Initial consultation incorporating project feasibility, desired styles, wish lists, rough conceptual floor plans and elevations, and how to get it all onto paper.
Comprehensive Custom Designs
Custom Home Design
Each new home is a puzzle with its own challenges. A great design blends aesthetics with functionality and finds the proper balance between the two. This ensures the client has a home that works for their lifestyle and one you love to look at, every time you arrive back home. We work together throughout the design process to achieve this harmonization
The design process starts with initial research of the project including both regulatory parameters and the client’s desires to create a rough concept. It then moves on to a full set of preliminary drawings before the design development phase takes off. When the client is ready, the plans are finalized into construction documents.
Why choose us for the design of your custom home? Because we genuinely want to create a design experience like no other. It’s more than just design. It’s the creation of your home. Your home is not just a structure, but your life. We understand this philosophy. Our goal is to create a design experience you can engage with, control, and ultimately produce the design you love
the design process
the design process
Initial consultation incorporating project feasibility, desired styles, wish lists, rough conceptual floor plans and elevations, and how to get it all onto paper. A full set of to-scale drawings with 3Ds, elevations, detailed floor plans and how it all sits on the property.
Continued refinements to the clients preference. Consultation in regards to zoning, building code, and design the whole way through. Full working construction drawings of the house with all necessary technical details required for engineering, building permits and construction.
Other Related Services
Other Custom Design Projects
Garden Suites have become very popular over the last few years. They are free-standing structures on your property, intended for occupancy. They have their own specific regulations and items the designer must take into account. The design process is in-depth. It becomes a whole site development which is why the municipality requires a development permit.
These are structures that sit on your property and are accessory to the main dwelling. They are not intended for occupancy. Buildings such as detached garages, greenhouses, storage sheds, workshops, etc. are all considered Accessory Buildings.
Carriages Houses are a mixture between accessory buildings and garden suites. They are not allowed in more denser municipalities. The bottom level consists of a garage, which is accessory to the main dwelling. The top level is a detached secondary suite, intended for occupancy.
Although they are not allowed to be the main dwelling of a property, people are still opting into building Tiny Homes. Creating a functional design in such a small space is where a great design comes into play. These designs can include framing plans for the casual handyman looking to build on the weekends.
Duplexes are two family residences in a single structure. Each of these residences can have a secondary suite, meaning the structure can have four dwelling units. Duplexes are going to become a lot more popular because of the provincial government allowing up to four dwellings on Single-Family Dwelling zones.
Townhouses are structures that have multiple families living in them. Typically, they are designed in a ‘row home’ fashion; they clearly look like individual residences but are attached to each other. Typically, townhouses are more on the development services side of things. To learn more about our development services, click here.
Extra Services
Understanding every aspect and nuance of the design before completion by using 3D visualization is becoming more common. Things like animated fly arounds, rendered fly throughs and photorealistic rendering are just some of the enhanced design systems we can make possible.
Designing and specifying interior elements is as important as the design of the house itself. For example, millwork design, like the kitchen, is an item where a coordinated plan has a significant impact on the finished home. Other items like finishes, lighting, hardware such as door or cabinet handles and product specifications are all things that will need to be determined eventually. It’s best to have a solid plan at the beginning. To learn more about our interior design services, click here.
An exterior space refers to the areas around the finished home, particular the backyard. Every great backyard has started with a plan. Things like retaining wall locations, wood patios, gazebos, outbuilding locations, BBQ area, hot tubs, pools, and gardens are all individual items, but planning them together is what truly makes an amazing exterior space.
The Step Code approaches. What that means is a subject too long for this little information box. In short, it’s creating more energy efficient houses though limiting air leakage, increasing insulation values and upgrading mechanical systems and appliances. All together, it creates a more environmentally friendly structure. Building an energy efficient house starts at the design stage, and we’re able to help you with that goal through official education of the subject and exceptional design.
The plans are done, but they still need to go through the permitting process. The building permit application requires a package of information, and the plans are one item of that package. If dealing with the city is not something you’d like to do, we provide a service to do it for you. In this way, you simply wait until you get an e-mail stating it’s time to pick up the permit. Then building can commence.
We are able to represent you to the city for the purpose of board of variance applications. A variance is when a relaxation to an existing bylaw is asked. This goes through a process, inevitably leading to a board of people discussing the topic and passing a judgement. It’s not an easy task, and there must be valid reasons for such a thing. Not only can we represent you, but we know what the board looks for, and what would be rejected.
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Our Services
Still have questions?
Read Our F.A.Q. or give us a call and we can answer any question you have.
The purpose of house plans is to properly convey every aspect of the project to the necessary parties for the purpose of building permit applicaton approval and ultimately, construction. The house plans give the resources needed to all the other professionals that will work on your project.
Building designers are the professionals that design houses and small buildings. Most single-family dwellings are designed by a building designer. There are limits to what a building designer can design that determines if an architect is needed.
Zoning regulations are bylaws from the city that add parameters on the project. They determine things like where you can build and how much space you can take up on the property, how high you can build, and other specifics. Zoning regulations are things that the building designer ensures your project conforms to during the design process.
Yes, floor plans are fun to make and there’s tons of different resources to help you. It’s important to keep in mind that laying out the floors does not mean the design is nearly done. The designer’s job is to make sure the floor plans work, both structurally and with proper space planning and flow patterns. Also, floor plans are a part of the whole design and work in tandem with the roof, elevations, grades, decks, stairs, other floors, and so on. It all needs to come together for a functioning design.
The design process is the process before the home plans are complete. This is where all the details of the design are determined. We start at near nothing, determine the client’s vision, get an initial draft completed and make necessary adjustments to the design until the client is satisfied with the design and ready to finalize them.
Our costs vary depending on the size of the project, the complexity of the design, and the services requested of us. We do not charge simply by square footage because it’s too generic and each project is unique. Quotes are based on each specific project. We are happy to meet with you for a free consultation and to learn more about your project to provide you with an accurate quote.
For the vast majority of projects, the answer is yes. With increases in regulation and liability, a building permit ensures the structure is designed and built adequately and correctly inspected. Without a building permit, how will the city or insurance companies know the Building Code was followed? The safest and most secure way to go about your project is to obtain necessary building permits.
The plans are one part of the package submitted to the city. Once the building permit application has been accepted, the package is distributed to several different departments for viewing. The departments will either make comments and requests for additional items, or they will pass the plans. Once the building permit application is approved, you are able to start construction.
Construction documents are the final product that the client is ordering. When the client is happy with the design, it is finalized and all the technical data for the project is added. Construction documents are what the city requires for building permit application, builders require for accurate estimates, engineers require for stamping, and all the other professionals require to perform their jobs accurately.
Architects are coordinating professionals. Not only do they design the vast majority of non-house buildings, they are essentially the manager of the several different professionals required for the construction of the building. In residential buildings, an architect is needed when the building is more than 4 dwelling units, is over 3 stories in height, or is larger than a certain footprint on the property.
Structural engineers specify and lay out the structure of the building. They take on any and all liability in regard to the structural integrity of the building. A good building designer will ensure the structural elements affecting the design are laid out so they don’t disturb the intent of the design. However, the structural engineer is the person ensuring the structural members and seismic bracings are adequate.
Surveyors survey the property and provide a drawing that accurately plots the lot, any buildings on the lot, the street, services, curbs, utility poles, etc. They also provide specific heights of the land, an important item for determining the height of the building. Land surveyors ensure the house is built where it is supposed to be built at time of construction and make sure heights are followed during construction.