecture generate FOMO about good design, an idea so clever I wish I’d thought of it! “If the general public has a Fear Of Missing Out on good design, they will demand more of it from the industry at large,” she wrote.

I’m confident there are many other examples of the kind of ingenuity and value that architects deliver for their clients and the wider community, and I want to be flooded with submissions for the list!

So if you have one, please send me an email, and include some images or video, a brief description of the project, and the unique value the architect delivered, and I can add it to this compilation.