Architect: Job Profile and Role

Have you been fascinated by buildings ever since you were a little kid? And were your strong subjects at school maths and science, by any chance? If you can answer these two questions with a “Yes!”, we may have the perfect job for you: the job of an architect.

In the following blog, we will explore this exciting job in detail. You will find out what it takes to become an architect and which skills will help you excel in your future career. You will also get a first idea of the expected annual salaries and where to look for employment. Lastly, you will get your first glimpse into the working day of an architect and some tips for thriving in this profession.

Short Summary

• As an architect, you are in charge of planning and developing architectural designs, such as blueprints and models, the latter usually being executed by specialised model makers.
• As an architect, you are responsible for the complete project management, including delegating tasks to other architects, construction workers, and other building-related personnel.
• As an architect, you need to ensure that all permit documentation has been granted by the appropriate authorities before one of your designs is put into action.

Job description

It is an architect’s job to oversee the fulfilment/completion of an architectural project from the first planning to putting the blueprints into action. Therefore, as an architect, you also need to be aware of potential conservation/preservation issues, for example, when building in a historical neighbourhood. It is also your job to take care of all permit documentation and to confer with the appropriate authorities, your superiors, colleagues, and everyone involved with realising your project. It is also your job to invest time into further training, for example, sustainability qualifications and certifications.

Responsibilities

• Problem-Solving
• Permit Documents
• Technical Expertise
• Design and Planning
• Project Management
• Site Visits/Inspections
• Preparing Documentation
• Preparing Detailed Designs
• Preparing Feasibility Studies
• Restoration/Conservation Advice

Different types of Architects

• Urban Design Architect
• Conservation Architect
• Educational Architect
• Residential Architect
• Interior Architect

Salary

Your annual architect’s salary in the UK will start at around ￡26,000. With work experience, you can expect to earn more, with an annual salary of around ￡47,000. Also, keep in mind that the location of your employer can have a considerable effect on what you earn. To give a few pointers: in London, you can currently expect annual salaries of around ￡50,000, whereas the Northern parts of the United Kingdom tend to pay less. Besides the location, what you earn each year is also influenced by the company size of your employer.

Working hours

Your typical working hours in the job of an architect range from 35 to 40 hours a week, which you will spend both in an office and on-site when discussing the minutiae of your projects. Also, keep in mind that you may be asked to work in the evenings and at the weekends, especially when a project completion is imminent or a design is about to enter a proposal. 

Another factor affecting your working hours can be travelling. This depends on your exact job description and the projects you are working on.

Employers

When you start looking for your first job, you may get lucky in the following sectors and with the following companies: architectural firms, interior design firms, real estate companies, construction companies, and engineering consultancies. If you are ambitious and already have some work experience (together with a loyal clientele base), you can also look into starting your own architectural firm. 

Qualifications

If you want to become an architect, you need GCSE pass grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English and maths, or the equivalent A-Levels. These qualifications tend to be the entry requirements for a university course, the most typical approach to becoming an architect in the UK, or for an apprenticeship. Furthermore, you need to look into registering with the Architects Registration Board (ARB) to work in this field. Moreover, you should familiarise yourself with architectural software, such as Revit, SketchUp, Vectorworks Architect, and AutoCAD. 

Skills

Attention to detail and analytical thinking are but two of the skills you should have if you want to work as an architect. Also, always keep in mind that the required skills may vary from employer to employer which is why you should check the exact competencies in the job ads. With this tip in mind, you will now find out three more valuable skills you will benefit from.

Numerical Skills

If you want to succeed in the job of an architect, you need above-average numerical skills. Yes, maths needs to be one of your strongest subjects at school since you will be tasked with conducting mathematical calculations. How else will you be able to define the required measurements when it comes to building your design? Also, you should have visual thinking and spatial awareness. Together with your numerical skills, these competencies will guarantee your thriving in this job and ensure that your designs will not result in another Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Computer Skills

Computer skills are also beneficial if you want to succeed in your job. Long gone are the days when architects managed to design cathedrals, skyscrapers, and other daunting and impressive buildings with only the use of a maths triangle, a calliper, and solar altitude. Nowadays, blueprints are designed with architectural software using computers. 

Historical Interest

You do not need to be a history nerd to excel in your architect’s job. However, a basic historical interest will not go amiss if you want to excel in your job. Even today, architecture is influenced by centuries-old buildings, such as the Colosseum, Notre Dame de Paris, Florence Cathedral, or the Empire State Building. It is also influenced by architectural theories dating back to the Renaissance (remember the name Leon Battista Alberti, ist all we are saying!) and Ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt. As an architect, you need not only to be aware of these historical backgrounds but also to give them space in your blueprints and calculations.

