ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN SERVICES

Our goal is to create innovative and inspiring spaces that empower and educate their inhabitants on living environmentally responsible and toxin-free lifestyles. That’s why our team is here to offer our deep expertise as well as our commitment to buildings that uplift both everyday life and the environment. We’ll equip you with a roadmap, then guide you in operating the systems that make up your place.

We can help you design and permit a project from scratch or retrofit an existing building. We can be there for general consulting to coach you through the design and permitting processes. Our experience and expertise includes all types of projects from commercial retail and cultural spaces.

We strive to accentuate and elevate the unique style of your space while keeping your health and resilience at the forefront. We will do all this while considering the embodied energy and the toxicity of materials we choose.

WHY THIS SERVICE: 

We will work with you through a collaborative process that will explore multiple ideas and unlock the property’s full potential. The process will address both beauty and functionality, finding the perfect balance of what you are dreaming of and what will work with your budget. As you begin to plan your new build or remodel, you’ll find yourself faced with questions and choices at every step. We’re here to explore possibilities, offer direction, and keep us all aligned toward your vision.

Architectural Design

You have or intend to hire a local architect and are looking for in-house interior design expertise. 

WHAT’S INCLUDED: 

Visioning

Our first step: develop a shared vision for your project. In this initial phase, you’ll meet the project team who will ask you lots of questions about how you’ll use your space, pay attention to your aesthetic preferences, and help you hone your sustainability goals. We will start documenting existing conditions and gathering critical measurements.

Schematic Design

If you enjoy the creative process, this might be your favorite phase. Over a series of 3-4 meetings, we’ll share ideas, sketch out possible solutions, and develop an initial design. We will start with floor plans and eventually end with a 3D model as detail is added.

Sustainability & Health

We analyze every way the building might contribute to your carbon footprint. This covers both embodied carbon (carbon emitted in constructions) and operational carbon (emissions occurring throughout the use of the building). We check for chemicals that are harmful to human health.  We model the impact of your build throughout the process and show how it changes when using low-carbon, nontoxic methodologies compared to standard approaches. For every phase of the build, we will provide you with straightforward recommendations on materials, design choices, and build practices.

Design Development

With a clear design direction, we can now get into adding a bit more architectural and structural detail. We can then weigh the cost implications of our design decisions. We will bring in a contractor who aligns with the project goals we originally set. We believe it’s important to have all three key parties (architect, contractor, and owner) moving forward as a design-build team. Together we will evaluate cost options and determine the scope of the following phases. 

Interior Design

If you’ve chosen to make Interior Design part of our engagement, we’ll begin to envision the inside of your future space during the Design Development phase. One way we recommend you prepare: gather imagery that inspires you, or that you find reflects your aesthetic preferences. Don’t hold back here – have fun exploring different directions!

Our Interior Designer will lead you through a collaborative process that will establish, refine, and finalize a vision for your space. The final results will provide specifications for all the finishes in the home. This will happen while our architecture team is hard at work on the details of your construction documents .

Construction Documents

A full set of construction documents can include hundreds of pages. This is where we coordinate all the pieces (structural, mechanical, civil, etc). We nail down as many details as possible, so the contractor knows exactly how to build your project. We will coordinate specific details with the contractor to maintain alignment. The good news is, we will be handling all of this. Your attention will turn toward the inside of your future space as you refine a vision for that with our Interior Designer.

Permitting

The permitting process can take some time. Know that we’ll do everything we can to move it along and we’ll keep you updated on the process. While the jurisdiction is doing their thing, we will work together with the contractor to finalize construction investment cost.

Construction

The build phase is exciting – and also full of tough decisions. We’re here to help you navigate through them. We will conduct regular site visits and as issues or questions come up, we can offer guidance and keep the project on course toward your vision. We will support the contractor and act as an advocate for you and the design throughout the process.

Completion

When your project is built, we’ll be there to debrief and celebrate! We’ll review the process with the design team and connect about the impact of sustainability measures. As you move in, we’ll have a lot of information to share on how you can keep your carbon footprint low – and your enjoyment of your new space high!