Process
At Functional Forms, we like to do more than design – we like to listen and will happily spend time listening to your thoughts about your dream project and expectations. What this translates into is that a special effort is made in eliciting unspoken requirements and considerable time and energy spent in detailed questioning and listening to your aspirations in terms of the eventual use of the building. We spend a good amount of time preparing for the project by conceptualizing & developing ideas together with you as part of our user-centric approach to designing. This in turn ensures that concerns and wishes are fully addressed and best possible ways used to bring them in the design.
Our team has technical and administrative skills as well as insights into problem solving, on site coordination and attention to detail and quality. We remain involved in your project from conceptualizing to completion, ensuring that the design intent comes through in the completed space to create a distinct style focused on simple form and function, striking a balance between beautiful aesthetics and sustainable design.
Typically, our Pre construction work (or table work as we call it), is broken into three parts typically taking from 3 to 5 months to complete depending on type and scale of the project and involves.
- Pre design research which involves looking at requirements, goals, challenges & context of the project
- Conceptualizing and finalizing the design – sketching, analyzing, questioning, organize and synthesize inputs ,all of which concludes in the final design.
- Preparing construction documents – these are the drawings for construction, Bill of quantities, Specifications etc; all that contributes towards a smooth implementation process
Our work does not stop at design and drawings but continues through the building construction process with construction administration. During the construction, we do periodic reviews and guide ongoing work through site visits and project meetings, clarify and interpret drawings of other consultants/vendors, review billing and payments to facilitate payments to the builders /vendors. We are available to quickly resolve unexpected issues and unforeseen conditions, so construction progress is not delayed.
Construction administration forms a large part of our services and we do it for all our projects irrespective of the scale of project. In all construction projects, there are unknowns and variables that can affect the final outcome of the project; so our knowledge of the project and trained eyes help solve inevitable problems that arise during construction. We see construction Administration NOT an option, to be offered as an additional service but as an integral part of the architectural process. We believe that architecture should create a lasting positive impact on the people using it as well as the surrounding environment. Every project we work on creates value beyond the client and brief by taking into account context, integrating the building with the environment and keeping conservation of energy, water, soil and biodiversity at the very core of all our design efforts.
