Our Unique Approach
We pride ourselves on creating truly distinctive and unparalleled custom home designs that are a reflection of your unique vision and perfectly suited to your site. With meticulous attention to detail, we ensure that your dreams are not only feasible but also realized in an elegant and luxurious space.
Our approach is deeply rooted in tailoring each project to be site-specific and bespoke, harnessing the inherent beauty of the natural surroundings and environmental conditions of your property. Through a design-led architectural process, we seamlessly integrate your needs with sustainable building practices, maximizing the full potential of your project.
With a wealth of experience in designing and building custom homes, we have honed our services and design process to expertly address the challenges and complexities of creating unique, site-sensitive, and modern residences. From design stewardship to budget management, project coordination, and land preservation, we cover every aspect of your project as a full-service architectural firm.
Throughout the entire journey, from concept to completion, we are fully engaged, guiding you through every phase. Our aim is to make the process enjoyable and stress-free, allowing you to sit back, relax, and relish the experience of creating your perfect home.
Our Process
1. Discover + Define
In our Pre-Design Phase, we learn about you, your programmatic requirements, and what would make the project special to you. We gather information and investigate the site, discovering what makes it unique. We define the project requirements including goals, budget, design expectations, and program requirements. We create a project brief that speaks to you and gets to the essence of the project, guiding us in all future decisions.
2. Conceptualize
In our Schematic Design phase, we work together to conceptualize the vision, focusing on the big-picture design moves. We study the house siting, massing, scale, entry approach, the location and relationship between different functional areas, how the new home affects the existing site, and passive sustainable design strategies. What emerges is the overall design concept of the home. Typically, this involves studying 2-3 different design schemes together and narrowing down the options to one preferred scheme, which gets refined into the final design concept.
3. Design
In the Design Development Phase, we focus on defining the home’s major components. This includes the various wall, roof, and floor assemblies for the building envelope including insulation strategies, as is the structural system and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing strategies. During this phase, we also make materiality decisions as we define the look and feel of the home.
4. Document
In the Construction Documents Phase, we focus on the details and specifications. This is where we create highly detailed construction drawings and coordinate with other team members, vendors, suppliers, and contractors on the constructability of various custom details.
At the culmination of this phase, we have a comprehensive set of Construction Documents and a Permit Set to submit to the building department.
5. Deliver
During the Construction Phase, we provide construction administration services that consist of regular site visits to ensure that the design intent of the drawings is being upheld. In addition, we review shop drawings, cut sheets, and substitution requests, and are available to troubleshoot issues that arise during the construction process.
Timelines
Timeframes vary depending on the level of service provided, the complexity of the approvals process, and the coordination effort necessary for our engineers and consultants to complete their work. Typical timelines for custom new homes can range from 4-8 months.
Specialties
Hillside / Mountain Homes
Hillside and mountain homes provide fantastic opportunities for unique designs with panoramic views but also come with increased code restrictions and design complexity. For all mountain and hillside projects, our design process focuses on optimizing views and connecting open living spaces with the beautiful scenery outside. For new construction homes, our design process also focuses on building siting and access, minimizing lot disturbance, and designing with the natural topography, while our process for renovations and additions focuses on making the most of the existing house while creating modern living spaces that connect you with the beautiful environment.
Lake House
There is nothing quite like a day on the water. There are so many fun activities to do such as boating, kayaking, stand up paddleboarding, water skiing, wakeboarding, and tubing as well as quieter moments like fishing or sharing a few drinks and a meal with friends and family. We believe that the design of a lake house should encourage and facilitate both your active and relaxing lifestyle on the water. Our lake house design process focuses on seamlessly integrating all the functional components that go with living on the water with your everyday life, limiting the challenges and making the most of the surroundings, creating a home that blurs the lines of indoor and outdoor living with the goal of elevating every second you spend at the lake.
Remote Cabin Home
Much of the beauty of nature is found in the remote and rural areas, lending themselves to ideal escapes from the hustle and bustle of the urban lifestyle. We believe that cabins don’t need to be huge, but should live large by connecting us to nature while still providing us the shelter we desire and a cozy environment to spend time with loved ones. Designing and building an off-the-grid cabin has become easier and more obtainable in recent years with the increased efficiency and lower cost of active solar water heating, photo-voltaic panels, and energy generation. That coupled with increased water efficiency, rain-water harvesting, and smart, passive solar design, and your dream cabin is not far away.
Suburban / Urban Infill
An infill home is a home designed on a vacant lot where existing infrastructure and utilities are already in place, typically within an established urban or suburban neighborhood. Our design process for infill lots includes heavy research of the neighborhood to ensure your home respects its surroundings and positively contributes to the character of the community. We focus on elevating your living experience in an urban environment by incorporating inspiring indoor-outdoor living to make the most of your entire lot, modern open floor plans that are ideal for family living and entertaining, and places to retreat to for privacy and relaxation.
