We had a similar problem when looking for an architect to work with on our plans for our new house. We had been working with a guy for site plans and pre-planning stuff for quite a while - but were not getting any vibes from him that would entice us to engage with him on the design phase (lovely guy though!!). I also spoke to a couple of others over the phone and all seemed to be willing - but really gave me the impression that we needed to tell them exactly what we wanted and they'd 'draw' it - iykwim. Like you, we were vague and needed enlightening and suggestions from professionals. We eventually contacted an architect who i knew from years ago and whose work we could see in the locality - a couple of interesting houses that seemed to tick the boxes. As it turned out, she couldn't take on the full project - but she met with us for a couple of hours a couple of times, asked loads of questions and let us rabbit on and took loads of notes and 3 weeks later came back with a couple of designs which blew us away!! We decided on final design after some tweaking and handed this over to our architect to draw. Some things needed slight alterations in the actual plans but we've just moved into the house that she drew on paper over 2 years ago and we're delighted with it!! So my advice - personal recommendation and failing that, look around for similar properties and you'll know when you talk to the architect if you're on the same page which is the most important thing!! Also - try to give an indication of budget so you don't fall in love with a design that is going to cost an arm and a leg!! Good luck!!