Architecture

Custom Architectural Design: Creating Homes Tailored to Your Lifestyle

Design Process

With many years of success designing and building custom homes, we have cultivated our architectural design process to be fun, engaging, and unique to each client’s needs.

Design

The Design starts with discovery: we listen, gather, and analyze information from our clients that will help formulate the program. We carefully assess information such as views, zoning restrictions, soil type, topography, vegetation, sun orientation, hydrology, and more. We study any images and ideas you have gathered from magazines, websites, or photographs. Whether building a new home on acres of land, on a city lot or an addition to your existing home, a proper understanding of this information is crucial to a successful design.

The next step is where the magic happens… a Design Meeting. While we listen to you describe your dream home, we sketch ideas that offer creative solutions to every need. We sketch conceptual “bubble diagrams” to develop room relationships, sizes, and views. We explore initial ideas together so that we can get your feedback and immediately incorporate your thoughts into the design. Our decades of experience have demonstrated that this interactive process eliminates weeks and sometimes months of design time, creating value for our clients. Very few architects are capable of this “design before you” process. Our collaborative and client-centered design process brings your dream home to life efficiently and with a personal touch.

Schematic Design

Bubble diagrams, loose sketches, and torn magazine pages transform into more defined plans and elevations. We examine the relationship between rooms and views, study the home’s position on the site and scrutinize a host of other considerations as we refine your custom home. Once thoroughly refined, we present you with drawings such as site and floor plans, exterior illustrations, and color renderings that help you visualize your project.

Design Development

Here we refine schematic designs even further as we focus on more specific details such as windows, staircases, fireplaces, and ceiling details. It is important to give individual attention to each of these elements and their relationship to the overall design. We also gather input from various experts in areas such as civil engineering, structural engineering, or landscaping. At the same time, we will guide you through the Architectural Selections process, considering the materials for your project such as cabinetry, flooring, countertops, and millwork.

When complete, we present precise architectural drawings which construct your project in a virtual 3D environment. This gives us an unmatched capability to help you visualize the design while ensuring accuracy during the bidding and construction phases. Ultimately, this gives you a unique level of comfort with the proposed design while saving you time and money. Often, our clients show their family and friends the animation of their new home design. You can see some examples here.

Construction Documents

At this point, our focus shifts from designing to implementation. This includes preparing the detailed drawings required for the permit, bidding, and construction phases. These drawings and specifications define all the project materials, where they are located, and how they are to be installed. You will continue to make material and finish selections like plumbing fixtures, appliances, lighting, tile, and carpet. Clients are welcome to go anywhere to make selections, and we also have some carefully selected vendors who are experts in their fields. They educate you on their products, ensuring you are making the appropriate decision while also getting great value.

Prior to issuing a final construction set of documents, we typically prepare a “Permit Set” of drawings and submit it to building officials. Since the permit review process can be arduous and lengthy, depending on the city, we begin as early as possible and provide only the information necessary to make certain your review period is as brief as possible. While the permit is being processed, we continue to prepare drawings and specifications for a final set of documents which we present for your final review and approval.

Each step of our process is designed to be creative, proactive, and thorough but fun. Our goal is a stress-free, engaging process that gives our clients the confidence that they will live in their dream homes.