Whether it is possible to work from home as an architect is a surprisingly controversial topic. The Architect’s Journal recently argued that it is not possible for architects to work from home. But their article – ‘Why architects can’t work from home’ – was met with a lot of criticism.
Importantly, much of the criticism came from architects who already do work from home successfully!
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Architects who work from home
Hana Loftus replied to the Architects Journal to say that her small practice is working from home successfully.
David Simpson outlined a range of tasks that he was able to do from home.
While Alex Crane pointed out that it’s “perfectly possible” to work from home as an architect given the right software.
What do architects need to work from home?
Clearly it is possible for architects to work from home. However, remote working does come with some challenges.
Some of these challenges are unique to architects, while others apply to all home workers.
If you’re an architect who wants to work from home, these are the essentials that we think you’ll need to get started.
A home office
Like anyone who works from home, architects should set up a home office to separate their personal and professional lives.
Fortunately, given their profession, architects should be well-placed to design an effective home office space that works for them.
Work in the cloud
Modern technology makes working from home much more feasible than it would once have been. Even when a profession has very specific needs.
For architects, design software such as Autodesk BIM 360 is cloud-based. And there are creativity apps available for both iOS and Android. These include Morpholio and Sketchbook.
You can also create and store office documents online, using the likes of Google Docs and collaboratively work on them as a team.
Communication tools
Aside from having the software tools to actually do the work, communication is the biggest challenge that remote teams face.
Most architects are used to working closely with colleagues as part of a team, so removing the physical connection of an office can cause real problems if not handled well.
It’s important to catch-up regularly with colleagues. We recommend daily video calls with close team members and less frequent – say, weekly – calls with less directly related team members.
Tools to keep in touch include Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
Project Management tools
Finally, you’ll need to keep all of your work organized. This can be a much bigger challenge when working as part of a remote team rather than together with colleagues in an office.
We recommend using either Trello or Basecamp to keep things running smoothly.