Site visits or architect “field trips” are vital to the design process. Here are four types of site visits that we do here at Hayne.
TYPE ONE: Pre-Design Meeting
The site is important…. like very important….
At the beginning of every project, we meet on-site to review where the project is physically located and hear what the client wants to do. Sometimes we are hiking a hillside and looking at potential view corridors, and sometimes we are climbing ladders to stand on top of existing roofs to see the second-story potential of an existing house. During these types of site visits, we are listening, looking, and documenting with photographs.
TYPE TWO: As-built Meeting
Once we have a clear idea of the scope and know where the project will be located, it’s time to get some field measurements. What is already here? Sometimes all we need is a survey if the project site is vacant, but more often we need to generate base as-built drawings in preparation for the start of schematic design. We love to hate as-built day but it is a vital site visit in the design process, so we have to power through and get it done … and try not to forget our snacks!
TYPE THREE: Construction Meeting
After all the fun design and permitting (haha) work is completed it’s time to build! Depending on the contract, we will meet on-site with the Client and Contractor weekly, bi-monthly, or even monthly to review construction status, answer questions, and resolve any issues.
We recommend weekly visits as it helps to keep projects on track and resolve issues quickly. It also helps keep “scope creep” (shouldn’t we just do this now?? I know it is not in the scope but…) in check to stay on task and stay on budget.
TYPE FOUR: The Rogue Visit
This type of site visit is when the job has gotten to a place of “oh shit-holeness”. We use these rogue or pop-visits to check if any work is being done apart from the scheduled site meetings. Sometimes we are happy, but most times we end up leaving disappointed. Usually these types of visits happen on jobs where we are not scheduled to do weekly or bi-monthly site visits and therefore the schedule starts to get stretched or even abandoned entirely. We never want the project to get here.