by Amy Lee Clark

Created on: February 27, 2011   Last Updated: March 02, 2011

An architect project manager is a dual skilled professional.  Not only is he / she (for convenience, 'he') an architect, but he has also been trained in the field of project management.

Project management has three main branches of application; Business, Engineering and Technology.   All are inter-related in some way, but all are also distinct in their own respective ways. An architect may work under one or more of these fields, particularly in the area of designing.  

To become an architect project manager, the person in question should first undergo four years of detailed study in the field of Architecture. This would grant him a Bachelor's Degree in Architecture also abbreviated as B.Arch.  Further study beyond this may be done to acquire a Post Graduate Degree in Architecture and is dependent on the person and the need for the certificate. 

The next step to becoming an architect project manager would require him to be trained in the field of project management.  While the former has given him skills on how to carry out his architectural work, the latter will equip him with skills on how to organize and carry out projects related to his field of expertise; architecture.  

While learning about project management, he will be trained on how to initiate a project, how to carry out risk identification and management, how to plan a project based on assimilated details and how to execute it with the right technology, plans and architectural skills.  

More than supporting his  skill as an architect, as a project manager, he will learn how to work with certain concepts in mind, such as,

- man management

- cost management

- space management

- resource management

- third party or contractor management

- stakeholder management, etcetera

Great deal of care has to be taken in the phases of a project such as project control.  Architect skills may not always be applicable here, and hence as a trained project manager, he will have to know how to control a project should there be any form of scope creep or changes happening at any stage of the project.

Another aspect of being trained in the skill of project management, is that, as an architect, he will also be able to run a business and deal with management issues when starting a project.  He will he able to undertake projects head-on while knowing the basics of Cost estimations and Cost appraisals required to budget the project.  

All in all, there is just a simple procedure for becoming an architect project manager.  First get a degree in B.Arch.  Have a minimum work experience of three years including time with projects and then you will be eligible to participate in some of the major project management courses such as PMP (Project Management Professional) from PMI (Project Management Institute). 

By the time you have completed the course, you will be a certified project manager, ready to take on any form of architectural challenges with a management perspective. 

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