Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Using Group Members Professionally

[Smith & McGowan (mcsmith]

Creeksbend Village of Troy New York wrote:

We have two architects in our group and we chose to secure an architect
outside the group.  Mark Mistur, of the School or ARchitecture at the
Renssellaer Polytech Institute is our architect.  Yet we have found that
the architects in the group are able to save us alot of money by sharing
the expertise and equipment and insight their own firms have to offer. 
A member architect refined our site design from Mark's rough drawing, a
member's firm secured a below cost fee to transfer our survey to a
digital format etc.  Member architects also have great ideas and have
input on feasibility questions that save time in the the design
process.  Our member architects will save us money overall, by providing
professional support, but they decided themselves to play the role of
neighbor and not complicate their relationship with the group.

We are currently looking for 16 more households to break ground on an
award winning trout stream, in a city at the foot of 4 mountain
ranges    three hours North of New York City and 20 minutes from
Southern Vermont.

Toni Smith, Creekbend Village: a Cohousing Community

Robin Allison wrote:
> 
> Our group is ready to choose an architect as we are close to buying
> land. One of our members (well, me actually) is an architect who's been
> totally committed to the project from the beginning. The group is unsure
> about the advisability of hiring the architect (or any other
> professional) from within the group and how that would affect power
> dynamics and accountability. Of course if I applied for the job I would
> do so on the same basis as other architects we invited to apply (and
> would not be part of the selection process), so the issue is not about
> the ability to do the job.
> 
> I'd be really interested to hear from other groups who have used or are
> using professionals from within your group: what were the problems and
> the benefits? What would you do differently next time? Any other advice?
> Are there architects on this list who have played that role for their
> group?
> 
> I still have to decide how my skills could be most useful to the group
> so I'd appreciate any replies.
> 
> Thanks
> Robin Allison
> Waitakere Eco-Neighbourhood Cohousing Project
> Auckland, New Zealand.