Why I hired an Architect.
It would have been an insane move if I didn't!
I have been asked this question by people who are familiar with some of my previous work, where I have done minimal exterior design to complement an interior renovation. But frankly, the scope of this project was beyond me, especially in my post-partum condition which reverted my body back to the condition it had been in right after my last car accident.
In my design practice, I have been a consultant, and hired consultants to complement or add expertise depending on the project. Interdisciplinary design is always much richer for having a team approach.
Despite having a clear vision for the interior of the house, and knowing what I wanted the shell to achieve from an energy management perspective, architecture, especially passive house architecture is not my area of expertise. Enter Lara, who took all our climate change concerns and created a design that addressed an outsulation approach, as well as well as the challenges of accessibility and multi-generational building.
"I'm either going to be your best client or worst client ever" I joked when we asked Lara to take this on. She declined to comment (haha).
We started working with Lara and her team years before this build began, and worked through on paper a few different versions of the renovation. Having worked with Lara in the past, I knew she would allow a collaborative design approach, which allowed us to complement each other's expertise. Having a respectful collaboration is crucial in any project, but especially your own home. She left me to design the interior details and lighting and we coordinated on accessibility requirements which spanned both our areas.
Similar to many people trying to get a project like this going in 2020, the economic reality of the pandemic changed a lot of our original concepts. Our funding situation changed completely and we had to start again after our first set of plans became completely unaffordable. Having LMA on board was also a huge support when I had a challenging pregnancy and massive physical repercussions in the year following, as I was able to lean on their team to do some of the work I would normally have done myself.
LMA have not only assisted with all the physical aspects of this build that I could not take on (creating existing site drawings that I could then modify and work with), but also they also called me on some questionable layouts when I was still trying to figure out the final design. Being able to discuss the various aspects of some of the design plans with experts while I was dealing with significant pain loads saved me from some potentially bad decisions. I am grateful for the balance of guidance while always respecting that I am the authority on my own condition. They lent their expertise to site meetings as we went through the complicated process of converting the existing building from interior insulation to an exterior insulation, as well as helping me understand the engineering challenges we faced.
In short, despite decades of experience, I could not have done this without the team of architects, and the rest of the consultants that they brought on.
