How to Find the Right Architect for You

BOSTON—In today's fast-paced business world, landlords and tenants have tight deadlines for buying and selling spaces. Working alone, commercial real estate professionals may have a tough time living up to high client expectations. That's why strategic collaboration with other industries, including architecture, is key to their success.

As a founding partner of architecture firm Spagnolo Gisness & Associates, I've worked with countless commercial brokers and developers. Here are five tips for finding an architect that meets your needs and helps you and your client to exceed those high expectations you have set.

1. Find a tech-savvy architect.
The architect you work with should be at the forefront of technological innovation in the architecture industry. Find a firm or individual who uses virtual design and construction (VDC) to develop building information models of spaces before they are built. This approach allows mistakes to be corrected virtually, before a building is constructed.

2. Find an architect who is flexible and transparent.
The architect you choose to work with should be communicative and open throughout the entire process. Find someone who will sit down and sketch out ideas with your team and respect you and your priorities in the major design decisions. This is a collaborative process and an architect who shares renderings and technical drawings with you is a partner you can trust.

3. Find an architect with a proven track record in the commercial property sector.
Find an architect who has experience dealing with the tight deadlines of the commercial property sector. Look for someone with previous commercial sector experience who understands how to think creatively but quickly and has a rapid response time when dealing with client demands.

4. Find an architect who speaks your language.
Your architect should understand lease terminology and be comfortable working on commercial deals. They should also understand the measurement methodologies of rentable square feet in accordance with the Building Owners and Managers Association or other approved professional associations. Your architect needs to keep up with the fast pace of the commercial real estate industry. Look for an architect who understands how to accelerate project delivery through approaches such as design-build and integrated project delivery (IPD), which involves gathering project stakeholders into one location to complete a project.

5. Employ architects who can help close a deal.
Your architect should be able to help you tell the story of a space, and present the opportunities it will bring to a prospective buyer or tenant. While you may know about the square footage and amenities of a property, an architect can highlight a building's energy efficiency, or its access to natural light. Find an architect who can explain these features but also has the business acumen needed to make a successful sales pitch and close a deal, even if it means having your architect sketch out or explain what a space will look like 10 years down the road.

As the commercial real estate industry continues to evolve, collaboration with architects will be crucial. Find an architect who will be honest about the challenges and opportunities inherent in a space. In addition, look for someone who is a good listener, who will hear out and address any of the concerns you have , even if time is tight. If the architecture and commercial real estate industries work together, both sides will benefit and clients will go home happy.

Al Spagnolo is founding partner of Spagnolo Gisness & Associates, based in Boston. The views expressed in this column are the author's own.