The Front & Back of a Firm

What, and who, makes an architecture firm run? My sunny last day at PKA began with a meeting with Pam. After exchanging an orchid and a few words of praise for the firm, I was given the opportunity to see the HR and financial side of architecture through Tim. Though the design process of a home is exciting, any successful firm needs someone with experience in the business world in order to grow. 

Architecture firms have 3 primary methods of charging clients: set fee, hourly, or set percentage. Each has their own merits and downsides. A set fee is the simplest, and responds directly to the scope of the project. The firm will charge this fee monthly, and it allows the client to rework designs without worrying about the bill increasing. However, this can be risky for the firm--an unruly client can end up costing the firm significantly more than the set fee. A firm can sometimes charge additional costs if a client wants to rework plans that have already been approve. Paying hourly is more flexible and what PKA uses. All employees of PKA log their time spent on a project in a program called Harvest. Most projects have 4 levels of people working on them, which charge different amounts per hour: lead architect, project manager, designer, and intern. Interns take more time to perform tasks and have less experience, so they have the lowest hourly rate. If the client has any concerns with the amount they are being charged, they can request the specific hours different people worked. If they are still concerned, Harvest even has people record the specific tasks they carried out each day. This ensures the firm can be held accountable for overcharging anyone. PKA usually ends up charging between 8-12% of the construction cost, though this can vary. Paradoxically, an incredibly expensive project coincides with the client paying the firm a smaller percentage of the construction cost. The firm can only put so many hours into a design, even if its for a rambling mansion. The final method of payment is a fixed percentage, which is where the firm takes a specific percent of the construction cost. This is beneficial to a firm when a client builds a house with pricey finishes, but someone constructing a large residence with cheap finishes can force the firm to spend a disproportionate amount of time on a project that underpays them. 

Drink table from meet & greet

Snack table from meet & greet

At the other end of a firm's work are their interactions with the client. The process of designing and building a residential space usually takes 2 years, so PKA grows close to the clients over than time. Often, the head architect becomes friends with the client. To give the client a memorable experience, PKA provides them with catered food, drinks, and gifts. Even after a house in finished, PKA will send gives and letters for milestone events (such as a marriage or birth). Every fall the firm hosts a party with 400-500 attendants, celebrating the lives they've improved and the importance of their work. I also by chance shadowed PKA during a meet & greet with a builder. An architectural firm must establish good relationships with quality builders, as it aids the process of construction. The builders were given a chance to show us their work, and will hopefully be hired as a subcontractor sometime in the near future. PKA would recommend them to the client in order to bring them on. Ultimately, the client decides who to work with. 

When most people imagine what an architecture firm does, they imagine what I'd consider the "middle" of the firm--the architects, the floor plans, the renderings. However, equally important is the front and back end. At the front end, the firm establishes lasting relationships with clients. At the back end, the firm implements strategic business practices and interacts with subcontractors to ultimately construct even better buildings.