PReparing for your Project

The first step in an architectural project, prior to be beginning the design is the development of a program. However, the program is typically refined throughout the design process.

You can prepare the program on your own to save on architect’s fees, or with an architect’s assistance. Building a program might seem overwhelming but you can do it easily if you break it into steps. Don’t worry if you can’t complete any of the following sections; they can be addressed with the assistance of the architect.

Programming steps

• Establish requirements and goals
• Gather information
• Identify relationships of spaces
• Determine sizes of spaces

 

Establish requirements and goals

As you work through the following items, it is important to distinguish between what you want and what you need.

• Types of rooms and numbers of each. For example:  1 master bedroom, 2 standard bedrooms, 1 eat-in kitchen, living room,  2 full baths, 1 half bath.
  
  
• Project budget. Consider whether the budget includes the following:
• Property acquisition
• Survey fees
• Design fees
• Construction costs
• Furnishing, fixtures, and equipment
  
  
• Sustainable (green) features. What if any sustainable goals are important (for example)?
  • Building from local or recycled materials
  • Energy efficiency
  • Water efficiency
    
    
• Miscellaneous needs
• Aesthetic preferences
• Handicapped accessibility
• Water, mountain or other desirable views

 

Gather information

Your architect requires certain information prior to beginning the design process.  Gathering information is the most technical part of creating a program.  To begin, you will need to have a civil engineer survey the site and provide you with the information regarding the following:

• Lot size
• Built features
• Topography
• Roads, driveways, and easements
• Vegetation and wetlands
• Utilities

After the site survey, answer the following questions. Some may entail hiring qualified individuals or firms to gather the most accurate information.

• Does the site require well water or septic system? If it does, the location and sizing of these essentials need to be determined.
• Provide drawings, if available, of any existing buildings.
• Include any other known legal requirements or deed restrictions of the site.

 

Identify relationships of spaces

Your goal here is to identify how the rooms and spaces should connect to one another.  A bubble diagram can be a useful tool. You will write the names of each room with a bubble drawn around it, and then draw a line between any rooms that should be connected. Consider the following questions:

• What spaces need to be near or connected to other spaces? For example, do you want the master bedroom to be connected to a bathroom? Do you want children’s bedrooms near the master bedroom?
• What floor would you like the different spaces to be on? Bedrooms on the first or second floor?

 

Determine sizes of spaces

Ideally you should have a measurement of square footage in mind for each room. If the square footage is not known, provide a description of the furniture it should contain. For example, one bedroom might only need a twin bed, a dresser, and a small closet, while a second bedroom could require a king size bed, two dressers, two nightstands, a reading area, and two walk-in closets.

The goal of this exercise is to understand how the different spaces should relate to each other.  A simple and common means of working on this is through the use of bubble diagrams.   A simple way of doing this is to write the names of all of the spaces with a bubble drawn around each, and then drawing a line between any spaces that should be connected.

• What spaces need to be near or connected to other spaces?
• What floor would you like the different spaces to be on?
• Are there areas that should be limited to public or privates spaces?