Our first meeting is complimentary and is an introduction to the new relationship. We call it the "Shake 'n Howdy." This is a no-obligation visit where we sit down and get to know one another. The discussion is primarily focused on discovering what your goals, needs, wants and desires are for an experience that you will consider successful. Even though we may not get into specific design scenarios, this is a critical meeting to set a good tone and open communication throughout the project. You will not be asked to sign a contract or disclose any personal information you wish to remain confidential during this meeting. We, on the other hand, will be happy to answer any questions you may have related to your project or our company. One of our most important core values is integrity and being transparent with our process is a great way to hold ourselves accountable to these values. We look forward to spending this time with you.
The most important consideration at this time is to determine your needs along with a realistic budget. We will establish a baseline square foot for conditioned and non-conditioned spaces. We will hold firm to the established square footages and encourage reducing waste or oversized spaces to maximize flow, openness, and connectivity. There is a direct relationship to cost and square foot between conditioned and non-conditioned spaces.
The Design Phase generally consists of the following stages:
PreConstruction Service Agreement: We use this agreement to determine your project feasibility and project value.
These services may include design assistance, cost estimating, scheduling, material selections, value engineering,
constructibility, construction details, and specifications. We do not provide free estimates. They are a waste of time
and energy for all parties as they bear little to no actual costs associated with your specific needs. Further, we do not provide canned dollars-per-square-foot quotes. These, too, are a terrible way to start this challenging process. We will gladly explain, in greater detail, the fallacy of multi-bidding all trades, the change order game in bidding, free estimates, and dollars-per-square-foot c
Site Analysis: We will help identify the complex elements of varying topography, views, weather patterns, solar characteristics and vegetation in determining the appropriate placement, orientation, configuration and materiality of your unique home. These features are tied directly to your home’s form and function. The site analysis may consist of a site visit, metes and bounds survey, topographic survey, satellite imagery, climatic data, and your personal experience with the land.
Programming: Developing a wish list and how these spaces work together encapsulates our understanding of your needs. Once committed to the written word, we can better understand the inner relationships between the form and function in how your home will flow. We start with the Design Program and work our way through each element of your home and how best to make the puzzle pieces fit together that compliments your expectations in the design. This is a combination between notes and sketches. We encourage you to join in. Circles and Squares. Don’t worry about scale or coloring outside the lines. We’ve seen everything from a multi-page excel workbook with priority ratings to a Big Chief notepad and a red crayon. It all makes sense to us.
Floor Plan: As we begin to understand your needs and wants coupled with site characteristics and our established program, we’ll begin laying out your home two-dimensionally. Generating the floor plan is an unfolding process. Each space that begins to take shape will be pushed, pulled and nudged to unlock the style and character of your home. We’ll progress from circles and squares to a hardline representation on the computer. Sketchy lines give way to wall thicknesses which inform the delineation between the exterior and interior that further defines the rooflines, massings and adjacencies.
Massing Model: Moving forward from the approved floor plan, the Massing Model is an exterior form study of your home. These massing studies consider your home’s “style” in rooflines, wall heights, window and door openings, and material juxtapositions. The form is directly related to the 2D floor plan. This dance between the 2D and 3D is the art and joy of architecture that we thrive upon.
Complete Model: Once we’ve generated the Massing Model and 2D Floor Plan in place, and with your full blessing, we’ll lock the design down and go into production mode. At this stage, we’ll rebuild the model from the inside out in preparation of developing construction documents. Primary fixtures, appliances, lighting elements, cabinetry, ceiling treatments, and all necessary details will be shown in this model. We’ll review the model with you and make necessary minor tweaks.
Construction Documents: Construction Documents are the paper representation of the Complete Model for bidding, permitting and construction. Informally, they are referred to as blue prints…even though they are no longer blue. Our construction documents are thorough and exacting in detail. There is no guesswork on how your home will be constructed.
Pricing Analysis: This represents the final step prior to permitting and construction. We will bid your home to a host of subcontractors to verify we are building your home for the best possible price. While we would like to maintain a consistency in preferred subcontractors, the nature of the building industry, timing, work load, and submitted prices may shuffle the deck in which subcontractor is ultimately selected for the intended trade. We will thoroughly vet these subcontractors and demand excellence from them on your behalf. You will see all proposals and understand our selection criteria for each one.
Construction Contract: Once bids, selections, and allowances have been agreed upon, we will enter into the construction contract, aid in finalizing your loan package, and commence construction.
Design
