How to choose an architect for your house

An architect is someone you'll work closely with for months, and their decisions determine how comfortable the house will be to live in ten years from now. Here's what to look at when choosing a specialist or company.

1. A portfolio with real, not just rendered, projects

A beautiful visualization doesn't guarantee the project was actually built and works in practice. Ask for photos of completed objects and, ideally, the chance to talk to previous clients about their experience.

2. A fixed estimate in the contract

If the price is "to be clarified along the way," that's a red flag. A reliable partner locks in the cost in the contract before work starts, and it doesn't change during the process except for cases you've explicitly agreed to separately.

3. One point of contact for the whole project

When architects, engineers and builders coordinate separately and you become the middleman between them, the risk of things falling out of sync rises sharply. A full-cycle company with one accountable contact takes that burden off you.

4. Staged payment tied to results

Paying in installments — say, 30% at the start, 30% during development, 40% after the finished documentation is delivered — protects you from paying in full with nothing to show for it.

5. Willingness to explain every decision

A good architect justifies choices about wall material, roof type or heating system with concrete technical and budget consequences, not fashion. If direct questions about timelines, price or materials get vague answers, that's a reason to look for a different partner.

If you want to see the approach in practice, the design configurator lets you get an estimated cost in minutes and see exactly how the price of your future project is built up.