The 6 important insights an architect can bring to your renovation project
From the outside, a renovation might seem like a pretty straightforward prospect. Sure, you’re expecting dust, decisions and delays but, in principle, you just need a builder and about 5 x 10 metres more floor area, right?
Before you get too carried away trying to find the right tradies, it’s worthwhile discussing some of the opportunities you might miss if you don’t get a design professional onboard first. You might call us biased, but we’ve seen firsthand the difference an architect can make on a renovation project by thinking creatively about the space you already have and how to achieve the best outcome for your project within your budget.
So, here are just 5 insights and some of the expertise an architect can bring to your renovation project:
Rethinking your existing space and maximising space
So you’re constantly feeling cramped in your home. There’s never enough space for everything and the house constantly feels cluttered. But, in general, you just need another room or two so you can have a little more space, right?
What often happens when you’re feeling this way is you get a builder in and they add on a couple of extra rooms, but while you have the extra space you need, the flow and functionality of your existing home don’t change. The result is a bigger house, but with the same fundamental problems.
If you get an architect involved, it’s an opportunity to assess your existing spaces and rethink the flow through the house and possible modifications that could make a big difference to how your home feels and functions. In several projects we’ve worked on, it wasn’t necessary to add any additional space at all. Once the flow and functionality of the house were resolved, it looked and felt much more spacious. This means our clients were able to spend their budget on high-quality finishes and fittings that will look beautiful for many years to come and enjoy their home without feeling hemmed in.
This Toorak renovation didn’t need additional floor area, but it did need a rethink about how the layout could be improved. A more efficient floor plan, well thought out storage solutions and new finishes throughout makes it feel like an entirely new (and much larger) home.
The importance of volume
Not confined to ‘80s perms, the importance of volume also applies to your home. Volume is the expert trick that makes even the most narrow or compact home feel spacious, light-filled, and full of personality. So, even if you live on a very tight site, the strategic use of double-height spaces, clerestory windows, and/or raked ceilings can help your home feel so much larger and more dramatic. An architect is specially equipped to think in all three dimensions when designing your home, so while your budget may only allow for a certain-sized addition in floor area, we may be able to squeeze some additional volume out of your renovation project which will completely transform the look and feel of your home.
Dramatic raked ceilings and clerestory windows grabbing light and views from all the right places will make this otherwise compact Coburg home feel spacious, bright and high-end.
Long-term thinking
While you might need just an extra room or two right now, or a new modern kitchen and living area, your circumstances are bound to change in the future. An architect can help you anticipate and plan for your future needs so that you’re prepared for them when they come. This might include planning a multi-functional space that can be a guest bedroom when required and transform into a retreat or second living area for when the kids are angsty teens who need their own space. In keeping with this, an architect can help you avoid transient trends and poor-quality solutions and help you design a home that will stand the test of time. If you’re planning to stay in your home for the longer term, there’s little sense in cutting corners on products and materials that will only last a few years, or choosing a tile or bathroom suite that will look soooooo early ‘20s in just a few short years.
Making the most of your site
Every site has its pros and cons and a good architect can help you enhance what’s good about your site and either improve what’s not so good or divert attention away. You might live on a busy street with a lot of traffic, but good design can help you reorient your living area towards a majestic tree in the backyard, help you improve the acoustic insulation of your home, and grab additional light from a well-placed skylight so that you don’t even notice the constant stream of commuters out your front door. Or, perhaps you’re hemmed in on all sides and feel there’s nowhere to expand. An architect’s expertise in efficient spacial planning and local planning laws can help you build an extension that uses every square millimetre of available space to the max. Plus, with tricks of light, volume, and planning, your home will feel much larger than it is in reality and you’ll feel like you live in your own private sanctuary.
Similarly, an architect knows which rules you can bend and which ones you can’t which can help you achieve more within the limits of your site. So while a builder or draftsperson might look at the rescode regulations and tell you you can’t build more than X metres on the boundary or that you can only achieve X square metres on the upper level, an architect will be able to determine whether you can mount a convincing case to council to help you get the approvals you need and ultimately end up with a better home which takes full advantage of its site.
A beautiful perforated steel facade at this South Yarra renovation makes the most of the site by helping to give this home privacy from the street and shade from the heat of the sun while still allowing dappled light into the home to enhance the feeling of living among the treetops.
Creative solutions and out-of-the-box thinking
Sometimes the obvious solution is not necessarily the best solution. And, when you’re spending hundreds of thousands of your hard-earned dollars, you want the best solution. Architects bring creative solutions to problems. Perhaps the best solution for your home is not to go out, but up. That way you can retain more garden area and ensure more light can stream into your living areas. Or what if you actually don’t need additional space because, once the functionality of your existing space is assessed and improved, a new opening and some beautiful custom joinery will do the trick instead? An architect can advise you on all this, taking your wants and needs, your budget, and the quirks and constraints of your existing home into account to arrive at the best solutions for your needs.
Making the most of available space. Even on very tightly constrained, inner-city sites, an architect can help you utilise the space you have to maximise your home’s functionality. An extra bedroom tucked under the roofline doesn’t need to feel like a cramped attic space. Instead, it could be the room everyone fights over with its dramatic ceiling and private terrace.
Help you navigate the complex world of building
Beyond the design savvy and creative thinking an architect can bring to your renovation, there’s also a lot of professional knowledge and experience to share. Building and renovating is a complex process with numerous moving parts. Architects are highly trained professionals who also practice for years to understand how the world of building and construction works and are able to deal with professionals from various specialisations to help you achieve what you want out of your project without all the headaches. An architect can help you determine what permits and approvals you need, where to find the products and materials you’re after, and help you assemble a great team of consultants and professionals all working to pull your renovation off without a hitch!