Conversation With an Architect - Architects as Builders
- Architeria Architects
- Jun 10
- 7 min read
Updated: Jun 16
The last “Conversations with an Architect” generated plenty of interest and is now followed by the second interview. Here, I will have a conversation with Mel Gawi, the Principal Architect at Architeria Architects, about architects as builders.
Historically, architects used to work as both designers and builders, often referred to as Master Builders. Even the word Architect originated from the Greek word "arkhitéktōn", which means "chief builder." An architect used to oversee all aspects of construction until the 19th Century, when more specialised engineers and construction professionals were needed, leading to a separation between design and construction, which was unfortunate. As a result, modern-day architects focus on design, aesthetics, and functionality, while builders and contractors bring that design to life.
Do you feel as if things have changed since?
Yes, I do. In my view, the separation between builders and architects often leads to challenges in construction, particularly in conveying the design intent. When the architect isn’t involved in the construction stages, architects can lose control over the finished product; “the architecture.”
Having said that, I feel that the education, young architects receive today isn’t too focused on construction, which ultimately poses challenges and impacts on their perfomace as graduate architects. I have been training many architects over the years at Architeria Architects, and I must admit that understanding construction and construction methods is not a top priority for some architectural schools around the world. If architects are not trained to master construction, how do we expect them to be involved? I make it a priority to bring my staff to site. Getting your hands dirty and seeing the impact of the lines you draw can only be experienced on-site.
What made you want to build?
In Victoria, a registered architect who owns the land they are building on, is exempt from obtaining a certificate of consent to act as an owner-builder, and so he or she can construct an unlimited number of domestic dwellings. This means, as a registered architect, I can build my own house as an owner-builder and personally oversee, manage, or arrange for subcontractors without needing to obtain an owner-builder certificate of consent, which is typically required for individuals undertaking domestic building work.
In 2011, Kate and I decided to build a modern house for our family in Wonga Park, acting as both architect and owner-builder. At the time, I was engaged by the Department of Health in Victoria to project manage large health projects around Victoria. I travelled all around the country, Victoria, and I had limited time to spare, let alone undertake a personal project.
I reached out to an old builder friend to help me with the build as a construction manager. We had an agreement on fees and scope of works, but he became quite busy with his construction business, so he could no longer take on that role. This came as a surprise to me, as I was left with a large pile of dirt on site, with no construction manager and other projects demanding my attention.
The key was to find the right balance between work, the build, my family and life.
I ended up working ridiculous long hours, including weekends, to cope with the extra responsibilities.
As the construction manager of my own build, I quickly realised that I was well trained to work in an office environment and deal with consultants, qualified builders and construction managers. However, I had no training or knowledge to deal with tradies and construction workers.
I had to learn new vocabulary, slang names for tools, unfamiliar sequences of construction, and specialised trades that I didn’t know existed. Most importantly, I had to learn and understand if someone says it will rain tomorrow. It means I won’t be coming to the site. I can write an entire dictionary of the meanings of things I have learnt on site.
It sounds like these are the skills that cannot be taught at school. How did you manage the transformation?
Despite the new and unfamiliar challenges on site, I had no choice but to push through and learn invaluable lessons and skills that I hadn’t acquired at architectural schools or in the various architectural firms I had worked for. I managed to surround myself with good tradies who did their best to help me undertake this journey, and a supporting wife, Kate, who did her best managing trades when I wasn’t on site.
The learning curve was so steep, and I enjoyed the new me in high-vis clothing, covered in mud and wet “sometimes”. It was very different to our air-conditioned, beautiful office, to say the least.
Managing health projects was all about staging the works and maintaining construction without impacting the hospital operations and its patients and staff. I introduced the concept of staging to Wonga Park, so we divided the project into two stages. Stage one involved building the middle and rear of the house, while preserving the existing home at the front, where we lived during construction. Stage two involved demolishing the old house at the front of the property and building the master bedroom, front entry, formal living room, office, pool area, and landscaping. The staging helped with the cashflow and enabled me to meet my other work commitments.
