07.07.10
Choosing the right architect could change your life
A special feature just for us by Neil Quinn, a conservation architect and a Partner at Yiangou Architects and a Projectbook member
Choosing an architect could change your life. Building a new property or extending an existing one is not only a large financial investment, but often a very personal one too.
To bring your dreams and ambitions to reality, your architect must understand how you live your life, how you want to live it and listen for undertones of how to achieve that through the architecture. So selecting an architect who can design the house you want, on time and to a very high standard is just the beginning.
Visit the website of the Royal Institute of British Architects ( www.riba.org) and click on ‘Find an Architect’. Yiangou Architects are listed there along with 3,000 other architect practices across the UK.
Recommendation can be important and useful:
- Talk to friends, colleagues and even owners of new homes you admire
- Draw up a shortlist of architects whose buildings you admire
- Look at their websites, and visit some of their completed projects if you can
- If you like what you see, make an appointment for them to visit you.
When we as a practice. are invited to visit, we have no preconceived ideas. We ask a prospective client a variety of questions:
- We ask them to tell us how they live their life
- Whether the building they want to commission will be an extension of that life or herald a change in direction
- Perhaps they love entertaining
- Do they have lots of dogs ?
- Have they a range of hobbies or grandchildren galore ?
A house can be amazingly adaptable!
It’s a professional contract, but the relationship between architect and client is also a personal one based on trust and it will take a little time for us to understand what you want to achieve.
Often a client will have a broad idea of what they want, but detailed discussions will throw up never-considered possibilities which could enhance their lives.
We encourage our clients to show us visual references; a real short-cut to showing us what they love - and what they hate too.
The most important outcome of this first meeting is good chemistry. Building or extending a house is one of life’s most stressful experiences and takes a long time, so as you’ll be spending plenty of time with the person designing it, you’ll need to get on well.
When you’ve decided on an architect, the professional contract between you will need to contain a brief, cost structure and realistic timetable – so even before the first working drawings are produced, everyone knows their responsibilities.
We have a standard fee structure but because practically all our work is bespoke, we tailor our fees to meet individual client needs.
- We quote on the four stages:
- sketch designs
- submission of a planning application
- production of working drawings
- and on-site management.
Projects can be charged on a percentage of building costs, on a lump sum basis or on a time-charge basis within a fixed budget.
These days, an architect’s role seldom finishes when planning permission is granted. We often act as contract administrators on site on behalf of a client, dealing directly with builders and taking charge of any issues arising as the building takes shape. As architects, we can manage the project from start to finish for you.
Having a realistic timetable is essential. Building a new home from scratch can take a year or more from architect selection to moving in, and the more time invested in discussion with your architect, the better the outcome. Always. 
One of our recent projects was a previously unassuming 3-bedroom home on the Cotswold Hills, it had been under the same ownership for 25 years and we gave it a new lease of life by re-modelling and extending it into a beautiful country house. The new house almost entirely encapsulates the original home, which now lies at its centre.
The new drawing room and dining room on one side have expansive picture windows allowing light to pour in, whilst on the other side a series of attractive new buildings, including an extended kitchen and separate artist’s studio, hug the original house enclosing landscaped garden spaces.
An elegant separate indoor swimming pool building stands across a courtyard from the main house.
The house is owned by Priscilla Purcell Young, who commissioned Yiangou Architects. “As the children grew older we decided to downsize in London and make our main home in the country. We considered moving but nothing matched the views and potential of the house we already had, and there are so many happy memories of our home that we didn’t want to demolish it either. So we decided to invest, extend and stay.”
From seeking planning to the last tradesman’s van driving away took around seven years, but the results make light of the hard work and time invested in the project, according to Priscilla.
“When I first met Yiangou Architects they asked for my wish list: I wanted a modern country house built in the Cotswold vernacular. We entertain a lot so I needed a house to accommodate large numbers of people, but at the same time, is easy to maintain. Most importantly, it had to provide a comfortable home for the family so my children can visit and bring their friends. It also needed to give me enough space to work.”
Priscilla is a talented mixed media artist who has exhibited in London and across the UK.
Priscilla says Yiangou achieved everything she wanted.
“We’ve had some fantastic parties here; our children love the house, visiting often with their friends and when they leave, the house is indeed low maintenance so I can return to the peace and tranquility of my studio in the shortest time.”
Neil Quinn is a Conservation Architect and Partner at Yiangou Architects, which was established in the Cotswolds in 1981. From its base in the historic town of Cirencester, the Practice specialises in high quality residential construction using both traditional and contemporary materials, often complementing each other in the same building.
The Practice’s team of eight qualified architects are equally at home working with Grade 1 Listed or contemporary buildings, supported by a well-qualified and experienced team of technicians and technical co-ordinators. In recent years the Practice has expanded and projects now extend over the whole of the south of England, with an increasing number of enquiries from the north. The company can also manage new projects from design through to building completion. www.yiangou.com
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