What is a consulting architect?

Consulting architects are business owners or managers who own or work for independent architecture or multidisciplinary design firms. These licensed professionals are employed in many variations of private practice. Some are sole proprietors that focus on residential or specialty work. Others are involved in medium-sized firms, likely working on a broader scope of contracts from government or private sector clients. Many are large enterprises, often taking on a wide range of public, commercial and industrial projects.

Their role is to plan creative and innovative building design solutions for clients. This often involves master planning and project management, as well as design. Many consulting architects are specialists.  For example: some manage land and building projects for private developers; others focus in specific building types or in fields such as urban design, conservation, environmentally green architecture, restoration, or renovation planning. 

Types of projects 

Consulting architects in Alberta provide services in a wide range of areas:

Consulting architects:

• Design aesthetically pleasing and highly functional buildings and landscapes
• Provide technically competent and aesthetically sensitivity solutions suitable to physical, social, and cultural environments
• Offer technical knowledge to ensure projects are designed to provide sustainability
• Create purposeful spaces that meet health and safety concerns
• Provide solutions that accommodate budgets without compromising goals
• Turn ideas into tangible structures that meet the needs of clients and their communities

More information

For more information about the architecture industry in Alberta and beyond, see:

• Alberta Association of Architects
• Government of Alberta website
  
• Royal Architectural Institute of Canada 
• RAIC Alberta Chapter