Communication is the Key

The skills we have highlighted so far are more or less restricted to numbers and analytical thinking. But never forget that a lot of your potential employers will value excellent interpersonal and communication skills just as much – if not more. These competencies will be essential when dealing with your clients. Not only when it comes to persuading them to commission your firm but also when it comes to outlining your design ideas and plans and liaising with the building site personnel.

Career Path

Your architect career will start at entry level and, therefore, with your first proper job, usually as an architectural assistant. In the first year or more, you will gain valuable work experience that can enable you to look into career advancement, for example, as a partner at the architectural firm you are working for. Other possible career steps on the way to becoming a partner can be the jobs of a senior architect and an associate director.

Educational Background

Your educational approach to becoming an architect can be completing a university course that is acknowledged by the Architects Registration Board (ARB), for example, in architectural design or urban planning and design. After completing your Bachelor’s degree in Architecture (BArch), you may want to look into doing your Master’s (MArch). If you become an architect through an apprenticeship, you can think about an architect degree apprenticeship which tends to take four years to complete. You can find out more about your right apprenticeship from the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects).

Training

Your education already includes part of your architectural training. While doing a university course, you are expected to gain practical work experience which should accumulate to about a year of working on-site/in the field. Typically, this is followed by another two years spent on a higher degree, such as a Master’s degree in Architecture (MArch). After another year of practical training and work, you will be awarded your architect’s status by passing final exams.

Continuous Learning

As you can see, your education already involves a huge amount of learning and training. These two things are not only the foundation of your architect’s career but also the growing walls of said career, to keep to architectural speak. 

To thrive in this profession, you should regularly look into further training, qualifications, and professional certifications, such as a LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) or a BIM certification (Building Information Modeling). You can also look into doing a PhD if your academic ambitions, funds, and university connections are up for the challenges that come with this prestigious degree. 

Also, you can invest time into on-the-job learning, for example, by getting a senior colleague to be your mentor, or by taking part in so-called charrettes.

A Day in the Life of an Architect

Working on a building’s/project’s blueprint can be one of the daily tasks you will spend time on. But this is not the only task an architect – and, therefore, you – performs either daily or regularly. Let’s take a look at three other jobs an architect needs to focus on.

Client Meetings

Whether you work for an architectural firm or run your own company, you will get nowhere without clients who commission work. Therefore, meeting these clients will be an important part of your working day. Here, you can discuss everything from the first ideas on a project to the first blueprints and models detailing what the finished project will look like. It is also important to bring across your reasons for your designs and to take on board your clients’ wishes and expectations.

Site Visits

Some of your projects may already have advanced to the building phase. Therefore, another task you will perform is to visit the building sites. Here, you not only show your clients the work progress. You also discuss potential issues and the overall progress with the construction workers and other personnel working on-site.

Presentations

Let’s assume that one of your designs has been chosen to enter a charrette or that you are shortlisted for a promotion. In this case, you may be required to do a presentation of the design that is supposed to enter or win over your superiors. Before you display your skills through a PowerPoint and an architectural model, you naturally need to invest some time into putting an architectural idea into planning and a blueprint.

Tips for Thriving as an Architect

As in any job, thriving is a sure way for an architect to progress. We are sure that you are ambitious and will not mind climbing up your architect’s career ladder. Therefore, we have researched three tips for thriving in this job:

• Combining old and new
• Theoretical knowledge
• Sustainability

Combining Old and New

Being a future architect, you are well aware of the fact that most cities dating back centuries are becoming ever more modern in their architectural set-up. You need only look at London where The Shard is nestled among the mediaeval remnants of The Stews and other Southwark landmarks. The real challenge is not to build skyscrapers that almost literally touch the sky. It is to embed them in an old setting without them sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb. If you want to thrive as an architect, you need to know how to combine the old and the new, this way, contributing to a cityscape that is the perfect blend of centuries of architecture.

Theoretical Knowledge

No architect is worth his or her salt without having theoretical knowledge of the most pioneering theoretical works in architecture. Therefore, you need to be familiar with these works. Here are a few essential works you absolutely have to be familiar with: Vitruvius’ De architectura, Leon Battista Alberti’s De re aedificatoria, the German Bauhaus Movement, and the works and studies of architects like Robert Venturi.

Sustainability

Sustainability is one of the hottest topics in every aspect of our lives and almost naturally also extends to architecture. If you want to thrive in your job, you should spend time on this important topic and how to include it in your designs and buildings. Sustainable design practices will not only benefit you since this architectural part is gaining ever more momentum and importance. It will also contribute to saving a planet that is in dire need of every little help it can get.

Frequently Asked Questions