Our Architecture Services include all the steps necessary to bring your building vision to reality.

Programming:

The Programming phase entails the gathering of information relating to the activities and functions of the proposed structure, be it home, office, or complex. Issues usually considered include storage, circulation requirements, identification of public and private spaces, functional relationships between individuals, special equipment requirements, electrical/mechanical demands, qualitative information regarding clients preferences for finishes, colors, and furnishings, site constraints regarding view, circulation and building access, zoning requirements, and, of course, design intent or style.

The Design Guy team, using the Client's statement of space needs, determines tentative space and volume requirements for each space and/or function on the basis of the number of persons involved, equipment/furniture used, and nature of the activity of that space and/or function. When the relationships between units are not obvious, an in-depth and comprehensive study of all activities is conducted. Site requirements and activities relative to the satisfaction of the different inhabitants’ desires and goals are also delineated at this stage.

From written studies, the project budget, programming information and other investigations as outlined above, The Design Guy team is then able to comprehend the proposed project and proceed to the next phase - Schematic Design.

Schematic Design:

The objectives of the Schematic Design phase are to illustrate to the client the project’s feasibility and to describe the total scope of the project. Much of the Schematic Design phase is devoted to testing ideas and design concepts. Several solutions may be studied or presented. The prime objective, however, is to secure the client's approval of the plans.

The outcome of the Schematic Design phase is typically small-scale line drawings of principle site plans and floor plans. These are the result of the Design Guy team drafting simple functional space diagrams meeting the program requirements. Each small component of this plan is drawn and placed together with other components in the best possible relationship to optimize a wide array of variables, including but not restricted to circulation, site constraints, and views.

Actual design is the result of a process combining intuition and experience to meet the program requirements. Ideas and solutions are studied through the use of sketches, which in this phase consist of line drawings indicating size, shape and relationships to other objects and/or spaces.

The Schematic Design phase does not result in a fully realized architectural rendering, but rather it contains the essence of the project so that the vision can be agreed upon and further developed during the next phase - the Design Development phase.

Design Development:

The Design Development Phase is the point at which the actual form and character of the Project is fully established.

Although the Schematic Design phase will appropriately be used in describing the Project to the Client for his approval, the Design Development phase must fully describe the project through more refined and informative architectural drawings, so the Design Guy team and Client can fully understand all the design aspects of the project before moving to the next phase, which is the Contract Document phase.

All design work will be completed during this phase, so that during the Contract Document phase the Design Guy team and its consultants need only be concerned with the necessary documentation required to construct the project or specify furnishings.

The Design Development phase typically includes plans, elevations, sections, details, room finish schedules, and notes as required to fix and describe the project as to all architectural requirements. These Design Development documents are prepared from the approved Schematic Design studies, and when approved themselves, they form the basis of the Contract Documents.
When all decisions concerning the design of the project are made during the two design phases, (Schematic Design and Design Development), the remainder of the Design Guy team’s architectural related services can be rendered more efficiently, because the documents generated during the Design Development phase represent the final design. At this point in the project, the Contract Documents need only be concerned with detailing the design for construction, implementation, and acquisition of furniture and furnishings (if applicable)

Construction Documents:

Upon approval of the Design Development phase the Design Guy team proceeds with the preparation of Contract Documents, commonly referred to as Construction Documents and Specifications. Construction Documents and Specifications developed during this phase set forth the detailed requirements for the construction of the entire project. Additionally, specifications for custom furniture and finishes can also be completed during this phase but under a separate agreement (see: Interior Design Services).

Construction Administration:

The Construction Administration phase includes periodic observation by the Design Guy team of work in progress at the job site to ensure compliance with the Contract Documents; resolution of field problems as they arise; maintenance of progress logs; processing of field directives, change orders, contractor's submittals, sample approvals, and the like; preparation of a punch list at substantial completion of work; review of contractor compliance with corrections required on the punch list and issuance of certificate(s) for payment.

Master Planning:

The Design Guy team offers services of long-range and master planning for properties big and small. Whether you own an 8-acre parcel on San Juan Island or 800 hectares in Lagos, the Design Guy team utilizes a broad depth of imagination, experience, and resources to analyze short and long term land development.

Space Planning:

The Design Guy team offers corporate and medical space planning, tenant improvement design, and construction document related services. Our experience encompasses corporate offices, retail centers, restaurants, and medical facilities covering virtually every specialty known - from outpatient surgical facilities to multi-specialty free-standing centers.

Just Design and ONLY Design:

The Design Guy team offers architectural design services to projects with other architects. Yes, you heard right - the sad truth is that most architects are not good designers. Design is not taught, but is experienced and learned through observation of the environment and attention to specifications. There are great architects and there are great designers, and if you peel a few layers of the onion back at those big architectural firms, you will most likely find talented designers behind the architects. And often we are those designers.