How Architects Specify Art For New Builds

Specifying art for a build still under construction means working entirely from plans and renders — no room to stand in, no light to check, no furniture to measure against. That constraint changes what can responsibly be decided early versus what has to wait.

What can be locked in from plans alone

Wall dimensions, ceiling height and the general light direction (north-facing versus south, and where windows fall) can all be taken from the drawings with confidence, and are usually enough to commission a piece to the right scale well ahead of handover — useful when a four-to-eight-week studio lead time needs to land before practical completion.

What has to wait for the finished room

Final palette confirmation is riskier from swatches and renders alone; paint, stone and timber finishes read differently under a screen's colour profile than under the room's actual light. Where possible, confirm the final palette direction against physical samples on site, even if the commission itself starts earlier.

Making the case to a client

High-resolution imagery and to-scale in-situ mockups do more to secure a client's confidence than a swatch or a verbal description — see the [In Situ](/mockups) gallery for examples of how a piece reads against real furniture and light before it's committed to. Trade pricing and reserved lead times are available for architects and designers working to a build schedule; details are on the [Interior Designers](/trade/interior-designers) trade page, and [Abstract Seascapes](/collections/abstract-seascapes) is a useful starting reference for scale.