Designing and building is an exciting journey, often shrouded in mystique for clients. As architects, we see it as a collaborative process of listening, understanding, and translating clients’ needs, visions, and values into reality. Through open communication and trust, ideas take form, and vision becomes reality. While every project is unique, the design process follows a general set of phases that build upon one another. Pre-Design: Building the Foundation Before design begins, we establish a creative foundation by getting to know the client’s goals, needs, timeline, and budget. We also analyze the site, zoning laws, building codes, and other considerations to create a framework that guides the rest of the process. Schematic Design: Shaping the Vision With the groundwork in…

We believe every element of a home is worth our attention. I like to think of the experience of entering a home and moving through it for the first time. Later on, we might experience it daily and routinely just like an old and familiar friend. It’s worth considering how elements such as entries, greeting spaces, transitions between spaces and the outdoors, and stair access between floor levels can affect the day to day life of a home and the memories we build over time. Stair cases are often overlooked and designed as an afterthought. They are designed to be moved through and perceived as transitional spaces not destinations in themselves. But the act of climbing or descending the stairs…

What does sound have to do with the design of a home? Architectural inspiration can come from unusual and surprising sources. Staying attuned to these elusive clues is at the heart of meaningful design. There is a family lodge in the Bitterroot Mountains of Western Montana that was designed around the sound of a creek cascading through a remote pine forest. As I walked the remote forested property with the clients and took notice of the various views, tree locations, rock outcroppings, and sun access, the one constant that was unique to this site was the mesmerizing sound of cascading water as it flowed around boulders in its trek toward the Bitterroot river a few miles downstream. The sound was…