ᐅ Looking for a creative architect to design a house for us.

Hello everyone,

We are already planning how our house should look (plot located in Baden Württemberg, facing southeast). But when it comes to drawing, I really have two left hands! I just can’t come up with any ideas on how to draw it. Building and hands-on work suit me better.

What we have so far doesn’t make me happy and doesn’t really impress me...
Everything looks somewhat copied, like “Here, take this.”
But I think you should enjoy living in your home for many years, feeling like “This is where I belong.”

If anyone knows a creative person who can help us with some drawings, I’d be happy to gather all the information and send it over.
(Plot plan, ideas, wishes, etc.)
We are planning about 70–80 sqm (750–860 sq ft) per floor, with two full stories.

Many thanks to the community here...

Correctly identified: the professional responsible for such work is called an architect. In Germany, architects are widely available and usually have branch offices nearby, at least within the region. Before drawing, there is a preliminary draft/design phase developed in coordination with local building regulations/planning permission, the site conditions, topography, cardinal directions, the client’s spatial requirements, budget, and so on.

By the way, architects typically design a building that is individually tailored to the client and the site as a natural part of their professional role. This is quite different from the developers and prefabricated house companies that are often sought here as a reflex.

This is an important and decisive advantage because you only build once and should feel that you are having “YOUR” house built, not a generic template design excused as “Bauhaus style” or presented as a “town villa” with a dull floor plan and a pyramid-shaped roof.

Hello wpic,

thanks for your reply. I believe I know what an architect is and what they do. As you can see from the title, I’m referring to a "creative architect."

We have already visited two architects. One wanted money upfront, and with the other, we only received a copy of a different house that doesn't fit our plot.

So my question is... Is there a creative architect here to whom I could send our documents for review...?

Chrisss83 schrieb:
One wanted money upfront, and the other apparently just gave us a copy of a different house that doesn’t fit our plot.

But doesn’t it usually work like this? Someone is supposed to create something custom and not charge? Typically, there is an initial meeting where the architect presents some of their previous projects so you can see if you like their general style. Anything beyond that is covered by a contract, either based on a fee schedule or hourly rate, sometimes a flat fee.

Architects’ fees are usually based on the HOAI (Official Scale of Fees for Services by Architects and Engineers). In your case, to make a decision regarding the construction project, commissioning service phases 1 and 2 (basic evaluation + preliminary design) followed by a cost estimate according to DIN 276 would be necessary. Up to three variants of the preliminary design will be provided. The fee is paid after the planning services have been delivered, not in advance.

This requires an official contract for work, specifying exactly the planning services and the fee, for example. If it only involves pure drafting work, a draftsman can also perform this. However, for a fundamental project plan that is also intended to be approvable by the authorities (building permit / planning permission), an architect is required. No architect—not even a “creative” one—will provide such extensive and detailed preliminary services free of charge. And why should they?

All good, everyone, and thanks for your responses.

However, I wouldn’t sign a contract with an architect before knowing what it’s for. Who buys a pig in a poke?

So I’ll repeat my question: is there anyone creative here who could draw something for us? A proposal, not a finished construction plan, without a building permit / planning permission application.

Maybe someone knows a budding, creative architect—we would appreciate a contact.