The architects I have worked with have told me about the extra challenges they face when a Feng Shui consultant joins a project. I wrote about this in my Feng Shui + Architecture series in 2021.
My daughter is an architect. Working together has helped me understand her point of view and explain mine. We have to turn our ideas into a home that serves the client.
A homeowner can make this work much easier by bringing the discussion into the design stage, while the room arrangement is still on paper.
Understand what each person is looking at
The architect considers the spaces the client needs, how those spaces connect, and how the building responds to its surroundings. The design also has to account for the relevant technical requirements.
My Feng Shui work considers the property through its external setting and internal arrangement. In the original series, I described using San He and Emperor Landform for the outside assessment, with San He Internal and Xuan Kong Flying Star for the interior.
Flying Star is a traditional method for mapping and interpreting parts of a property. A sector means a defined part of the plan. Within that method, the location of a room has a role in assessing how it should be used. My original article discussed the kitchen, bedroom, office, and main entrance.
That gives the architect a specific design question: where could a particular room or entrance go within a plan the client can use and afford?
Keep the explanation attached to the location
A homeowner needs enough detail to follow the recommendation. “Put the bedroom here” leaves several questions open. Which room? Where should the bed sit inside it? Which part of the proposal comes from the Feng Shui assessment?
Ask for the relevant position to be marked on the drawing. The architect can check it against the door, windows, storage, services, and space for people to move. Any change that affects construction then has a location the contractor can understand and price.
Here is an imagined example. You are considering two positions for a bedroom door. One position changes the wall space available for the bed. It may also move a light switch and change the route to the wardrobe. Discuss those details together before choosing a position. You want to know exactly what will change when the drawing changes.
Give a conflict one place to be resolved
Sometimes a proposed arrangement meets a fixed limit. The wall may be structural. The building may restrict a change. A service line may occupy the space.
Have the relevant designer or engineer explain the limit, then return the workable options to the Feng Shui consultant. A revised suggestion can be checked against the same plan. Structural and safety decisions remain with the qualified professionals responsible for them.
Sending different instructions to the builder through separate messages creates confusion. Keep one current drawing. Date it, identify the agreed changes, and withdraw older versions from the working set.
For a change affecting the kitchen, for example, record the proposed location, the design team's response, the cost, and the final decision on that drawing. You can then see if the idea is ready to build or still needs an answer.
Finish the discussion before the work begins
Before approving construction, look at the agreed plan and explain it back in your own words. You should know where the main changes are, why they were proposed, and what they cost.
After installation, compare the actual room with the agreed drawing. Mark anything that moved or changed, and keep dated photographs with that plan. Ask the relevant professional or consultant to review the affected detail before treating a substitution as an accepted change. Confirm the scope and cost of any further review.
Working with my daughter helped me put our ideas into perspective. A clear drawing gives the homeowner a place in that discussion, with the proposed change visible and the questions still open to review.
Master JudithBaZi and classical Feng Shui consultant, author, and speaker. Read my story