How to Prepare: Meeting Your Architect for the First Time to Design Your Brick-and-Mortar
Photo by Sophia Fang
So you’ve decided to take the big leap to open up your very own brick-and-mortar? Or you’re considering doing some renovations to your space? Either way, congratulations!
Now, it’s time to work with an architect who can help make your dream a reality! While every architectural firm does things their own unique way, design and construction projects typically start with a candid conversation between you and the architect to better understand the full scope of the project and set big picture goals.
We sat down with Andrew Moss and Katie LaForest of mossArchitects, a leading Pittsburgh-based architectural firm that has worked with many local businesses to design and renovate their brick-and-mortars. Let’s hear from Andrew and Katie about the best practices to kick off working with an architectural firm.
Here are 4 tips that can help you get the juices flowing and be prepared for your first meeting with your architect:
1. Make a mood board or Pinterest board with your design inspirations
An easy way to get started with brainstorming about your dream space is drawing design inspiration from online. A quick online search can lead you to a plethora of design blogs, existing Pinterest boards, Behance projects, and Youtube channels that have carefully curated different themes for brick-and-mortar stores.
By sharing your own mood board or Pinterest board with your architect, you can quickly point out the bits and pieces that you like and visually communicate your dream space, whether it be the color scheme, shop layout, or specific furnishings.
2. Have your business plan prepared
Your architect will greatly appreciate it if you can bring your business plan to your first meeting together. Even if you don’t have a fully fleshed out business plan, providing any basic information about your business would be helpful, such as: your range of products and services, the number of customers that you plan on serving daily or weekly, the total number of seats needed, your planned hours of operation, or your food menu and other print collateral, if applicable.
Knowing the customer flow and your daily operations of your business will help the architect account for necessary components and fixtures in your brick-and-mortar, such as designing the electrical and plumbing system, finding appropriate lighting, and arranging the placement of products and seats.
Communicating your equipment needs early in the design process will also be very helpful to your architect, such as POS stations and hood & exhaust systems. Knowing what front-of-house and back-of-house equipment you’ll need will help your architect optimize the arrangement of equipment and the customer experience of the location.
If you’ve already secured a location in an existing building, sharing the floor plan and amenities of the building with your architect will also be valuable.