Finding an architect

A quick search on the internet will tell you lots about how to find an architect. The advice can be summarised thus:

1. get recommendations from friends / family, and / or
2. look up architects' websites

We didn't know anyone from whom we could get a personal referral to particular architectural firm in Tasmania, so instead we used the neat little function offered on the website of the Australian Institute of Architects, helpfully titled Find an architect.

All we needed to do was enter the State we wanted to build in (Tasmania), narrow it by Region (Huon Valley), and click Search. Up popped a list of architects prepared to work in the area , along with a blurb about the firm, links to their website and some images of their work.

Some firms we could instantly remove from the list purely on the basis of aesthetics - their designs simply didn't resonate with us. We made a further cull after digging into the various firms' visions, profiles, staff, etc. Again, this was all largely a personal decision unlikely to stand up to the rigour of scientific examination.

From our initial list of almost 40 architects, we had narrowed our search down to four.

It was time to load the firebox, heat the water tank, and steam off to Tasmania to meet them (didn't we mention that our Time Machine was steam-powered?).

But first, we had to introduce ourselves...