21.3.2025 Friday - rubbing their noses in it.

This morning after posting yet another project feature in the Borneo Architecture Journal website, I thought that although the few of us who do, do it as a matter of course. And that many more of our peers struggle to put a project forward. They simply do not have anything to publish. So what do they do all day?

SY and I chat over lunch - about what folks do; they complain about client changing design, they complain about low fees, they complain about not enough work, they like complain. But ultimately, they are doing less of what they studied and trained to do - and have nothing to show for it. SO when we keep asking for them to publish articles, we are also rubbing their noses in it. Because they have nothing to show for all these years of working and working.

28.2.2024 Wednesday - day full of meetings

detail of the hanging bridge structure for Impiana

detail of air con compartment

An easy meeting in the morning; at the RENNA site - final checks of mock up units, final discussions with roof fabricators - our technical meetings are conducted in English, Malay, Mandarin and often Hokkien as well. It is for all attending to be comfortable, to speak freely in a language or dialect they are most comfortable with.

The afternoon's meeting required more preparation; we are selling a housing scheme on a 15-acre site to be built in phases, to 3 directors and their in-house consultants team. Fortunately, I have a team as well; Leong, Freddie and Fiona attend with me. This is our second meeting with them, I feel that we are making progress.  
 

17 Feb 2022 Thurs Meeting JT and Sendy

this photo is not related to this blog except that it was taken by Sam the night before. Jellybean and I had a early night, we held hands and went to sleep

I had put my hand up to help JT with his profession exams and this morning we continued our conversation with him. He was in town with his wife, Sendy - Freddie had been the glue between the both of us. 

This morning, I put up my hand to help Sendy who was the business end of their young practice - with things that I now take for granted; how to start the conversation with the client at the beginning of a project and guide it towards appointment of our services and the formulation of the brief.

1. Ask for a land title (this provides details about the land category, possible usage, locality and most importantly OWNERSHIP).

2. Buy an extract of the title, and a cadastral plan (which is gives an indicative size of land, etc) Professional surveys cost money and usually at the feasibility stage, the cadastral plan would suffice.

3. Prepare a layout to start the conversation about relationship of spaces and levels, and to capture floor areas. Floor areas are important to work out indicative costs and money is a great decider (whether to have a lift and skip the Italian marble tiles, or to combine mother-in-law's room with the study).

4. Tabulate the floor areas and project cost estimate so that you can decide on the fee scale for your appointment. Use the PAM-LAM Scale of Minimum Fees. Recommend that the engineers are appointed early to assist in the design development at an early stage, and with experience, you can recommend certain folks for certain jobs.

5. Have a simple work programme so that clients know when you will provide project design updates, and when you would expect decisions and confirmation from them.

This is how we typically start our conversations with the client - we typically take two weeks to do this. Most times it leads to an actual project. Sometimes, it dies a natural death due to budget, differing design approaches and expectations, but we feel that it is necessary to draw a few lines, put a few thoughts on paper to engage with a client (especially a new one). This generosity is rewarded either with a project or if not, a design idea for the portfolio.