Architect

?Job overview
?Architecture is a science but also an art.

?Architects design and plan buildings, or adaptations of existing buildings, and then try to ensure that they are properly built according to specification.

?What do people do in this job?
?When someone or some organisation requires a building to be erected, he engages architects who first have to establish the client's precise needs and investigate the location of the site.

?The availability and suitability of building material are then investigated.

?After that preliminary sketches are drawn up, so that the client can get an approximate idea of what the building will look like.

?Next, costs are finalised and the final plans are drawn according to scale.

?These plans must comply with the local authority's regulations and receive its approval.

Architects must also obtain from quantity surveyors an estimate of the cost and the quantity of building material needed and hold detailed discussions with the building contractor who will erect the building.

?They then keep a watchful eye on the building operations in order to minimise any faults that could seriously delay the work and result in additional costs for the client.

?For technical problems such as structure, air-conditioning and electrical installations architects will seek the advice and help of engineers and other specialists.

Large buildings in urban areas pose their own particular problems concerning traffic,? water supply and so on.

?What kinds of people are suitable for this career?
?Architects need considerable mathematical and numerical skills and the ability to conceptualise in three dimensions.

?They should be able to interpret the needs of both clients and contractors and engineers correctly, but at the same time think and work independently.

?They need to know how to express themselves clearly to others.

?Architects can work for government and municipal services, for large employers in the private sector or can run a practice either on their own or in a partnership.

What qualifications are needed?
?A degree in architecture is the best entry to the profession.