The initial consultation with an architect in Mexico is not a sales meeting. It is a diagnostic conversation — for both sides. The architect is assessing whether the project is feasible, whether the client's program and budget are aligned, and whether the design problem is one the practice wants to solve. The client is assessing whether this architect's process and sensibility correspond to what they want built.
In MÉTODO, we begin every engagement with this conversation before agreeing to take a project.
What to Bring and What to Expect
The more specific the information you bring to the first consultation, the more productive the conversation will be. At a minimum:
- The site: address, legal description, approximate dimensions if known. If you do not yet have the site, describe the general area and lot conditions you are considering.
- The program: how many bedrooms, bathrooms, social spaces, service areas. An approximate area target if you have one.
- The budget: a realistic construction budget range. This does not need to be precise, but it needs to be honest. The architect cannot evaluate feasibility without understanding the financial parameters.
- The timeline: when you need the project completed and what is driving that date.
You do not need drawings, inspiration images, or a clear sense of what you want the house to look like. Style questions come later in the process. The first consultation is about the program, the site, and the constraints.
What the Architect Is Evaluating
The architect's side of the consultation involves a different set of questions:
- Is the budget aligned with the program? A three-bedroom house with full finishes on a sloped lot has a different construction cost than the same program on a flat urban lot.
- Are there site constraints that affect what is buildable? Zoning, setbacks, height limits, easements, or environmental conditions may restrict the program.
- Is the timeline realistic? Construction in Mexico typically takes 12 to 18 months for a residential project after permits are obtained. Permit timelines vary significantly by municipality.
- Is this a project the practice can commit to fully? An architect who takes more work than the practice can manage is not doing the client a service.
In MÉTODO, we work on four projects per year. This means we decline work regularly — not because of the project's quality, but because we cannot give it the attention it deserves within our current commitments.
The Program Conversation
The program is not the same as the list of rooms. The program includes how you live: do you work from home and need acoustic separation? Do you have frequent guests or do you prefer self-contained living? Do you cook and entertain simultaneously or are these separate activities? Do you want the primary bedroom to connect to a garden or to a view?
These questions produce spatial decisions — the location of the study relative to the children's rooms, the relationship between kitchen and terrace, the degree to which the master suite is separated from the rest of the house — that are architectural decisions, not decorating decisions. They are made in the first weeks of the process, not at the end.
The architect's job in the program conversation is to ask questions that reveal priorities you may not have articulated yet. The best program conversations leave the client with a clearer picture of their own needs than they arrived with.
Site Analysis Before Drawing
In MÉTODO, we conduct a site analysis before beginning any design work. This is not a visit to take photographs. It is a study of:
- Solar angles across seasons — asoleamiento — which determines facade orientation and shading strategy
- Prevailing wind direction and seasonal variation
- Topography and how it affects drainage, structure, and section organization
- Neighboring structures, views, and privacy conditions
- Access for construction
This analysis typically takes one to two weeks after the site visit. The design that follows from it is specific to that place. A house designed without this analysis is a house designed for an abstract site — which is a design for nowhere.
What the Matriz de Opciones Produces at the Start
The first design deliverable in MÉTODO is not a single scheme — it is a matriz de opciones: two or three spatial organizations that respond to the same program and site, presented comparatively. The client sees the trade-offs in spatial terms before committing to a direction.
This decision, made early, with full information, is the foundation of the entire project. Every subsequent decision is downstream from it.
Próximos pasos
If you are considering a residential project in Mexico and want to understand what a first conversation with MÉTODO involves, the answer is: a direct exchange about the program, the site, and the constraints. No portfolio presentation, no vision boards.
Conoce el método de MÉTODO to understand the full process from first consultation to completed construction.