Who Should You Hire?
In this blog post, we clarify the roles of the architect, interior architect, interior designer, designer, and decorator and define which parts of a home fall under the categories of architecture, interior architecture, interior design, and decorating. Additionally, we explain how and when these professionals work beyond their designated fields, which often causes confusion for clients. For instance, architecture offices may offer interior design services and interior design offices may offer interior architecture services.
There are important differences between these professionals, both legally and in terms of expertise. Get the scope of services chart cheatsheet below.
#1
Scopes by Professions
Architecture: The architecture includes all the components that are permanently fixed to the exterior and interior of the house such as foundations, walls (both structural and non-structural), floors, windows, doors, built-in items (e.g. vanities, cabinetry, kitchen islands, countertops), architectural lighting (e.g. recessed ceiling lights, cove lights), and pocket shades. This also includes exterior accessory structures such as pergolas and outdoor kitchens.
It's worth noting that the scope of architecture covers not only the layout and location of these components, but also their design, detailing, and finishes.
Decorative items like lighting fixtures, curtains, and drapery are not considered part of the architecture, even if they are fixed to the home. To put it simply, if the element requires a contractor to install or fix, then it's part of the architecture.
“Architecture includes all the components that are permanently fixed to the exterior and interior of the house”
Interior Architecture: Interior architecture is a confusing phrase as it is commonly misused to mean different things. The correct definition is the interior portion of the architecture.
However, in some cases, “interior architecture” is used to mean only the layout of the interior architecture rather than the full design of the interior architecture. This definition is often used when an architect and interior designer are working on a shared project. In such a case, the architect may do the floor plan and basic interior elevations (i.e. the layout of the interior architecture) and the interior designer would design of the cabinetry, built-in seatings, feature walls, specify the materials, etc. (items which are technically interior architecture, but are in this case referred to as being part of the “interior design”). Confusing, right?
Interior Design: Interior design encompasses the functional items in a home that are not permanently fixed or fastened to the architecture. This includes the furniture, decorative lighting, drapery, wall paper. It does include the manipulation any elements that are fixed to or part of the architecture such as vanities, cabinetry, and interior doors as they are part of the interior architecture—though as described above these items are often, and mistakingly, referred to as being part of the interior design.
Decor: Decor includes the decorative (non-functional) items that are not permanently fixed or fastened to the house. This includes vases, art, wallpaper, flowers.
#2
Services of Professionals
Now that we know what parts of a home belong to which scope, let’s cover what the different professionals do.
Architect’s Scope: Architects specialize in site planning and design of everything permanently fixed to the home, including the facades, full interior architecture, full floor plans, built-in items such as cabinetry, vanities, banquettes, interior finishes, and exterior structures such as pergolas, and outdoor kitchens.
Most architects do both exterior and interior architecture and for many, the distinction between the two is philosophically meaningless. Architects with a design-oriented approach will often prefer to have full control over the entire interior architecture, especially if they do modern or contemporary work. That said, some architecture offices focus only on the exterior and only do the layout of the interiors.
Generally, we do not recommend using an architect for furnishing and decor.
Architects undergo extensive training and exams to obtain their license, which allows them to legally design every aspect of a home, including decor if they wished. In contrast, interior designers, decorators, and designers have legal limitations to what they can do. Due to this, architects possess a wider range of knowledge regarding more/all aspects of a home compared to other design professionals, and they have a stronger understanding of structure and construction.
“Many architects claim to do interior design, when they really only do interior architecture.”
Structural Engineers: Structural engineers do the design of the structural elements (defined below in Part 3) in the home. They coordinate with the architect. The architect is not the one who specifics, calculates, or designs the structure of the building.
Interior Architect’s Scope: In the single-family residential space, very few offices label themselves as “interior architecture” offices. Instead, there are architecture offices and interior design offices who do interior architecture and have interior architects within them. In other words “interior architecture” is usually used to describe scope of work.
An interior architect is a licensed architect who has chosen to focus on the interiors of buildings. Despite this focus, they hold the same license and have the same legal capacity as any other architect. An interior designer is not an interior architect unless they also hold an architect’s license, in which case they are both an interior designer and an architect.
We generally do not recommend using an interior architect for site planning, facade design, furnishing, and decor.
In the non-single-family residential spaces, there are many architects who focus only on the exteriors of buildings, however, confusingly, they are referred to as ‘architects’, not ‘exterior architects’.
“Many interior designers claim to do interior architecture when they only have the ability to do partial interior architecture.”
Interior Designer’s Scope: Interior designers are good for interior design, the finishes and portions of interior architecture, furnishing, and often decor. They are good for designing non-load bearing (non-structural) interior architectural elements such as cabinetry, vanities, banquettes, screen walls, partition walls, etc., and modifying portions of a floor plan. We generally do not recommend using an interior designer for site planning, facade design, full interior architecture, or full floor plans as they are not allowed to modify any load-bearing elements such as structural walls. If your interior designer states they also do interior architecture, ask to what degree and if they are a licensed architect.
It should be obvious by now that the phrase “interior architecture” is confusing in part because some interior designers do interior architecture, but only have the ability and knowledge to do partial interior architecture.
Designer or Decorator’s Scope: To become a designer or decorator, there are no legal requirements or exams to pass. These titles do not hold any legal standing, and if someone goes by the title "designer", they are very likely not a licensed interior designer or licensed architect.
Designers and decorators are best suited for selecting non-permanent items in a home, like drapes, furniture, and art. However, it is a common misconception that a designer's "good eye" qualifies them to handle tasks such as facade design, floor plans, and other permanent fixtures in a home. In reality, this is not the case 99.99% of the time, and clients often find themselves in a difficult situation if they rely on a designer for these tasks. Therefore, we generally do not recommend using a designer or decorator for site planning, facade design, full interior architecture, full floor plans, or the design of anything permanently fixed to a home (such as cabinetry).
#3
Key Takeaways
Most professionals and offices do work outside of their profession’s scope. However, to limit risk, certain scopes of work are typically best handled by specific professionals: Site-planning and facades should be done by architects. Full floor plans should be done by architects and interior architects, with potential contributions from the interior designer (if there is one on the project and depending on their experience). The design of smaller interior architectural elements like cabinetry, vanities, and closets may be handled by any of these professionals, depending on their specific expertise.
The terms "architecture," "interior architecture," and "interior design" can be ambiguous and may not accurately reflect a professional's specific area of expertise. To avoid confusion, it's best to inquire about a professional's experience and process in relation to the specific components of the home you are seeking to design or build.