An Architect wears many hats and is responsible for planning, designing and reviewing the construction of buildings. Not only do they need to be good artists but they need to be good scientists as well when they design a building. An architect can design all manor of buildings from homes, schools, train stations to hospitals and skyscrapers.
So what’s the process?
Firstly they plan so before constructing a building the architect needs to draw a plan of the building, some will even make cardboard or plastic models of the building.
There are countless things to consider before drawing up the plans – what will the building be used for, how many people will be in the building at the same time, will activities take place in the building and so on. For example, an office will need lots of smaller rooms whereas a school will require many medium-sized rooms for classrooms and a train station will need one large room for hundreds of people to pass through at the same time.
Each building must be built so it can be used efficiently by everyone who walks through the door. When an architect discusses what the building will be used for, they will use the term “function” of the building.
A good architect will spend quite a bit of time making sure the building is safely designed so it will last many years. They must also design the building so that in the event of an emergency people can escape.
Whilst the functionality and safety of a building is paramount an architect will also spend time creatively thinking about how the building is going to look. They will consider where to put the rooms, walls, lighting and what the style of the building is going to be.
So after all of the above is done a construction company will then follow the direction of the plans and construct the building. All work is closely supervised by the architect to ensure the building is built according to the exact plans.
Being an architect is certainly a challenging job but one that is filled with excitement to see the finished project come to fruition.
