Q & A required to understand our services.
We work in [ $2500. ] design cycles. An iterative approach of Investigate, Plan, Document. This also becomes our invoicing format as payment Is made in these increments or fractions of.
Investigate
- We first study your ideas , goals and property in relation to legal limits such as building codes and zoning laws and also the nature of your site. A process that uncovers constraints but also targets potential—-a valuable process to identify a possible range of solutions.
- The results of this phase identifies a promising solution path capable of meeting your project goals.
Plan
- This is where we’ll develop the project and prove the project you’re creating “works” and is the right one for you and your budget.
- Projects even apparently simple ones present as many parts but when examined they also have many unknowns making it difficult to just see the solution. However, a design process can solve it - Design thinking is the architect’s power to integrate disparate and often conflicting requirements. You get access to this wholistic process that finds high function and efficiency and optimal solutions.
- The result here is not just a building permit but confidence that your project has been studied and expressed to it fullest potential - a kind of optimal ROI achieved for your time, budget, and long term RE investment.
Document - Build
- The documentation is first aimed at obtaining a building permit with construction details as required to identify the work required. This is where the project is described to a contractor and to the city. How clear and efficient it is drawn is essential to get a permit and create the most economical construction pricing.
- After a permit is secured, the process of construction can be managed and guided using these documents. They will be critical to review and prove project delivery methods, documenting the results of construction work and general oversight as required. To leave the contractor alone with their own methods leaves you exposed to decisions that may defeat your best intentions developed during the planning phase.
How we decide to work your project depends on you - the client, the context of the work, and your desired outcomes. If you think you know what you want and you have a tight budget and, it looks straightforward, often we can get a permit set with one cycle. A one cycle design program, is aimed to create services in a as compact a format as possible and use our long experience to identify the possible stumbling blocks, but there could be some risk in possibly not identifying your best project path.. We'll show your how the process is working and you can decide if you want more planning. The aim is to make planning costs predictable and affordable.
--- 1 cycle projects might look "easy" 2--- cycle projects have some complications; 3 ---cycle projects may just be bigger...etc..
Experience. judgement, coupled with our ability to design is power for you to realize an exciting new built reality catered precisely for you! We propose a planning solution - an architectural and legal solution but we also participate in an integrative effort to manage all building systems you need including even the construction system. We identify preferred systems and installations and influence all designers and constructors on your project because we see the whole building working as a total system. Everyone you hire in this process often has very myopic goals - to do their tasked portion of the work. No one else sees or cares as much for the entire project and the finished result as we do.
I often have clients who know what they want and say something, in effect, "just the blueprints please!" Initially, clients often believe they have the right solution already. The reality is they have a possible solution but usually can't see it from the comprehensive perspective of an architect. If you're going to spend a lot of money and time, why not make sure your effort is as productive as possible? Why not establish proof that the path you're on is the right one? If you readily pay a financial advisor to help you make wise decisions about your investments you should see this in a similar way. You risk way too much not spending enough effort on planning. Contractors can only build what's on the blueprints. Competence from the contractor is absolutely necessary but the project is only as good as you're planning process.
We really don't think about the project result as an end in itself. It really is working with a client who gets excited about their project no matter how mundane actually. Sometimes clients needs are simple but critical for them. Yes, we like sometimes to go for more modern projects -- richly textured spaces but we also work with where you are.... We want to get you to your promised land...if we can take you there we're pretty happy and happy for you. The process is the thing and we want you to understand and buy into our value proposition. We want to participate from beginning to end not in some maniacally obsessive way but at the points that make a critical difference in your project outcome. We know what parts we can zoom through and which parts we need to pay careful attention to. We have an in depth interview that really gets at the details of your project scope and interests. Our initial interview with you will aim to prove if we fit well with you and your project goals.
Contact Us
davidharmonarchitecture@gmail.com
Boston - Portland, ME