The architect of record is the licensed architect legally responsible for a project’s construction documents, who seals the drawings and answers to the building department; on many signature buildings, a separate design architect leads the concept.
- Also called
- Executive architect, in some contracts
- Signs
- The permit and construction drawings
- Key fact
- In parking, the architect of record is often a parking specialist working with a design architect
Large and high-profile projects often split architecture between two firms. The design architect sets the concept, the form and the look. The architect of record turns that concept into construction documents, coordinates the engineers, takes professional responsibility for code compliance and seals the drawings. Some contracts call the second role the executive architect.
Why it matters in parking
Many of the most admired garages pair a design architect with a firm that specializes in parking. At Santa Monica’s Parking Structure 6, Behnisch Architekten and Studio Jantzen were design architects and International Parking Design was architect of record and parking designer. At the city’s Civic Center structure, Moore Ruble Yudell designed it with International Parking Design as executive architect. At Miami’s Museum Garage, Timothy Haahs and Associates was architect and engineer of record behind five designer façades.
- Ask who holds each role, and write the split into the contracts.
- Make sure the firm responsible for parking function has authority over circulation, geometry and equipment locations, not just an advisory seat.
- Keep an independent functional design review when the parking specialist sits inside the design team.
The Parkonomics view
Architectural ambition and operational sense are not opposites, but they are different skills. The strongest garages give each its own accountable firm and make the division of authority clear before the concept is drawn.
Related terms: Parking Design, Design-Build, Bridging Documents, Functional Design Review, Owner’s Parking Consultant
Further reading: Designed to Park, or Designed to Impress?