Services Overview
We work beside clients to assist and educate them to make the best design decisions for their current situation while considering their future aspirations and increasing their return on investment.
In working with our small firm, you will receive a boutique style architectural experience where we offer very high quality custom designs and flexible one on one service from the principal architect.
Examples of our services include:
Single family Residential, Planning & Space Planning, Sustainable Design, Historic Renovation, Interiors, Zoning Analysis for Site Potential, Zoning Board testimony, Planning Board testimony, among others.
consultation
A 45-minute pre-paid consultation will be held at your home or project location to discuss the nature of your project, including your needs, preferences, and goals. A copy of your current property survey must be emailed prior to the consultation, as it is essential for zoning review of any exterior additions or alterations and helps maximize our time together. In many cases, a property survey is required not only for additions or decks, but also for new structures such as sheds, pools, pergolas, patios, and similar improvements. Property surveys are often included with your mortgage documents from your home’s closing.
It is also helpful to have any photos, inspiration images, or ideas you have compiled available for review. With this information, we will be able to provide a written proposal via email within approximately one week, outlining the project scope, services provided, anticipated timeline, and the associated fees and payment schedule.
preliminary measuring
Once the proposal has been accepted and retainer paid, we will call or email to schedule a date and time to measure your existing home. The time it takes to document and measure varies depending on the scope of the project. At that time, we will need access to the entire project area, as well as the floors above and below. Sometimes this means getting in a crawl space or attic when available. It is important to gather the most information available for the existing home in order to provide an accurate set of construction documents for the proposed work. Once all the information has been gathered, it takes about 7-10 days to draft this information into the computer into an existing set of drawings.
design documents
Using the existing set of drawings and information from our initial consultation, we will draft up a design in the computer or by hand which shows the proposed addition and what it will look like in relation to the existing house. We will also take into account any local zoning limitations to avoid the potential of variances. Variance procedures are not included in the proposal fee. Depending on the size of the project, in most cases, we will have an initial design meeting to review this “SK1” which stands for “Schematic Design 1.” Most subsequent revisions will be sent via email and reviewed by phone, Zoom, or email depending on the complexity of the project and design. The proposed designs are 2 dimensional and computer drawn. Renderings and 3d images can be provided for a separate fee as we utilize an outside service for this.
