Commercial Architects

Roles Played By Commercial Architects In Sydney

Commercial architects are the type of architects involved in the preparation of designs and specifications relating to commercial buildings like shopping malls, air terminals, offices, leisure facilities, factories, hotels, sports, rail, and retail outlets. You can’t find the commercial architects designing single-occupancy homes, which is a responsibility of the of the residential architects.

Who’s a qualified commercial architect?

A qualified commercial architect must be a holder of a bachelor degree from an accredited learning institution. This program usually takes five years, and it focuses on topics like construction materials, building design, computer-aided design, and structural systems. For one to be recognised as an expert in the field, he/she must have attended an internship entailing practical training for more than three years, before taking the licensing exams. A state license is typically issued to the candidates who pass all the sections of this exam. After this, the candidate is now ready to show out his/her skills in the field to the outside world.

As a result, we are going to discuss some of the roles played by the commercial architects in Sydney. These are:

Liaising with the client

Initially, it is the clients who meet the commercial architects to discuss the project requirements. After these, the commercial architects proceed to the preparation and presentation of the initial proposals, which they typically prepare in the form of a sketch design. This proposal, it usually incorporates the site reports or the feasibility studies. While the project is on its progress, the commercial architects maintain communication with the client, whereby they keep providing detailed plans, schedules, specifications, and budgets. They keep the client updated with progress reports in addition to arranging meetings as one way of resolving any problems encountered in the process of the construction phase.

Coordinating the design

Commercial architects always conduct a detailed design development as individuals or coordinate the work assigned to the design team. After this, they come up with detailed scale models and drawings, if the need arises in the midst of the project. Other than this, commercial architects are involved in the coordination of the design inputs of the specialties like the ventilating engineers, heating engineers, lighting and interior designers, electrical and plumbing engineers, and structural engineers. In this way, they are held responsible in ensuring that every design element goes as per the fire regulations, building regulations, and safety and health regulations.  Using the approved designs, the commercial architects come up with detailed contract documents and specifications, which are the foundation for obtaining estimation from the contractors.

Management of the project

Commercial architects play a substantial role in helping the clients to choose contractors. Also, they can help these clients to negotiate the terms of the contract. Moreover, when it comes to the construction phase, commercial architects are in a position of coordinating and supervising the contractors’ and sub-contractors’ work in addition to coming up with quality standards for the respective project.  Finally, architects are involved in setting schedules, monitoring and managing contracts as one way of ensuring that the client’s project gets completed on time and within the estimated budget.

Thus, it can be seen that commercial architects play an essential role in every step of the building project and work hand-in-hand with other professionals in this field to ensure that the project gets completed as per the client’ requirement.