The Value of a House Doctor
Having a go-to architect doesn’t just save time and headaches, it makes better places
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Other than geography, it’s hard to see what TD Garden, MIT, Salem Five Bank and the Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance have in common. Yet each engaged Jones Architecture in an on-call capacity, along with more than a dozen other institutions in our region. Why? What are the advantages? Is there a downside to hiring a “house doc?”
“House doctor” is common parlance in our industry, referring to a consultant who is on-call to assist an organization, often under a master or term contract agreement. Projects may be planning or design and construction. They are generally smaller, but not exclusively so. They may be simple or complex.
When we take on a new project as a house doc, we’re bringing with us the experience of every project that has come before it with that organization, and often with forethought about those ahead. This context includes an understanding of organizational identity, standards, preferences, goals and ways of working — an
accumulation of institutional knowledge that pays multiple dividends, from increased efficiency to better design.
This is true whether you have 70,000 square feet of real estate or 700,000 – or more. While project volume plays into whether your organization will benefit from a house architect, so does your team capacity.
JONES FINDINGS: THE VALUE IN LONG TERM RELATIONSHIPS
The point is not the size or the complexity of a project, but the thinking behind it — which is one of the key reasons for engaging in a long-term relationship with an architect. Below are seven more to consider:
Increase bandwidth: Make a small facilities team bigger, make a big facilities team more productive.
Efficiency and simplicity: Save the time and resources inherent in going to market for every project. Simplify procurement and contracts. Ease communication and reduce “up to speed” time.
Design always matters (not just for the signature building): Even the smallest projects make a difference in the daily lives of the people who use it. House doctors bring the knowledge of the larger system to design in every corner.
Sticky stakeholders: Sometimes you cannot afford to spend the time required to handle the demanding stakeholders and/or small jobs. Your house doc can get it done and you can focus your energy elsewhere.
Outside perspective: Every team benefits from fresh eyes. We are asking questions, challenging assumptions and often piloting ideas along the way based on what we are seeing on other campuses.
Responsiveness: On-call means ready and waiting to mobilize. It also means trust, born of relationships that build over time as teams work together project after project.
Continuity: There’s no substitute for institutional knowledge. When you know how an organization works, you know how to solve its problems — and how not to.
IS THERE A DOWNSIDE TO HIRING A HOUSE DOC?
Some would argue they inherently lack “fresh eyes” — that, as an extension of your team they won’t see the forest for the trees. We would remind them that architects undertake a range of projects of various types, sizes and degrees of complexity with a variety of clients across all sectors. This exposure keeps us fresh and in tune with trends across the competitive landscape. Indeed, with multiple house-doctor engagements comes deep insight of how other organizations — those like yours, and those completely different — are leveraging their real estate.
Others might say the house doc is fine for the low-profile projects, but not for signature engagements. Maybe. And maybe not. Think twice before dismissing a house doc for big, bold architectural projects. Are you making assumptions based on the role you have used them for in the past, rather than their talent and capacity?
Many architectural firms eschew the role of a house doctor and assume the projects are small or mundane. We see it differently. We find the work of a house doctor can vary wildly — both in scope and the use group served. It encompasses planning, design and construction, and can be a focused area of a building, whole buildings, or precincts of campuses. Regardless of the scope or scale, these projects are all important and often represent an opportunity for transformation. Small projects can lead to big solutions that shape the evolution of your organization. We’d never want to miss out on that, and neither should you.