Business Of Architecture Podcast

"Wow, that's a lot of money … I had no idea it was going to be that much!" If you've ever heard this before, then you've probably presented a proposal to a client. As architects we hear this from our clients all the time when we give them our proposals. There's a specific reason why they react this way. It's because their expectations don't match reality. When our clients tell us something is "too expensive" or "more than they were expecting," what do they base that on? Is there any form of reality attached to their expectations? Probably not. They've heard that their brother-in-law did something for XX$ /sf, or some mysterious family friend tells them that it shouldn't cost more than "X." Yea, right. All of their wishful thinking isn't going to change reality. Last week two things happened to me that made my jaw drop. I was reminded how utterly clueless the average person is about building design and construction - and I'm not just talking about residential clients - you'll find this with more 'sophisticated