Planning
PROJECT PLANNING
a fantastic home starts with a great plan
Envisioning your dream home is exciting, but rushing into the design could be the single biggest mistake you can make. Successful design of your home requires thoughtful preparation - your architect must understand what you and your family need and want, how you live, and what your future plans are. In addition, a feasible design accounts for the specifics of the property, relevant regulations, constructability, your budget, etc.
Just as you’d never expect a doctor to prescribe treatment without a diagnosis, or a builder to build your home without plans, rushing into design and “figuring it out as you go” is a very risky approach. It can lead to undo stress, cost overruns, unnecessary delays, and, worst of all, a home that disappoints. If you want a smooth, predictable, and rewarding experience developing your home, a thoroughly informed design is a necessity.
Careful planning before design helps you proceed with confidence and clarity. It can also save time and money, maximize value, reduce risk, minimize frustration and stress, and ensure that your home is personalized for you and your family. We approach our projects with in-depth research, attention to detail, technical expertise, a love of design, and creativity to optimize your home. This is coupled with a dialog with you that continues throughout the entire project. Our time-tested and systematic method serves the creative process and supports a successful outcome.
Proper Planning Enhances:
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The development of your home can be heavily impacted by unpredicted changes to the design. The later in the process a design change is made, the more time-consuming and costly it is likely to be. While it’s important to maintain flexibility for the unexpected, an informed and detailed plan enables a design that requires little subsequent alteration.
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Nothing is disappointing like a design you love that costs too much to build. Skilled and experienced cost feedback from the inception of your project is vital to creating a design that both realizes your dreams and meets your budget. The specific costs of your project are developed over time, as details are added, but expert guidance from the beginning can help maximize possibilities and inform expectations.
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Expert review of the regulations relevant to your project not only minimizes any design changes required for approval, it may also identify opportunities that might not otherwise be realized, allowing you to maximize the value of your project and your property.
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Going beyond a custom design, a personalized design accounts for your sensibilities, your needs, and your desires for your home. Personalization is only possible through dialog - learning who you and your family are, what you want, how you live, and what your long-term plans are, and by continuing the discussion throughout the project. Communication is key!
PLANNING SERVICES
a solid foundation in four steps
Experience has taught us the value of early, focused planning and it’s the first step in the process for all our clients. We begin by analyzing the relevant regulations, clarifying your needs & goals, establishing an initial budget, identifying promising options, and getting to know each other.
Rather than the typical approach of rushing you into design with a full architectural services agreement up front, we offer tiers of planning services for a flat fee with no additional commitment required.
Our Project Planning Service is a low commitment source of unbiased analysis and expert insight for your project. It helps reduce the anxiety of selecting an architect and determining your project’s optimal scope and budget. We’ll help you maximize the value of your project, establish a comfortable budget, make the most of the possibilities for your property, and proceed with clarity and confidence that your project strategy is well-conceived, feasible, optimized for you and your family, and destined for success.
This process also gives us the opportunity to work together on an initial, modest goal and see if we’re a good fit for each other. If so, we can move on to the next steps - design, permitting and construction. Regardless of who you end up working with, you’ll be equipped with a detailed Project Summary to use with any architect, and well-served by our time-tested and proven approach.
Our Project Planning Service has four components:
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We research, analyze, evaluate, and summarize the regulations relevant to your property and your project in a report that illustrates what’s likely to be approved and what opportunities we’ve identified. It helps in evaluating options and identifying thresholds that may trigger additional scrutiny, delays, and/or expense. It’s also available separately to property buyers weighing their options, and to sellers seeking to demonstrate the full potential of their property. There’s more information here.
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Detailed questionnaires capture the needs and wishes of each member of your family (kids too!) regarding your new home and the life you wish to lead in it. We summarize and clarify this information to serve as the basis of design for a home that includes and empowers everyone who will live there.
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Planning a new home or a major remodel can be daunting. There are numerous intertwined considerations that can make big-picture decisions difficult, if not overwhelming. Our “Budget Builder” helps determine not only what you can expect to spend, but what the value of your project is likely to be. It allows you to evaluate your ideas in a systematic and objective manner, and to compare the options to find a solution that both suits your circumstances and provides the best value.
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After we’ve collected and documented your information, we’ll meet with you (on site when possible) for an informed discussion of the options and possibilities. At the completion of the planning phase, you’ll receive a detailed Project Summary that can serve as a basis of the design for your home. If it feels like we’re a good fit for each other, we’ll prepare a proposal for the next steps – designing your home and preparing for construction.