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rchitects & Interior Designers

by George Dixon, Metalsmith

The market for good quality forge work is large. The 'gate keepers' to that market are largely architects and interior designers. To find the type of architectural and interior metalwork commissions you want, you need to find the right type of gate keepers. The search: Some architectural firms design hospitals, some design water treatment plants....some design high-end homes. The latter is the goal. High-end homes do not come in herds, 1/2 million dollar house developments are not 'high-end homes'. High-end houses often have names, many have rooms with names. There is more construction of this level of home under way than you may imagine. Connecting is the trick. One way of 'connecting' is to have a brochure of your work made. Be sure the pictures are uncluttered and clear. Next, take a pen, tablet and the yellow pages and cold call every architect in the book (if you do furniture or lights do the same with interior designers). Ask "do you design high-end homes?" If they say no, x-out the ad and call the next one. If they say "yes", identify yourself as an artist- blacksmith and ask if they would like to see your brochure. Then be sure to ask who to send it 'to the attention of'. Verify that contact name and the address onto the tablet and move on down the yellow pages.  Mail the literature about your work. Wait a week and call back to the list you made from the calls; ask for 'to the attention of'. A typical call would go: "Did you receive my literature?" "Do you have any jobs coming up that may benefit from a presentation of my work?"

The meeting:

Pack your portfolio a variety of small test pieces, that are squeaky clean, into a brief case or sample case. If you have good drawings of current or previous work, pack several of them too. Remember that you will be the 'specialist' in metal at the meeting. Be respectful but also be confident enough to say "no", politely, if you feel the need. For example: They ask, "Wouldn't the rail look good in pink"? To which you'd perhaps reply, "No sir, hand-sanded and oiled or satin black with graphite highlighting would look good". Or, "Do you install"?...."No Sir, the contractor is set to install and can do it at less cost to you than I can". (Build 'em right and anyone can install 'em!)

Realize that in the business relationship you are attempting to cultivate that there is a two-way street. Architects need you (and many other types of skilled artisans) as much as you need them. The bigger or more elaborate the house, the more detailed the design, the more there is for the architect to specify and to identify a source for. A good initial presentation to the architect, of your pictures and very clean test pieces, may find you being relied on to facilitate the metalwork presentation to the "Owner", the contractor and perhaps, the interior designer. This is more true in early design phases, but even if the drawings are done on a 7 figure house, they are never done....owners can change an idea until well into a job. The same search and presentation approach can be used to contact interior designers. Like architects, interior designers are 'middlemen' between the artisan and the owner. The owner relies on the design expertise of the architect and the experience and taste of the interior designer to generate ideas of style and relationships in the designing and furnishing of a high-end home or office. The owner usually also defers finding the artisans, who do specific work, to the architects and interior designers.

Landing the job:

Ask about the budget range for the ironwork. There is almost always a budget. The architect has to estimate (cost out) the house before it is let for general contractor bidding. This is both to relate the project to the owner's price range (which always grows) and to have a point of reference for the general contractor's bids to be compared to.

One way of digging up the budget is by telling them you will work toward their budget. You may want to generate several options for presentation; one at budget and one 10% to 20% above the budget. Another avenue is to try to take on (over) the design aspect of the ironwork involved by respectfully submitting your ideas. One consideration regarding design is that if you have good designs that are yours, they are easier to make than good designs that are someone else's. Remember to put a © and the date in the title block on each page of your drawing. It puts everyone on notice that the design you submit is yours.

In your drawings, work through an architectural vocabulary. This means scale presentation drawings (3" to the foot for example) on good paper, with a plan, two elevations and sections. Include half or full sized details of joinery and decorations. Lable all dimensions.

CAD presentation drawings used to be unique, now they are as common as dirt and as sterile as they can be. Either pencil draw or pencil trace a CAD drawing, shade it and submit it. These presentation drawings sell you, your ability and your design. They look like the types of drawings the architect produces, the HVAC company produces, even the landscaper produces. This gives the architect both a comfort level with your communication ability and produces drawings he can assimilate at a glance. This is a major competitive edge over a graph paper and sketched presentation.

Shop drawings, unlike presentation drawings, should be full scale when possible. Label the dimensions of everything. Once the shop drawings are approved, work off of the numbers from the labels.

Expect to work harder the first time, since they do not know you. But once you have established your competence, you may well find that the architect relies on you next time. Otherwise they have to do it all themselves and if they are good, they are very booked up.

One last thought; consider being a "supplier", not a sub-contractor. Why? Sub-contractors travel, measure, build, travel and install. They have to show proof of liability and comp insurance to enter the job site. The sub-contractor has "retainage" withheld by the general contractor who, overseen by the architect, manages the job for the owner. Retainage is usually 10% of your sub-contracted price. It is held back until the architect does the final house inspection "punch list" and approves the job. Then the last 10% is paid to the general contractor. Then you get your last 10%..........

Suppliers stay in the shop. They work from drawings (shop drawings) exchanged with the contractor and the architect. The two of them sign off on the specifications. You build to the signed specs, any changes are done with written change orders and usually involve extra charges. Suppliers ship 'it' (railing, gate, table, light, whatever) to the site, FOB. Free On Board means that your shop will load the work onto the back of the truck. The trucker secures it and carries it (insured) to the job site. The contractor has a crew. They unload and install the work. Mr Marvin of Marvin Windows or Mr Pella of Pella Windows do not drive the windows to the site and stick them into the appropriate holes in a wall. They are suppliers! They ship and the contractor receives the windows and installs them.

Suppliers get 100% of the post down-payment balance in 30 days, no retainage with-held, no job site liability insurance to pay for....no travel.

Owner: The person or couple who are paying for the project.

Architect: The person who conceptualizes, designs and oversees the project.

Interior Designer ASID: A trained and licensed designer of interior spaces such as homes or offices. ASID means they are a member of the American Society of Interior Design.

FOB: Free On Board, indicates that the recipient pays the freight after you load the work.

Retainage: The amount of money, a percentage of the your sub-contract, held until the project is accepted by the architect on behalf of the owner.

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