Many people think of design as a product, when it’s actually a process.  It takes thought, research, and time to create the right place for you, your budget, and your site.  This process is done in phases, giving many opportunities to discuss and adjust the project’s direction from the big picture at the beginning through the small details at the end.

For most projects, the phases below cover our basic services. The first two phases are done on an hourly basis and help set the stage and associated fees for the remainder of our services. For planning purposes, our total fee usually runs from 5 to 10 percent of your project budget. Programming and Preliminary Design time uses about 20 percent of that total fee, or 1 to 2 percent of the project budget.

We also offer Consultation services. If you have a small project, or would just like us to serve as consultants at any point of the design, we are happy to do that on an hourly basis as well – whatever it takes to meet your needs.

Our services always start with a free one-hour meeting at a time convenient for you.  Please contact us for more information if you would like to explore how our team can help you realize your dream.

Initial meeting

The first hour of consultation is free, and can be held at our place or yours. This is where we find out the basics of what is important to you – the project you are considering, what your special needs are, what styles appeal to you, and what your budget is. We discuss different levels of architectural service, and determine whether the chemistry is right. After all, we will be working closely over some time, as we translate what you tell us into form and function.

To get started, you may download our initial questionnaire to bring with you to the meeting, or send it to us before we meet.  Click here to access these questionnaires if you are ready to start now!

After that, we start with a simple Consultation Services Agreement to establish a program and budget, explore some options, and determine how to serve you in the best way possible.

Design Program

The Design Program is a research and discovery phase, where we get down to the hard questions and answers. For Custom Homes and Remodel projects, we provide you a series of questionnaires to help you think about how you want to live, which guide us when we design your new space. For Business and Community projects, a Master Planning process is a better programming tool. This includes a Charette with your team of stakeholders, followed with a written outline that is used to help direct each phase of the project.

We conduct pre-design research during this phase, so need legal information pertaining to the site, such as surveys and easements, ready for us to use. Photographs from books or magazines can be very helpful in conveying your individual tastes to us, so we take time to go over them with you. We visit the site to get familiar with its gifts and surroundings, and develop a few thumbnail sketches to get the spatial relationships determined. These discussions help us decide what options you would like to include to best fit your needs.

We have found a team approach early in the process makes for a better project. If you have a building contractor selected, we like to bring them in to the conversation at this early stage. If needed, we can suggest contractors and sub-consultants to fill out the team.

Preliminary Design

The Preliminary Design is the first phase of the drawing-producing services. This includes a basic layout of the floor plans, the building(s) located on a site plan, outlines of the most prominent exterior elevations, and sometimes a simple cardboard model of the structure. These are presented for your review and possible refinements are discussed. This is the easiest time to make changes, so you may want to take some additional time with the drawings. If there are major revisions, a second preliminary design is done before completion of this phase.

Architectural fees can now be estimated and a not-to-exceed amount determined for the remainder of the project. Fees are based on the complexity of the site, the code enforcement jurisdiction, and the level of service we all agree is best. A Construction Documents and Services Contract is prepared for you to sign, and we are set to continue!

Design Development

The Design Development phase continues the refinement process. The floor plans, elevations, and sections, as needed to set the design parameters, are now developed in a more precise format. The drawings are presented to you in a review meeting, where minor changes are explored. If you have opted to include cabinetry and interior finishes in our services, outlining your needs for these details is also integrated into this phase.

Construction Documents

Blueprints, Permits, Action! We take care in preparing accurate plans to build from, so there are no surprises in the field.  35% to 50% of our time is spent in this phase. There are several levels of Construction Documentation, and we are happy to customize our services for individual project needs.

Our basic service level provides you with permit-ready documents when complete. However, permit documents do not address the finish details which pull a project together, or specify healthy or sustainable products. Some of our custom home clients also want to build their own place, which requires a higher level of documentation than for drawings used by a seasoned contractor. So, we offer a variety of expanded services to create a custom fit. We discuss what services best suit your needs, and their estimated fees, during the design program phase.

Construction Administration

As with our Construction Documents services, this phase has different levels available. A pre-construction meeting with the entire team is required before anyone onsite sets a form or swings a hammer. We always remain available to answer questions from code officials and contractors throughout the project, with a combination of phone and site consultations. Regular onsite meetings are often added to ensure everything is going as planned. We really enjoy coordinating with clients and other consultants such as interior designers and landscape professionals during construction to help with finish details and alternate selections. And we offer a final walk-through service to ensure no detail is missed.

Workshops

What better way for people to feel a connection to their home than to participate in the building process. Each year we look for workshop opportunities on home sites where homeowners and workshop participants can learn the theory and practice of alternative construction methods. A wide range of topics is covered both in the orientation sessions and during the hands-on demonstration and construction. These workshops are suitable for homeowners, contractors, and anyone who has an interest in exploring the craft of home construction utilizing alternative materials and methods.

Similar to an old-fashioned barn raising, workshops are a way to bring like-minded people together to accomplish a lot of work in the space of a few days. In the process, people develop skills and connections that extend beyond the workshop. We work with homeowners to coordinate all aspects of the workshops.  Please contact us if you would like us to consider a workshop on your site.