A major big-box retailer commissioned an architectural firm to design a new office building on an expansive site near its headquarters in a small city. The client wanted the office to be as efficient as possible and asked the architect to model it after its big-box stores, with the goal of fitting as many employees as possible into the space. While this would put the staff far from any windows, with little visual or acoustical privacy, the client argued that such efficiency fit the image of a discount retailer and that if its store employees could would work in a big box, so should its headquarters staff.
From Ethics for Architects: 50 Dilemmas of Professional Practice by Thomas Fisher, New York, Princeton Architectural Press, 2010, p 73.
Discuss the following:
What is your evaluation of the client’s intent? What would be your approach to this design problem?
The client wishes to make the most money possible with the allotted space. Efficiency does not always equal the maximum comfortability or aesthetic in design. While the clients need must be met, our jobs as designers is to offer multiple solutions that maybe even better that what the client initially wanted. Giving the exact thing asked of us while giving similar solutions with more attention to the comfort of employees would be the best approach.
What more information would you request from the client?
The client would need to provide a budget, an exact program list and any other special requests about the project.
At what stage of the contract should these issues be discussed?
These topics should be talked about at the beginning of the contract, ensuring that the client(s) know what is to be expected from the and the result while we can know what the client needs and where are areas where the solution that can be tweaked to make the idea better.
