Design Process

Close-up of a computer monitor displaying architectural blueprint or technical drawing in an office setting.

Designing a home is a complex process that involves thousands of decisions. A great home is a melting pot of the client’s needs and wants, the constraints of the site, the structural system, the mechanical systems, the materials available regionally, the budget, the contractor and subcontractors skill-set, and many other small decisions, inspirations, and challenges along the way. A good designer can synthesize and distill all of this information and guide client’s through the process well. A great designer does that while limiting bumps in the road, anticipating and overcoming future obstacles.

Our process is a time-tested way of bringing all of the constraints of a home together in a way that yields a near-perfect final product. We guide you from the high-level, bird’s eye view of your site and your region to the very details that hold your house up and withstand the test of time.

The ‘phases’ of the design process are Pre-Design, Schematic Design, Design Development, and Construction Documentation. Some clients opt to also have their designer on-site during critical moments of construction, a process known as Construction Administration.

Pre-Design (10% of total project)

  • New Client Survey

  • Budget Analysis

  • Client Program

  • Site Anaylsis

  • Code Analysis

  • Zoning Analysis

  • HOA Analysis

  • Owner Meeting

A diagram of the sun's position during different seasons and weather conditions at a specific location. It shows summer and winter sunrise and sunset times, equinox sunrise and sunset, with arrows indicating wind directions, and annotations for summer breeze and winter winds.

Schematic Design (25% of total project)

  • Schematic Floor Plan

  • Schematic Elevation

  • Sketches

Floor plan of a house with labeled rooms, including bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen, living room, nursery, and entry foyer, with a central courtyard and front porch.

Design Development (25% of total project)

  • 3D model of building and site

  • Photorealistic Rendering

  • Virtual Reality

A multi-level 3D architectural illustration of a house showing exterior and interior layouts, including a detailed floor plan with rooms and furnishings, and a roof plan with structural elements.
Architectural blueprint of a modern residential building elevation views, showing front, back, left, and right sides with detailed notes and measurements.

Construction Documentation & Permitting (40% of total project)

  • Issue for Construction Drawing Set for Contractor and for the building permitting department:

    • Site Plan

    • Floor Plan

    • Roof Plan

    • Exterior Elevations

    • Building Sections

    • Building Wall Sections / Details

    • Interior Elevations

    • Electrical Plan

    • Foundation Layout

    • Landscape Plan

  • Pre-Construction Meeting with Contractor

Construction workers build a wooden frame of a house outdoors during daytime.

Construction Observation (additional service, not included in % of total project)

Site observation at critical points in construction, including:

  • Pre-Pour - prior to the foundation pour - measure pre-pour drops (ex. for the large slider) and drain locations (ex. for shower drains and toilet drains).  

  • Framing and Pre-Mechanical - prior to mechanical (after hvac and mechanical systems go in, it becomes very costly to make framing changes).

  • Post-Insulation - Thermal Testing and insurance of a tight building envelope before moving forward.

  • Cabinets - prior to cabinet construction - review and approval of cabinet shop drawings and mockup on-site.

  • Pre-Landscape Install

VIEW OUR TESTIMONIALS:

TESTIMONIALS
TESTIMONIALS

“Nature is an increasingly influential part of building design—we are being guided by trees, rather than overwhelming them. New architecture is finding innovative methods to incorporate natural landscapes into, onto, and around buildings.”

— Mark Kushner, Architect

Children playing in the water near a river or lake, with a rocky shoreline and green trees in the background under a partly cloudy sky.