Process

1. Getting to know you

This happens throughout the entire process, but is critical as the first step. You know how you want to live in and what you expect from your new home. It is my job to listen to you and ask the right questions. Sometimes a written survey provides the answers, sometimes it is a tour of your existing home or reviewing collected clippings and pictures. Usually a site has been selected and visiting the site is a good way to discuss needs for light, views, and relationships of the home to the landscape. I take all of this information and process it into a number of sketches that represents my best guess at what you are looking for.

2. Schematic Phase

By getting feedback on the various schemes presented I get a better idea of what you want and we are a able to refine the schemes. This phase can go very quickly or can take months—it all depends on your personal style, time frame and the number of parameters involved—but never on budget. I work on a fixed fee—I want you to get the house you want without worrying about mounting design costs. It is still easy to change things at this point.

3. Design Development

Once a specific scheme has been approved, its time to fill in the details, do the engineering and focus our attention. If we have done our job correctly in the schematic phase this proceeds very quickly.

4. Construction Documents

This is where I get locked in a room, pumped full of coffee and crank out the specific documents required for your building permit. If appropriate I can submit your permit for you.

Sometimes the process isn’t as linear as it appears. (see the Maxwell residence) The length of time between acceptance of my proposal and a set of documents suitable for permit varies from about three months to three years. The speed of the process in guided by the client. We can set a target date at the beginning of any project to ensure a timely progression.