You’re about to spend a serious amount of money on a house, and somewhere in your research you’ve run into the phrase “nominated architect”. It sounds official, and it’s rarely explained properly. Is it just a title? Does it affect you? Should you be asking about it?
We’re PopovBass, a Sydney architecture practice, and you can see our work at https://popovbass.com.au/ while you read. We’ve been designing homes since 1983, and this question comes up more often than you’d think. Below we explain what a nominated architect is, why it matters in NSW, how to check one and how it fits into a project from first meeting to handover.
Who’s writing this
Alex Popov founded the practice in 1983. He studied at the Royal Academy in Denmark, graduating in 1971, and worked for Henning Larsen and Jorn Utzon before returning to Australia. Brian Bass is a director alongside him. We’re a medium-sized, hands-on team, so the people you meet at the start are the people working on your project.
Most of what we design is houses and multi-residential buildings. The work has been recognised by the Australian Institute of Architects, including the Wilkinson Award and the Robin Boyd Award, and by the Master Builders Association of NSW. Alex was made a Life Fellow of the Institute in 2021.
What is a nominated architect?
In NSW, “architect” is a protected title. You can’t call yourself one unless you’re registered with the NSW Architects Registration Board. That part most people know.
The nominated architect idea sits on top of it. When a company, partnership or other business offers architectural services, it needs to have a nominated architect. This is a registered architect who is responsible for the architectural services that business provides. In plain terms, a business can’t just put “architects” on its sign and a qualified person has to stand behind what it delivers.
Think of it as accountability. If you hire a practice, someone with registration and a professional reputation to protect is answerable for the work, and you can find out who that is.
Why it matters to you as a client
It’s easy to think this is paperwork for the practice, not you. But it affects your project in a few real ways.
It tells you who’s accountable. If something goes wrong, you know a registered professional is responsible, not just a business name.
It’s a baseline for quality. Registration involves qualifications, experience and ongoing professional obligations. It doesn’t guarantee a perfect result, but it does set a floor.
It protects the title. Without the rules, anyone could call themselves an architect and offer design services. The system exists to protect people spending large sums on something permanent.
It makes comparing practices easier. When you’re looking at several firms, the nominated architect is a simple, checkable detail. If one practice can’t tell you who theirs is, that tells you something.
How to check a nominated architect
It takes a few minutes, and it’s worth doing before you sign anything.
Start by asking the practice directly: who is your nominated architect? A good firm will answer straight away and without fuss.
Next, look the person up on the NSW Architects Registration Board’s public register. You can confirm they’re registered and see their details.
Then ask a second question, which is separate: who will actually run my project day to day? The nominated architect carries responsibility for the practice, but your project may be led by another registered architect on the team. That’s normal. You just want to know who you’ll be dealing with and be comfortable with them.
If the answers are vague, or the name doesn’t appear on the register, think carefully before going further.
What an architect does once you’ve hired one
Plenty of people assume an architect just draws the plans. The drawings are the visible part, but the work starts much earlier.
It begins with listening. How does your household really live? Do you cook every night or mostly eat out? Do you work from home? Then comes the site: which way it faces, where the winter sun lands, how steep the ground is, what the neighbours can see into.
From there the architect develops the design, deals with council, coordinates engineers, surveyors and other consultants, and prepares the detailed drawings and specifications a builder needs to price the job accurately. If you want, they also stay involved during construction, which matters more than people expect. Good designs often lose their edge on site when nobody’s around to explain why a detail was there.
How a project runs
Every practice works a little differently, but most jobs follow a similar path.
We start with a conversation about what you want, your budget and your timing, and we look at the site. Then we work up a concept: early plans, sketches and sometimes 3D views. This is the cheapest time to change your mind, because moving a wall on paper costs nothing.
Once the concept feels right, we refine it. Room sizes, windows, stairs, materials, how the house connects to the garden. Then comes council. In NSW most new homes and larger alterations need approval, either through a development application or, for some projects, the complying development pathway. Residential work also needs a BASIX certificate for energy and water efficiency. We prepare the paperwork and answer any questions council raises, and that can take a while.
After approval we produce the construction drawings and specifications. A builder prices and builds from these, so the more thorough they are, the fewer surprises you’ll get later. We can help you tender the job or negotiate with a builder, and we go through the quotes with you so you’re comparing like with like. During construction we visit the site and keep an eye on the details. At the end, we walk through the finished home with you and check it against what was promised.
Examples of the work behind the title
A registered architect behind a practice is the starting point. The work is what you really judge.
Bellevue Hill House VI sits on a coastal site, so the conditions pushed us towards a restrained palette of brick, exposed concrete and metal cladding. Rose Bay House, finished in 2020, has sweeping organic voids cut through horizontal and vertical concrete planes so daylight reaches deep inside. It was built by Building Foundations, with interiors by PopovBass and Karen Tabak Interiors, and it won a Master Builders Association NSW Excellence in Housing Award in 2021.
Balmoral Apartments is a three-storey block of floating concrete planes anchored by a ceramic-tiled geometric wall. Griffiths Teas Apartments turned a heritage warehouse into homes and won the AIA NSW Architecture Award for Multiple Housing in 2018. Griffith House, which won the 2014 Wilkinson Award, is a stretched courtyard house on a flat, flood-affected rural site, placed on the highest ground available.
Other things to ask before you hire
The nominated architect check is a good start, but it shouldn’t be the only one.
Look closely at the portfolio. Does it include projects like yours, on sites like yours? A practice that does stunning waterfront houses may not be right for a heritage terrace. Awards are worth a glance too. They don’t promise a smooth working relationship, but they show that other architects rate the work.
Then get practical. How often will you meet? What happens if you want to change something halfway through? How does the practice handle budget? Be a little wary of anyone who agrees to everything without mentioning cost. A good architect will tell you early if the brief and the budget don’t line up, even if it’s not what you wanted to hear. And pay attention to how the first meeting feels. You could be working together for a year or more.
Common mistakes
Calling an architect too late is the big one. If you’ve already picked a builder or settled on a rough design, there’s much less they can do. Skipping the background check comes next, since a few minutes on the register can save a lot of grief. Third is underestimating approval time, because councils can take months. After that, changing the brief late, which gets expensive once documentation is done. And finally, choosing on fees alone. A cheap quote with thin drawings often costs more once the builder starts finding gaps.
Is it worth hiring an architect?
For a very simple job, a draftsperson or a design-and-build company might be the right call. But if your site is tricky, you want something properly custom or you’re putting serious money into a home you plan to live in for years, an architect earns the fee.
A well-designed house handles sun and breeze better, uses a tight block sensibly and suits the way you live. It also tends to hold its value, because good design doesn’t date the way trends do.
Talk to PopovBass
If you’re comparing practices and want a clear answer on who your nominated architect would be, who’d lead your project and what the process looks like, we’re happy to talk it through. Whether you have a site and a budget or just a rough idea, an early conversation can save you a lot of time and money.
