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About Architectural Designer Salary

An architectural designer is an artist who works with the client to design both the exterior and interior of buildings. Architectural designers design commercial and industrial buildings, as well as buildings intended for private use. Among the things an architectural designer does are:

Consult with the client to discuss and finalize the plan.
Assist the client in finding the best contractor.
Direct the preparation of blueprints, drawings and specifications.
Determine and document design, materials, colors, equipment and cost estimates.
Monitor the construction work to ensure compliance with the original plan [source: NYCareerzone].
Here’s how to become an architectural designer:

Earn a bachelor’s of arts degree.
Apply to architectural schools accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).
Earn a master’s degree in architecture.
Learn and become proficient in Computer Aided Design (CAD).
Find out if you require any additional training in the field.
Apply for an internship after graduating. Every state requires an internship of at least three years.
Get licensed. This will entail taking the necessary licensing exams after completing your internship.
Apply for a job with a firm or private practice.
Make and keep a portfolio of your designs.
Consider opening your own firm when you have enough experience.
Take continuing education courses. This is required in order to remain a licensed architectural designer

“I wanted to become an architect but…
…(insert reason) so I decided not to pursue architecture.”

As an architect I can’t tell you how many people have had that conversation with me. I hear it almost weekly.

The more people I talk to about being an architect, the more I realize most people have no clue what an architect really does. Sometimes I think the public really thinks that architects walk around wearing a hat that says either “commercial” or “residential” and then decides if today they are going to design in a gothic, classical or modern style, while consulting a silly cookbook of architectural ornamentation details.

It’s not really like that.

The typical day of a practicing architect is more about: slaving away on construction drawings, going to meetings, checking their staff’s work, invoicing clients, reviewing the work of contractors so they can get paid, and handling their clients and employees and managing all types of problems related to their projects and business. Sure there’s designing and drawing pretty pictures, but that’s really just a very small piece of the project.

I recently completed a project that was designed by 3 people sitting around conference table for 2 hours. The design was good, simple and effective. After we solved the design problem, the next 11 months were spent: fine tuning that design, creating construction drawings, specifications, details, getting cost estimates, solving code issues, obtaining building permits, supporting the contractor with information during construction, responding to unforseeable conditions, working with and coordinating furniture, IT, and moving consultants. A 2 hour design meeting translated into 11 months of execution and the design didnt really change much in the process. Designing is often a small moment in time, executing the design is really the bulk of the work.

Sometimes Architecture Sucks.
It’s not an easy profession. Architecture is a lot of work.

The people who have successful careers as architects have all made incredible sacrifices and worked extremely hard to get there. Historically it does not pay very well, the education is long and there is an incredible amount of legal responsibility involved with becoming an architect. There is certainly is no shortage of articles on the web listing the many great reasons NOT to become an architect.

Architecture is AMAZING.
If you get past the long hours, lousy pay and complicated licensing and educational requirements. Architecture, is in my (biased) opinion one of the greatest educations person could get and industry to work.

Architecture school teaches you solve problems like no other education. By intensely focusing on design, construction and history, thenlooking at the world through that lens, it also forces everyone to reconsider how we think, live and interact with our environments. Architecture school is often about examining information what we already know and using that information to creatively solve new problems. Architecture school rewires your brain and most students graduate being a very different person from when they started.

The Profession (architects like to call the business side of architecture “the profession”) is drastically different, almost the opposite of the architecture school experience. Every working architect is challenged with solving the problem with an achitectural solution that fits within the framework of budgets, schedules, building codes and Client expectations. Unlike school, time and money sometimes dictate the design of the project. However talented architects spend their entire careers understanding how to balance time and money with architectural design.

Architectural Designer Jobs

The architecture industry is constantly growing. The computer and access to information has significantly changed the way architecture has been practiced for the past 100 years. 15 years ago there was no such thing as an architecture blog!? Now theres hundreds of architecture blogs.

The word architecture is as general as the word music. We call it music, but there are sub categories within music. Types of music could be classical, country or even something specific like east coast straight edge hardcore from the 80’s.

Just like music here are a million little niches or subcultures within architecture. Those could be sustainability, hospital design, CAD/Rendering, architects who specialize in some kind of engineering speciality, interiors, tiny houses, waterproofing, building envelope fanatics, masonry experts and the list can go on forever.

What I love most about the architecture industry is that it is soo vast, there is plenty of work for everyone to thrive using whatever skills, talents and interests they may have, as long as they are willing to work hard.

A highly regulated profession.
Did you know, it is technically illegal to call yourself an architect in the US, if you do not have an active license with the National Council Architecture Registration Board and with whatever state architectural you happen to be in.

Unlike a US drivers license, it doesnt work everywhere. A licensed architect in New York, is not licensed architect in California unless they have a California architecture license.

Architects carry a tremendous amount of responsibility protecting the health, safety and welfare of the public and if an individual has not fulfilled the requirements, they should not be calling themselves an architect. Many people have a hard time understanding this, but this is due to the lengthy education, experience and licensing requirements. Unlicensed individuals may call themselves, designers, project managers, job captains or anything else really works, but “Architect” is off limits. State architectural licensing boards regularly take action against unlicensed individuals calling themselves Architects or practicing without a license.

Having an architecture license is not a prerequisite to having a successful career in architecture. Many people graduate architecture school and have very successful careers without obtaining their license to practice. The architectural training is an extremely valuable education and can be effectively be used in and outside of the profession.

