The Top Challenges Architects Encounter With Millwork and How to Solve Them

Commercial millwork design can deliver incredible benefits to designers, owners, and architects as they try to achieve a unified vision for their space. Millwork design can also pose challenges, especially in the early stages of architectural design, when it is not usually a priority. However, by confronting these challenges, architects can create seamless modern spaces that feel built for a specific purpose.

By placing greater value on custom solutions, architects can address their top challenges and deliver spaces with approachable, engaging, and distinctive designs.

Challenge #1: Waiting Too Long to Design Millwork

Many architects and designers wait to design millwork until a later stage of the project, thinking of it as a finishing touch rather than a fundamental piece of their architectural puzzle. This means that when the millwork is finalized, other aspects of the project have been finished or set in motion, restricting the millwork’s potential and leading to potential design conflicts.

Solution: Architects should coordinate early in the project with custom millwork teams to identify potential clashes both in the designs and the completion timelines. This can help reduce the need for last-minute compromises to their vision and the risk of rework to complete the project on time.

Challenge #2: Low-quality Material Choices

Modern commercial millwork designs should be supported by high-quality wood that matches the intended feel. Millwork artisans may also provide input on what materials convey the strategy the architect hopes to achieve, mixing different types of natural or reclaimed wood to create an even more bespoke look.

Solution: Early communication with millwork teams can have far-reaching positive effects on the project as a whole. By coordinating material choices with the insights of the artisans who will design the finished pieces, architects can avoid expensive rework and customer dissatisfaction, which are common costs of sourcing low-quality or clashing materials.

Challenge #3: Incomplete Millwork Plans

Architects are responsible for coordinating their work with the millwork team to confirm that the finished product meets the needs of their project. Custom millwork should match the site’s conditions, conform to the architectural drawings, and follow the designer’s directions regarding the intended outcome. If the drawings sent to the artisans lack specific details, including accurate measurements, expensive rework and project extensions may be the only way to fix the resulting mistakes.

Solution: Architects should make sure, early in the process, that their drawings clearly indicate elevations, site conditions, plans, sections, and any relevant finishing information for the millwork team. Checking field conditions, design constraints, and the owner’s overall vision are necessary to complete commercial millwork design without delays.

Challenge #4: Matching the Millwork to the Use Case

Architects design structures with a specific purpose in mind, for both commercial and residential properties. Different types of businesses and homes have varying levels of foot traffic, layouts, and use cases.

For example, many homes are designed with casework integrated into the architecture to expand the usability of limited floor plans and provide functionality for those who work from home. Restaurants, cafes, hotel lobbies, retail spaces, and more can use built-in seating to accommodate guests without sacrificing their floor plans.

Designing architecture for a generic use case without recognizing the steps needed to coordinate features and designs with the intended vision for the future space can lead to costly design setbacks and customer issues.

Solution: Architects should collaborate with owners, designers, and millwork artisans to plan spaces that align with their intended use and address their primary pain points. With professional design support from experienced artisans, architects can make sure their designs meet the needs of customers, residents, clients, or guests who will eventually inhabit them.

Experienced Millwork Artisans Drive Innovation With Custom Designs

These four challenges can cause project delays, customer dissatisfaction, and costly rework for modern architects. With so many property owners striving for multifunctional, streamlined, and bespoke spaces, it’s more important than ever to assure designs align with their vision. Coordinating with custom millwork artisans as early as possible gives architects the best chance of finishing their project without these delays.

At Sixth Avenue Custom, our experienced team leverages craftsmanship, technology, and communication to deliver precise work that aligns with the architect’s designs, the owner’s vision, and the best use of the space. Our goal, regardless of the project, from grand entryways to built-in bench seats, is to emphasize the client’s vision for their design and solve their top challenges with our custom commercial millwork designs.

Contact our team today to learn how commercial millwork design can transform your architectural plans with craftsmanship, hands-on planning, and continuous customer service every step of the way.