The outcome at Wonga Park was excellent, and everyone loved it. It provided a great home for our family, but it also gave me invaluable tools that I carried with me as an architect.
As you mentioned, you gained a great deal of experience from building the home. Did you use this in future projects?
Oh, yes. In May 2019, construction work on two triple-storey townhouses began. This time, I had more construction experience to build this project, and my construction team and tradies were hand-picked.
It all went so smoothly until March 2020, when the construction industry faced significant challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, including material shortages and labour constraints. The main challenge was to have a maximum of five people on site at any given time while maintaining workplace distancing by staggering work hours and creating physical barriers between workers to reduce the spread of the virus through proximity.
In spite of the pandemic, we managed to bring Architeria’s vision to life and deliver it on budget. The attention to detail was second to none, and the building looks exactly like the 3D model we designed at Architeria.
The main learnings from this project were how to improve the design of townhouse development without incurring significant costs or breaking the bank and how to effectively manage people and time during the most challenging period in the building industry.
Porter Street will always have a special spot in my heart. It was meant to be just a development, but I ended up spending my entire day there for over a year while the office was closed during the pandemic.
But you didn’t stop there. You took on a third project. Tell us about Parkwood.
Wonga Park house was meant to be our forever home (at least for me; my wife might have a different opinion). However, life happens, needs change and evolve, and children grow up and start their own lives, so Kate and I decided to build a classic home at Parkwood back in 2017. Despite the site's steep decline from front to back, it had immense potential, and the location was everything we had ever wanted.
It was a clear sky in August 2021 when demolition work on the existing house at the site began. The pandemic was still lingering, but I felt more relaxed given my construction experience at both Wonga Park and Porter Street.
“If I could build three-storey townhouses in the middle of a pandemic, I can build anything”, I said to myself.
The excavation works were overwhelming, with thousands of cubic metres of dirt being removed from the site.
The scale of the construction works was significantly larger than the combined areas of Wonga Park and Porter Street. Despite the different scale altogether, I found myself in better control of the construction sequence, organising the trades and contractors. The task was bigger than I had imagined, but there's no looking back once you start. “Stay calm and carry on” was my approach!.
The amount of construction timber we consumed during a worldwide timber shortage was astonishing. Still, everything was orchestrated like a wild storm symphony that doesn’t stop, rest, or settle for the second best. Everything fell in place like a sophisticated jigsaw puzzle. However, the main challenge was the project budget overrun. Construction costs in Australia had increased significantly by more than 30% since we planned the project before construction commencement.
The construction industry had its most significant challenges in rising costs. How did you manage this?
It was an ongoing review of the project budget and aimed at delivering it to perfection without cutting corners. Finding alternative materials and sourcing products wasn’t the easiest task but was the most exciting time, particularly when the house started to take shape.
Besides designing and managing the most luxurious projects at Architeria Architects and building Parkwood simultaneously, I took on the role of a site cleaner and labourer as another attempt to reduce costs. I'm not sure if I was good enough at that new job, though 😉, but as an undercover architect and owner, I heard some interesting stories and opinions from the tradies. Invaluable experience!
Heinsight 20/20, what are your thoughts?
Parkwood is now complete, and looking back, it allowed us to test many innovative details and construction methods that we now implement in other projects we design. This has sharpened us at Architeria, that is certain.
Living in a home I designed and built provided me with a valuable experience that I will draw upon in my approach to future projects. Thousands of lessons learnt, which I now offer to my staff and clients.
Designing and building a home for a client who happened to be your wife, and coincidentally an interior designer in the business we share, can be challenging at times. However, I feel that Parkwood's successful experience was based on mutual respect and understanding one another’s strengths, talents and skills. Kate and I spent endless time working out all aspects of design, implementation, and procurement, while maintaining our commitments to business and family. What’s certain is that we will bring our combined experience to our projects.
If you would like to learn more about these projects or have us design your future home, please get in touch with Architeria Architects at 03 9894 5805 or info@architeria.com.au.
Creative Director and Interior Designer