JMT Architecture’s Post

🏗️ Unlocking the housing shortage through the power of early collaboration 📐 George Buchanan of George Buchanan Architects Ltd discusses the importance of developers engaging earlier with architects to achieve more innovative and sustainable homes. #NewHomesWeek2024 #NewHomesWeek

"Thriving Despite Economic Turmoil: Diversify or Become Stagnant?"   As architects, your expertise extends far beyond traditional design services. By offering specialized consulting services, you can leverage your knowledge, diversify your revenue streams, and provide invaluable insights to clients across various industries. Here are 5 proven consulting services that can help your architecture firm thrive: and you to imagine what your firm can offer given your knowledge and specialization: 1. Feasibility Studies: Conduct in-depth feasibility analyses for developers and investors, evaluating site conditions, zoning regulations, and market trends. For example, Gensler's consulting arm provided feasibility assessments for mixed-use developments in Chicago and Los Angeles, helping clients make informed investment decisions. 2. Post-Occupancy Evaluations: Offer post-occupancy evaluations to assess the performance and functionality of existing buildings. Perkins & Will's consultants conducted a post-occupancy study for a Fortune 500 company, identifying opportunities to enhance workspace utilization and employee productivity. 3. Building Condition Assessments: Provide comprehensive assessments of aging structures, identifying maintenance requirements, code compliance issues, and potential renovation strategies. Architectural Resources Group (ARG) has conducted condition assessments for historic landmarks, guiding clients in preservation and adaptive reuse projects. 4. Sustainability Consulting: Leverage your expertise in sustainable design principles to offer energy audits, LEED certification guidance, and environmentally conscious strategies. For instance, HKS Architects' consulting division has helped clients across various sectors achieve their sustainability goals through customized solutions. 5. Urban Planning and Design Guidelines: Collaborate with municipalities and developers to develop urban design guidelines, zoning regulations, and master plans. Firms like Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company have extensive experience in creating community plans that balance environmental, economic, and social considerations. By offering these specialized consulting services, you not only tap into new revenue streams but also position your firm as a trusted advisor, capable of solving complex challenges beyond traditional architectural services. Share your experiences and insights into architecture consulting services that have proven successful for your firm. Let's explore how we can leverage your expertise to drive growth and diversification. #Architecture #Consulting #ExpertiseMonetization #FirmDiversification #RevenueStreams #Gensler #HKS #PerkinsandWill #DuanyPlaterZyberk #UrbanPlanning #Sustainability #PostOccupancyEvaluations #Feasibilitystudies #ArchitectureConsulting

You need to understand why architecture exists. Here’s the deal: clients aren’t in it to win architectural awards; they’re in it to turn a profit. Sure, cultural centers and fancy concert halls are cool & grab headlines, but they’re a tiny part of what usually gets built. Even those projects need to bring in revenue and function as businesses. My time in construction gave me a front-row seat to the client’s perspective: it’s all about business and investment. Yes, design matters to many clients, but at the end of the day, their bottom line (except for those private villa projects) is making money. The real estate and AEC industries are like two peas in a pod; they rely on each other to survive. Whether it’s apartment complexes or office buildings, they’re built with one goal in mind: making a profit. The sooner designers grasp this reality, the smoother their career journey becomes. Put yourself in the client’s shoes and ask, ‘Why are we building this?’ It’s the key to success in this industry. 🚀

