The 9 Best Architects in Tbilisi

None of these studios publish a rate card, so treat any figure as a band to test rather than a quote. Design work here is normally priced per square metre, as a percentage of the projected construction budget, or as a fixed sum per stage. Per square metre is the usual shape for apartments and one-off houses, while percentage of cost turns up on larger jobs and carries an incentive you should be aware of. A full private house project including the structural and engineering sections needed for a permit costs several times what an apartment layout package costs, and author's supervision during construction is billed on top, usually monthly or per visit. Ask for the fee split by stage, in writing, before you pay anything.

Not for cosmetic work. New paint, new flooring, a replacement kitchen in the existing footprint and new bathroom fittings in the existing wet room are a renovation crew job, and an interior designer is enough if you want it to look considered. You need an architect the moment you move or remove a wall that could be load bearing, relocate a bathroom or kitchen, enclose a balcony, or change anything on the facade. Those touch the permit system, and Soviet-era slab buildings hide structural walls in places that surprise people. The survey and the structural opinion are the parts you are paying for, not the renders.

Author's supervision is the local term for the architect visiting site during construction to check that what is being built matches what was drawn. It is a normal, separately priced service in Georgia and several studios on this list sell it explicitly. On a private house or a full gut renovation it is the line item worth protecting, because Georgian crews work fast and will resolve an ambiguity in the drawings themselves if nobody is there to answer. If you are managing the project remotely it is close to essential. On a light cosmetic refit you can reasonably skip it.

Tbilisi City Hall runs the permit process and the application is normally lodged by the owner or by someone acting under a power of attorney, with the architect producing the drawing set that goes with it. Studios differ on whether they handle the submission itself or just hand you the documents, and firms like HURO and Medusa list permit documentation as part of their scope. Ask two questions on the first call: is the permit set produced in house or subcontracted for the structural and engineering parts, and is the application handled by you or by them. Get the answer before the fee is agreed, because retrofitting it later is where extras appear.

Yes, and most of these studios already do. Concept work, drawings and revisions run fine over email and video calls, and every firm on this list publishes in English. What needs a person on the ground is the initial site survey, the permit submission if it requires a signature, and supervision during the build. A power of attorney to a lawyer or the studio itself solves the paperwork. What you should not do remotely is skip supervision, because nobody will be checking the work against the drawings.

Ask to see a completed project of the same type and, if possible, speak to that client. Ask who signs the structural drawings, since in-house engineering removes a coordination problem you would otherwise own. Confirm the number of revision rounds included, because that is the most common source of a second invoice. Check the company is a registered legal entity and that the deposit goes to a company bank account, never a personal one. Finally, ask them to walk you through the permit process for your specific job, and see whether the answer is specific or vague.