I’ve been asked this question for twenty-five years. The honest answer hasn’t changed: the fee is a function of the project, and the project hasn’t been defined yet.
That said, the range is knowable, and understanding how fees are structured will help you ask better questions when you’re evaluating architects.
How architects structure fees
Architectural fees typically come in three forms: a percentage of construction cost, a fixed fee agreed at the outset, or an hourly rate for limited or advisory work.
For full-service residential architecture in Alberta, from concept through construction administration, percentage-based fees typically run 8 to 14 percent of construction cost. The range reflects complexity: highly detailed custom work with demanding geometry, extensive millwork, and a challenging site sits at the higher end. A well-resolved but more straightforward design sits lower.
Fixed fees work when scope is well understood upfront. Hourly rates apply when the work is genuinely open-ended or limited to a specific task.
The tier matters as much as the percentage
Not all architectural fees are for the same service. At One One Ten, the engagement is structured across three tiers, and which tier fits your project is something we work out during the Discovery Consultation, not before it.
Foundation — Essential — “You lead, we guide.”
Core architecture services for clients who have a clear direction and want a licensed architect’s expertise applied to their project. One One Ten provides the professional framework; the client drives the decisions. This tier suits clients who are comfortable managing parts of the process themselves and want the design and technical work handled with rigour.
Crafted — Signature — “We lead, you decide.”
Full architectural services plus consultant coordination. The studio leads the design process from initial concept through construction, bringing in the right specialists at the right time. The client makes the decisions; we prepare them. This is the most common engagement for custom residential work.
Bespoke — Atelier — “We handle everything.”
Every decision considered. Every detail designed. Physical 3D models at key design milestones. Fortnightly site reviews during construction. A formal one-year warranty review after occupancy. This is the studio’s deepest engagement: for clients who want the architecture to be completely right, and who want to spend their attention on the life inside it rather than the process of building it.
The fee percentage reflects both complexity and tier. Foundation sits at the lower end of the range; Bespoke — Atelier, where the studio’s involvement is total, sits at the higher end. The right tier isn’t about budget; it’s about what the project needs and how you want to move through the process.
What construction costs in Alberta
Custom residential construction in Alberta currently runs roughly $350 to $600 per square foot, depending on finish level, structural complexity, location, and current market conditions. That range has shifted upward in recent years and continues to reflect labour availability and material pricing across the province.
A 2,500 square foot custom home at $450 per square foot is a $1.125 million construction budget. At 8–12 percent, the architectural fee is $90,000 to $135,000, spread across the full arc of the project, from the first sketch to the final inspection.
Why budget predictions vary
One thing that surprises people: I’ve seen the same project scope tendered at $450,000 with one contractor and priced at $630,000 by a different contractor thirty days later. Same design, same drawings. Does that mean the original estimate was wrong?
Not exactly. Contractors have very different labour rates, overhead structures, and subcontractor relationships. What I can tell you, from tracking what the local market is doing across several projects a year, is a reasonable forecast for a given level of quality and finish. What I can’t do is control what a specific contractor decides to charge at a specific moment in the market.
The industry standard for an architect’s Opinion of Probable Construction Cost is within 15 percent of the final bid. That’s a reasonable target. But which bid, from which contractor, at which point in the cycle, still involves variables outside of anyone’s control.
The best way to manage this (what I recommend on most custom residential projects) is to bring the contractor in earlier, during design development rather than at the end of it. A contractor who understands the design intent from the outset gives you better information sooner, and the final bid has fewer surprises. Cost-plus contracts are also worth considering: they’re more transparent for clients and reduce the contingency premium a contractor builds in when scope isn’t fully resolved.
What the fee includes
Full-service work covers schematic design, design development, construction documents, permit drawings, and construction administration. That last phase is often misunderstood. Construction administration isn’t project management. It is my review of contractor submittals, responses to site questions, site observations, and professional responsibility to confirm that what’s being built matches what was designed and permitted.
What’s not included: structural, mechanical, and electrical engineering (engaged separately); land surveys; permit fees; and contractor costs. A complete project budget accounts for all of these.
The right question isn’t what an architect costs. It’s what a bad one — or no one — costs.
Who’s actually in control of the budget
Here’s something I’ve come to believe firmly after twenty-five years of practice: clients are in control of the budget, because clients make most of the final design decisions.
Every finish selection, every scope addition, every “while we’re at it” carries a cost. My job is to provide meaningful feedback on those decisions: to tell you what something costs, offer alternatives at different price points, and flag clearly when a choice is moving the project in a direction the budget hasn’t accounted for.
When a project comes in over budget, the path forward isn’t necessarily a complete redesign. Sometimes a phasing plan makes more sense: build what’s buildable now, defer what isn’t, and design from the beginning with the future in mind. Installing a structural beam with capacity for a future addition costs very little compared to retrofitting it later. A well-designed phase one isn’t a compromise; it’s a foundation.
The fee is not the cost
The more useful question isn’t what an architect costs: it’s what the absence of one costs.
Coordination errors (a beam that conflicts with a duct, a window that misses the view, a structural wall that subdivides the kitchen) become change orders once construction has started. Change orders cost multiples of what they’d have cost to resolve on paper. A well-designed 2,000 square foot house routinely outperforms a poorly organized 2,800 square foot house on every measure that matters: livability, light, flexibility, energy performance, and resale.
I’m not the right choice for every project. But for custom work — a house designed from the ground up for a specific client, site, and life — the fee rarely registers as a cost by the time the project is finished.