"Thriving Despite Economic Turmoil: Diversify or Become Stagnant?"   As architects, your expertise extends far beyond traditional design services. By offering specialized consulting services, you can leverage your knowledge, diversify your revenue streams, and provide invaluable insights to clients across various industries. Here are 5 proven consulting services that can help your architecture firm thrive: and you to imagine what your firm can offer given your knowledge and specialization: 1. Feasibility Studies: Conduct in-depth feasibility analyses for developers and investors, evaluating site conditions, zoning regulations, and market trends. For example, Gensler's consulting arm provided feasibility assessments for mixed-use developments in Chicago and Los Angeles, helping clients make informed investment decisions. 2. Post-Occupancy Evaluations: Offer post-occupancy evaluations to assess the performance and functionality of existing buildings. Perkins & Will's consultants conducted a post-occupancy study for a Fortune 500 company, identifying opportunities to enhance workspace utilization and employee productivity. 3. Building Condition Assessments: Provide comprehensive assessments of aging structures, identifying maintenance requirements, code compliance issues, and potential renovation strategies. Architectural Resources Group (ARG) has conducted condition assessments for historic landmarks, guiding clients in preservation and adaptive reuse projects. 4. Sustainability Consulting: Leverage your expertise in sustainable design principles to offer energy audits, LEED certification guidance, and environmentally conscious strategies. For instance, HKS Architects' consulting division has helped clients across various sectors achieve their sustainability goals through customized solutions. 5. Urban Planning and Design Guidelines: Collaborate with municipalities and developers to develop urban design guidelines, zoning regulations, and master plans. Firms like Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company have extensive experience in creating community plans that balance environmental, economic, and social considerations. By offering these specialized consulting services, you not only tap into new revenue streams but also position your firm as a trusted advisor, capable of solving complex challenges beyond traditional architectural services. Share your experiences and insights into architecture consulting services that have proven successful for your firm. Let's explore how we can leverage your expertise to drive growth and diversification. #Architecture #Consulting #ExpertiseMonetization #FirmDiversification #RevenueStreams #Gensler #HKS #PerkinsandWill #DuanyPlaterZyberk #UrbanPlanning #Sustainability #PostOccupancyEvaluations #Feasibilitystudies #ArchitectureConsulting

People are overwhelmingly dissatisfied with what's being built today. Architecture, even award-winning one, often doesn't live up to its human potential. The media, architects and citizens are increasingly talking about this. Surveys repeatedly show that it's not a matter of who you are or who you vote for. People of all kinds just don't feel good in the very places where they spend their whole lives. If we can't give the public architecture that they adore, that supports them, what are we doing wrong? If people flock to enjoy places built by simple peasants as well as the rich, long before all the wonderful technology we have today, what potentials are we forgoing now? What could we achieve if we aligned the incentives of city building with human needs - not just physical, but psychological? We are beginning to understand scientifically the qualities of well-crafted and deeply humane places that people like Christopher Alexander described intuitively. We are formulating principles to be followed, and knowledge to inspire good design. But in the end, good architecture requires designers who are educated and trained in empathy, in shaping spaces with human qualities, who can make places positively interesting and authentic to the communities they serve. And it requires that all the steps of city-making be aligned to serve people and their needs: laws, regulations, zoning, planning, financing, development, community engagement, design, construction, maintenance, communication, governance, and ownership. On the one hand, this is why changing the status quo feels so hard. We are deeply entrenched in the systems and processes that enable today's disappointing results. The interests of so many organizations are based on keeping things the way they are. On the other hand, this also means that there are a huge number of people, including you, who can make a difference. Whether you are someone who knows nothing about architecture and just feels that something is wrong with it, you can make a difference by speaking up. If you are a lawyer, a politician, a planner, a banker, an investor, a project manager, a researcher, a builder, a marketer, or any of the other professions involved in the process, you can make a difference too. Even though we're still in the early stages of this transformation, there's already a movement, and it's gaining traction fast. Almost every day, I'm in touch with people who are making this change happen, each in their own way. Now it's important that we get the message out to as many people as possible. People need to understand that they are not alone in their dissatisfaction, and that they should not be ashamed to talk about it. And those who can contribute through their work should know that if they decide to challenge the status quo, bit by bit, they will find a growing network of peers aligned with the same goal: Creating human habitats for good life. #architecture #urbandesign #wellbeing #humancentered

If you want to build in London use an architect. If you want to build TALL in London use a STARCHITECT. Further proof this week that the UK’s planning system is broken is provided by Professor Paul Cheshire of the London School of Economics. Cheshire’s paper ‘An International Perspective on the U.S. Zoning System’ explores zoning in the US and asks (amongst other things) how well rule-based planning addresses issues of societal good compared with (say) systems found in Europe and the UK. In the report, published by research journal Cityscape, US zoning is contrasted with the UK’s discretionary system where development is advanced on a case-by-case system and subject to political intervention. The great takeaway from the report is the finding that in London if you want to build taller then employ a Starchitect. Starchitects or as the report calls them ‘Trophy Architects’ are defined as architects who have won one of the internationally recognised lifetime achievement awards in architecture. Research reveals that Starchitect/ Trophy Architect buildings in London are typically 17 stories taller than non-starchitect designed buildings and that the height of consented buildings grows from 13 to 17 storeys once the architect wins a lifetime achievement award. These additional storeys can add 144% to the value of the site according to the report. Starchitects getting these gigs aren't necessarily winning commissions as design geniuses as comparisons with other cities show that the number of starchitect towers in London (25%), way outstrips Chicago (3%) and Brussels (0%). It's yet another interesting symptom of the highly risky, subjective and politicised UK planning system. If developers feel that having a starchitect’s name on the plans gives them a better chance of success then good luck to them. As for the rest of us what’s to be done if we have an ambition to raise a towering skyscraper? Move to Belgium perhaps?

