Design Architecture interview prep.

Behavioural questions to expect

1. Walk me through your portfolio — pick three or four projects and tell me about them.
2. Walk me through your CV.
3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.
4. Why architecture? / Why design architecture specifically?
5. Why this typology — the sector (civic / healthcare / residential / commercial / education / cultural)?
6. Why the firm?
7. What do you think makes the firm distinct from a top competitor?
8. What do you think day-to-day looks like for a designer / project architect at this studio?

Technical concepts to master

• BIM, drawing standards, and the architectural set

  Revit + ArchiCAD (authoring BIM) · Rhino + Grasshopper · Drawing set conventions · Drawing types + scales · Coordination + clash detection

• Building envelope + wall section literacy

  Water control layer (WRB) · Air control layer + airtightness · Vapour control layer + climate zone logic · Thermal control + insulation · Cladding + rainscreen principles

• Sustainability + performance vocabulary

  Operational carbon + EUI · Embodied carbon + LCA · Daylight + glare · Thermal comfort + ventilation · Passive design strategies

• Construction administration vocabulary

  RFI (Request for Information) · ASI (Architect's Supplemental Instruction) · Submittals + shop drawings · Change Order + Construction Change Directive · Pay application + certification

Practical drills

• Pick one project from your portfolio that you owned at SD / DD / CD or CA level. Walk through it as if you're in front of a principal at the firm: context, parti, design move, technical contribution, coordination, outcome, lesson. Bring the drawing or sketch you'd want to show.
• Walk me through a wall section from one of your projects. Tell me about the climate zone, the assembly, the control layers (water, air, vapour, thermal), and one critical junction (window head, parapet, slab edge). What would you change with hindsight?
• Your client wants {ambitious programme} on a tight urban site in jurisdiction. The zoning allows {X} floor area, height {Y}, and the building has to meet {accessibility / fire / energy} requirements. Walk me through how you'd approach the constraint analysis and what trade-offs you'd present to the client.

Smart-question anchors

• Project staffing rhythm — how a designer at this level moves between SD, DD, CD, and CA phases in a typical year
• Design critique cadence — how often pin-ups happen, who runs them, how design decisions get made (partner-led vs studio-led)
• Computational design + BIM workflow — Revit-first vs Rhino-led, in-house parametric group, model-as-source-of-truth discipline
• Sustainability + AIA 2030 trajectory — how the studio tracks EUI + embodied carbon project-by-project; signed commitments
• Licensure + career path — AXP / ARE / Part 3 mentorship, time allowance, study reimbursement, project-architect promotion track

Sourced from

Archinect + Death by Architecture + Bustler interview reports · AIA Contract Documents + AIA Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice · RIBA Plan of Work + RIBA Job Book · Building Science Corporation + 475 High Performance Building Supply technical resources · AIA 2030 Commitment + Carbon Leadership Forum + Architecture 2030