What are the steps to become a licensed architect?
It’s a 3 part process which consist of:

Education – Earning an accredited architecture degree. (5-7 years)
Experience – Documenting on the job experience, under the supervision of a licensed architect. (5,600 Hours)
Exam – Passing a 7 part licensing exam, each test completed on various aspects of the profession.
This process is lengthy and is no easy feat. However, it is not impossible and the rewards you can reap by becoming a licensed architect are numerous.

The Educational Requirements
For licensure in most states a candidate must hold a professional degree in architecture from an institution accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). There are currently over 100 architecture schools to choose from.

There are currently three different professional architecture degrees available.

The Bachelor of Architecture (BArch) requires a minimum of 150 credit hours in professional studies and electives.
The Master of Architecture (MArch) degree requires a minimum of 168 credit hours, 30 of which must be graduate level.
The Doctor of Architecture (DArch) requires a baccalaureate degree or 120 undergraduate credit hours in addition to a minimum of 90 graduate credit hours.
Experience Requirements
The Intern Development Program (IDP) represents a program designed to aid architecture students in learning and developing within the work force. Most states require that a student complete this type of internship before they can become licensed in that state.

The IDP is a thorough and comprehensive program that requires experience in several different settings. Its purpose is to ensure that architecture graduates gain the professional experience, knowledge and skills to practice effectively as independent architects. The intern architect student is closely supervised by a licensed architect or professional in another discipline.

Interns most commonly work within architecture firms where they begin to become familiar with the application of their education. They may assist in design projects, prepare documents as well as research specific building codes and many other projects.

The IDP requires the completion of 5,600 field experience hours within 17 different categories. The experience hours are documented by the intern and the discussed with and signed off by the supervisor. This information is submitted to NCARB on a regular basis.

The Architect Registration Exam
The Architect Registration Exam (ARE) is required in all 54 jurisdictions within the United States. The exam is broken down into seven different sections;

Construction Documents and Services (CDS)
Programming, Planning and Practice (PPP)
Site Planning and Design (SPD
Schematic Design (SD)
Structural Systems (SS)
Building Systems (BS)
Building Design and Construction Systems (BDCS)
Each exam is formatted differently but multiple choice and graphical vignettes are distributed throughout.

Architectural Designer vs Architect

The completing Architecture Registration Exam is a very unique experience. The process is a self guided experience where ARE Candidates (what you call people taking the exam) study and take the exams on their own schedule. Some people do them all under a year however most people take atleast 2 1/2 years to complete the process.

Taking the ARE is drastically different then attending architecture school, due to the massive amounts of information that is being tested through the seven exams. Learning how to handle such a challenging exam is often the hardest part.

Recently YoungArchitect.com published a book called How To Pass The Architecture Registration Exam to help ARE Candidates wrap their head around the entire ARE process and set themselves up for success in moving through this crazy multi year, self guided, test taking journey towards becoming a Licensed Architect

Becoming Licensed
After the ARE additional interviews or exams may be required. Registration requirements vary between each state, so it is recommended that individuals contact their specific registration board for the requirements in that jurisdiction.

Continuing education is then required by all architects to keep their licenses active.

The dynamic industry
Becoming a licensed architect is a lengthy process and definitely not for everyone. However, it is an incredible industry that is constantly changing. The internet and modern technology have impacted how this industry conducts business, further expanding the world of opportunities available. Versatile and innovative, the field of architecture can offer vast possibilities and endless options for anyone willing to work hard and contribute to the progress of the profession.

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a design architect. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, Maryland, Arizona, and California. Design architects make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $86,479. Whereas in Maryland and Arizona, they would average $77,841 and $76,403, respectively. While design architects would only make an average of $76,032 in California, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we’ve found all of the skills you’ll need so even if you don’t have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.0% of design architects listed revit on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and communication skills are important as well.

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what’s a career path you ask? Well, it’s practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of project architect you might progress to a role such as construction manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title senior project manager construction.

Architects are some of the most respected professionals in building and construction. In collaboration with engineers, they are responsible for creating remarkable structures like the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. A design architect’s job is to create blueprints for a building project. But their job may often extend beyond that to managing teams of employees and communicating with clients. Occassionally, design architects may also oversee projects.
Architects often function as project managers to discuss client needs, ensure that the project is completed within time and budget, meet state codes, and many other concerns. A renowned architect has even been quoted saying that designing buildings is only 15% of his job.
As you can tell, design architects require a wide range of skills, including creativity, communication, teamwork, and of course, design. To become an architect, you’ll need a bachelor of architecture degree as well as state licensing.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a design architect. For example, did you know that they make an average of $31.66 an hour? That’s $65,857 a year!

Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 8% and produce 11,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What Does a Design Architect Do
There are certain skills that many design architects have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and creativity.

When it comes to the most important skills required to be a design architect, we found that a lot of resumes listed 15.0% of design architects included revit, while 8.8% of resumes included construction documents, and 5.5% of resumes included architecture. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.

When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn’t even think offered positions related to the design architect job title. But what industry to start with? Most design architects actually find jobs in the technology and professional industries.

How To Become a Design Architect
If you’re interested in becoming a design architect, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We’ve determined that 50.0% of design architects have a bachelor’s degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 34.4% of design architects have master’s degrees. Even though most design architects have a college degree, it’s possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a design architect. When we researched the most common majors for a design architect, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor’s degree degrees or master’s degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on design architect resumes include associate degree degrees or diploma degrees.

You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a design architect. In fact, many design architect jobs require experience in a role such as architect. Meanwhile, many design architects also have previous career experience in roles such as project architect or architectural internship.