Building or renovating a home usually represents one of the biggest investments that people will make in their lives. We want to make sure that the process runs smoothly, is engaging and enjoyable. We take a collaborative approach from the beginning of your project to the end. Before we go further, we will explain the services you can expect to receive from us.
Whether you are looking to renovate your existing home, build a new home, a summer/vacation home or an addition, we can help. We provide design services and assist in acquiring any permits and approvals that may be required. We also help you to find and secure a contractor to build your project, and monitor the construction process to make sure that your visions are transformed into a finished project.
“An Architect can bring value to your project by providing expertise, vision, guidance and leadership in the design and construction of your project.”
Step One
The process begins when you get in touch with us to discuss your project. We will meet with you to discuss the overall big picture for your project and how we can become collaborators with you to realize your vision. If you decide to collaborate with us, we then go in to a more detailed information gathering process.
This includes visiting your site or walking your land with you to understand the existing conditions, features, opportunities, and constraints. We also gather detailed information about your design objectives such as lifestyle preferences, aesthetics and space requirements. At this point we also work with you to ensure that a proper budget has been established to accomplish the project’s objectives.
Step Two
Armed with the information gathered from Step One, we jump right into your project and start putting together several design options of what your project will look like. We provide preliminary drawings and sketches to help you visualize your project with the aim of narrowing the field to one preferred design concept. Often the preferred option will borrow features from other concepts to be a hybrid solution.
With your one selected option from this process, we continue to refine the design until it is settled. To help you further visualize your project we provide architectural drawings, renderings and physical models (if desired) for your review. At the end of this step, if any building permits are required, we start the application process. At this point, we will have enough information on the drawings to do a preliminary cost estimate for the construction of the project.
Step Three
We incorporate any final design changes and proceed with production of construction drawings that will be used to build your project. This is the stage where we provide as much detail as required through drawings so that all your hard work and vision up to this point is not lost in translation.
When the construction drawings are completed, we provide them to your selected contractor to start building. If you do not have a contractor, we can assist in finding and selecting a reputable contractor to build your project.
Step Four
Throughout the construction of your project, we interpret the drawings as necessary to the contractor making sure that what was put down on paper is translated properly into your built project.
We will periodically visit the project site to review the progress of the work during the entire length of construction. This is the final step where your visions are transformed into your finished project!
“From our experiences with working with Kelvin we are extremely impressed with his professionalism and knowledge. We look forward to many future projects with Collective Architecture + Design”
– Coastal Cedar Homes Limited –