The first consultation with an architect is a two-way evaluation. The client is assessing the architect's process and communication style. The architect is assessing whether the project is well-matched to their practice. A productive first meeting produces clarity — not designs.
What the Architect Should Ask You
A rigorous architect arrives at the first consultation with questions, not presentations. The questions should cover:
Site. Where is it? What are the boundaries? Is there an existing survey? What is the topography? Which direction does it face? Have you walked it at different times of day?
Program. How many people live in the house? How do you use the main living areas — do you cook together, do people work from home, do you entertain frequently? What do you dislike about how you live now?
Process. Have you worked with an architect before? How do you prefer to make decisions — do you want to see multiple options or do you prefer a single strong recommendation? Who is the decision-maker on your side?
Budget. What construction budget are you working with? This is not a negotiating question. Budget is a design constraint. An architect who avoids this question is not being discreet — they are avoiding the most important parameter of the project.
In MÉTODO, the first conversation always includes a site discussion. We cannot generate useful observations about your project until we have looked carefully at where it will stand.
What You Should Bring
Bring what you have. More useful than nothing:
- Site documents. A boundary survey, if one exists. Existing building drawings if it is a renovation. Photos of the site from different angles and times of day.
- A rough program. A list of spaces you need — not a design, just a list. Three bedrooms, study, kitchen with morning light, covered outdoor dining.
- Budget parameters. Not a precise figure, but a range you can commit to. "We are planning for 500,000 to 600,000 USD in construction cost" is more useful than "we are flexible."
- Examples of work you respond to. Not as a stylistic directive, but as a tool for the architect to understand the quality of space you are drawn to.
What a Productive First Consultation Produces
A good first meeting does not end with a concept. It ends with:
- A shared understanding of the project's parameters — site, program, budget, timeline
- A clear explanation of how the architect's process works and what you will decide at each phase
- An honest assessment of whether the project is a good fit for the practice
- A proposed next step — site visit, fee proposal, or another meeting
If the architect offers to send you a concept before a site visit, that is a signal. Either they are very confident about their abilities — or they are moving fast to secure a commission before evaluating whether the project is actually suited to their work.
What You Are Evaluating
Beyond the specific answers, you are evaluating communication. You will spend 18 to 36 months working with this person. The quality of their listening in the first meeting tells you something about how they will respond when the project gets complicated.
Signs of genuine attention: they ask follow-up questions, they ask about how you live rather than what you want to see, they do not rush to show you their portfolio.
Signs of a mismatch: they talk more than they listen, they describe their signature aesthetic before understanding your site, they focus on the visual before the spatial logic.
El proceso antes que el estilo — this applies to the first consultation as much as to the design itself. The architect who understands the brief deeply will produce better work than the one who impresses you in the first hour.
Próximos pasos
The first consultation sets the tone for everything that follows. A productive meeting is one where both parties leave with honest information.
Conoce el método de MÉTODO to understand how a first conversation is structured at our studio — what we ask, what we share, and how we evaluate project fit.