I had the opportunity to work with an impressive, passionate and values-based Canberra building and development company last week. This company built one of Canberra’s most recent iconic buildings. This assignment got me back in touch with the beauty and meaning of good architecture and building. When we first founded Yellow Edge, we called ourselves ‘Performance Architects’ as we believed that our ability to perform well at work is shaped most significantly by the ‘soft architecture’ around us. We referred to ‘soft architecture’ as being leadership, culture, values and the quality of relationships. Working with this impressive Canberra development and building company reminded me of how good, human centered architecture continues to inspire me in how I think about leadership and human potential. All great buildings for example, have the potential to inspire people, to inspire beauty, to inspire connection and to bring people together for productive and life sustaining endeavor. Good buildings make people feel comfortable. The author Bill Bryson notes that buildings in general, and more specifically homes, are a source of comfort. That buildings can provide comfort is itself is a fairly recent 18th century construct as he suggests. Yet, comfort has become an increasingly important physical and psychological safety criteria for work in the 21st century.    For those of us working in social, psychological and behavioral sciences, there is much that we can learn from the world of architecture and building. Concepts of 'flow' and 'light', of 'layers' and being 'houseproud', of the 'preservation' of what is good and changing what needs to be changed are part of the building and architectural vernacular. They could and perhaps should also be part of the leadership vernacular as well. This is not just about grand architecture or iconic buildings, but also about our homes, whether we rent or own, the buildings we live and work in shape us as we shape them. Indeed, the genius designer Steward Brand believes that buildings actually 'learn', as they are dynamic and shift and change in response to human need. In many ways then, architecture and buildings present a concrete, visible way of thinking about how we as leaders shape work meaningfully, so that work can have a meaningful and positive impact on our lives. "Buildings are intermediaries in the reciprocation between the hopes and intentions of people, in the present and the past. They are the mineral interval between the thoughts and actions that make them and the thoughts and actions that inhabit them"- Rowan Moore. 

The Role of Architecture in Modern Times: Building the Future In today’s rapidly evolving world, architecture stands as a testament to human ingenuity and progress. It's not just about constructing buildings; it’s about creating spaces that foster innovation, community, and sustainability. Here’s why architecture is crucial in modern times and why becoming business-minded in this field can make a significant impact. Why Architecture Matters 1. Sustainable Development: Modern architecture emphasizes eco-friendly designs, reducing carbon footprints and promoting green living. By integrating sustainable practices, architects play a vital role in combating climate change. 2. Community Building: Thoughtfully designed spaces bring people together, fostering a sense of community and enhancing social interactions. Public spaces, parks, and community centers are essential in creating vibrant, connected neighborhoods. 3. Technological Integration: Today’s buildings are smarter, incorporating advanced technologies that improve energy efficiency, safety, and comfort. Architects are at the forefront of integrating these innovations, making our lives better. The Importance of Entrepreneurship as an architect 1. Driving Innovation: Architects with a business mindset can push the boundaries of design and construction. By understanding market demands and financial management, they can bring groundbreaking ideas to life. 2. Entrepreneurial Opportunities: There’s immense potential in the field of architecture for entrepreneurs. From starting your own firm to developing innovative building materials, the opportunities are endless. 3. Leadership and Influence: Business-savvy architects can take on leadership roles, influencing policies and practices within the industry. This influence is crucial for driving sustainable and ethical building practices. Building for the Future and Ourselves 1. Personal Growth: Engaging in architecture is a journey of continuous learning and growth. It challenges us to think creatively, solve complex problems, and develop a keen eye for detail. 2. Impact on Society: The structures we design today will shape the cities and communities of tomorrow. Architects have the power to create spaces that improve quality of life, promote well-being, and inspire future generations. 3. Legacy: Every building tells a story. By designing and constructing enduring structures, architects leave a lasting legacy that reflects their vision and values. Join the conversation! How do you see the role of architecture evolving in the next decade? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments. Let’s inspire each other to build a better future. Together, we can build a more sustainable, connected, and innovative world. #Architecture #Sustainability #BusinessInArchitecture #FutureBuilding #Community

I really liked this article in Architect about designing multi-family housing. Take a look: https://lnkd.in/drTKWyEh

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