Building designers play a crucial role in transforming what clients envision about their homes into reality. They leverage their years of expertise and knowledge to help clients achieve beautiful yet functional spaces that the clients will be proud to call home for years to come.
In a busy city like Melbourne, there are numerous building designers to select from, and while this makes it easy to find a building and construction firm, the question is how do you know they are the right designers for you?
When considering potential building designers in Melbourne, here is a checklist of essential qualities that you should look for:
Their experience
The building designer that you work with should prove that they possess the relevant expertise and knowledge required to come up with plans for your project. You can check their work portfolio, and see if any of their previous work matches the kind of work you need to be done. Be keen on the details of their past drawings – check if they adequately specified materials and dimensions and the number of drawing they supply per project. Look at the floor plans for every elevation drawing, building level, and other structural details. You can also obtain lots of relevant information through reading online reviews, as they will help you gauge how well they relate to their clients. A sound building designer should smoothly work with different developers and clients.
Good listening skills
Good listening skill is a very crucial quality, otherwise, how would they be able to extract the idea from your brain and put it down on paper? Often the designs are supposed to be as per your specifications, not their own, and it’s why good listening skills come into play. It doesn’t matter how good a designer is, if they don’t have excellent comprehension skills, it’s highly likely they won’t deliver everything as you had anticipated for.
Structural expertise
The building designer that you work with should have an excellent understanding of structural bearing, loading, and strength of materials. They must know how to position posts, how floor loading works and how the roof trusses get support. They should also be aware of the best materials to use for your specific climates and purposes.
Knowledge of the building code
It’s one thing for a designer to know the building codes and another for them to apply them. Your building designer should be aware of the building codes and know how to implement them. There are times when the drawings meet the local council standards, but still, feature awkward spaces like bathrooms fixtures with minimum clearance or doors that collide when opened. In short, they should ensure that they draw functional areas for your convenience and peace of mind.
Creativity
The building design is more of an art, just as it is science. Although the goal of building designer should be to mentally picture a building that serves a practical purpose, that does not mean that they are limited to drawing something that will be lifeless and cold. That said, you should work with building designers in Melbourne who take a creative approach to their work.
