ᐅ New Single-Family Home Construction – Join Us on Our Journey!

I would like to make a few comments on your summary of the meeting with the architect:

gregman22 schrieb:

First of all, I want to let you know that for the first time I have a really good feeling about being on the right track. Although the cost estimates make me slightly unhappy (at a high level), we are looking forward to the planning!

Good! Better to have a realistic cost estimate than unpleasant surprises later on.

gregman22 schrieb:

The architect took a long time (almost 2.5 hours – unpaid). We talked about our personalities, the complete room program, additional wishes, and much more. At every point, he actively got involved and directly added his ideas.

Sounds very good, especially that he wanted to know something about your personalities – I think that’s important! He is designing for your life, and that only works successfully if he understands what motivates you, what is important to you, and how you imagine your future!

gregman22 schrieb:

He specifically showed me reference projects and explained how he proceeded back then. The comprehensive 3D visualization and animation are particularly impressive. He offers this service as an additional package (four-figure price) and highly recommends it (I’m leaning towards it).

For us, visualization is included in the fee, but the fee is correspondingly higher... We are very glad about that because it makes the architecture much more tangible than just a floor plan. After every change, we receive perfect, realistic 3D views, inside and outside, including furnishings, pictures on the walls, etc., plus videos so that we can virtually walk through the house. I would definitely buy that as well; it helps immensely!

gregman22 schrieb:

The firm basically covers all service phases. However, due to the travel distance, he excluded personal site management. Still, the property is within the region, and he can recommend site management from his own network.

It is the same with us; it’s not possible otherwise if the architect builds nationwide.

gregman22 schrieb:

He recommends the installation of a ground source heat pump instead of an air-to-air or air-to-water heat pump.

That speaks well of him...

gregman22 schrieb:

Regarding my summary, the offer now covers service phases 1–4 (with an exit clause after phase 2) according to HOAI. Aside from the general contractor (GC) discussion, any concerns?

Except for the GC, no.

gregman22 schrieb:

The architect explicitly excludes project cost calculation as a service and offers an additional discount. The reason is that he is assuming a GC build and wants to involve the GC early in the planning phase. I pointed out that I still expect him to provide valuable feedback on our overall cost planning (other cost items) during the planning. What do you think about this?

If he doesn’t want to do cost calculation, in my opinion, GC is the only option; otherwise, you will be completely in the dark. The advantage of individual contracting is that you can adjust every detail on the way, with costs assigned to each decision. That’s how it is with us, at least. For your project size, I would rather avoid GC – or does your architect always work that way?

gregman22 schrieb:

He explicitly excludes “design management as well as development of design wishes and details” as a service. Do you know what this means?

I don’t understand that, or it might be related to the GC execution. The offered 3D package should give you a realistic image of the finished building including interior design. The architect should be responsible for that and therefore also deliver a corresponding overall artistic concept. So, in my opinion, this point should be included. You should definitely clarify that.

k-man2021 schrieb:

If he doesn’t want to provide a cost estimate, in my opinion your only option is a general contractor; otherwise, you’re completely in the dark. The advantage of individual contracts is precisely that you can make adjustments at every detail along the way, and each option has a cost associated with it. At least that’s how it works for us. Given your project size, I would generally avoid a general contractor—unless the architect always recommends that approach?

This point remains somewhat unclear to me. The architect strongly emphasized that he has several general contractors he works with who have successfully built houses like ours.
I’m not opposed to a general contractor in principle—it has its advantages (such as cost certainty).

He never outright excluded the possibility of construction management. He also mentioned that, in the case of construction management, this person can be involved very early on (before the end of design phase 4) and can then join in on the cost estimation. Hmm...

k-man2021 schrieb:

I don’t understand this or it might be related to the general contractor’s role. The 3D package offered should provide you with a realistic representation of the finished building, including the interior design. The architect should be accountable for this and deliver an appropriate artistic overall concept. In my opinion, this is an essential part and you should definitely clarify it.

I think that’s probably the case. I assume he means really detailed interior architecture (including bespoke joinery planning). I’ve seen several 3D visualizations—they all featured great fictional furnishings, garden elements, surroundings, and so on.

The architect also enjoys building in solid wood construction alongside traditional solid masonry. He showed me some really impressive buildings using this method.

However, I haven't yet looked into solid wood construction in detail and need to establish a basis for my decision beyond just the design.

Aspects like lower weather resistance or sound insulation are a bit concerning to me, but I need to do more research.

gregman22 schrieb:

Things like lower weather resistance or sound insulation concern me a bit – but I need to do more research.

The wood (of the load-bearing structure) isn’t actually exposed to weathering (assuming no construction errors). Sound insulation is a much bigger issue that depends on more than just the wall construction (and even “modern” solid houses made of lightweight masonry don’t necessarily excel in this area). The windows are important, as well as the insulation (if the building isn’t monolithic), the materials and furnishings inside, the ventilation system, and much more. If this is a (very) important topic for you, you should definitely bring it up again with the architect, although I don’t expect that in projects of this scale they build highly soundproof structures 🙂

Out of curiosity, does he also have general contractors (GCs) involved for the solid wood construction?

pkiensch schrieb:

The wood (the load-bearing structure) is generally not exposed to the weather (apart from possible construction errors). Soundproofing is a much bigger issue, which depends not only on the wall structure (and where “modern” solid houses made of lightweight bricks also don’t excel). The windows are important, as well as the insulation (unless you build monolithically), the materials and furnishings inside, the ventilation, and more. If this topic is very important to you, you should definitely steer the conversation with the architect in that direction, although I don’t think he builds sensitive houses given the scale of the project 🙂

Out of curiosity, does he also have general contractors involved for the solid timber construction?

Good question! There was too much information during the first meeting for me to dig deeper then.

In general, he spoke about general contractor construction. In relation to timber construction, however, he mentioned very professional carpenters who will carry out the house. But there is a big gap between carpenters and general contractors.
My list of questions for the follow-up appointments on August 22nd and 23rd is growing.

Would you be willing to review my assumptions about the costs of various components (independent of the construction) and provide me with feedback? My architect has already had a preliminary look.

Next week things get serious. I need to finalize my overall cost planning in order to set the final construction budget, which the architect can then use for planning.