Jacksonville Custom Home Design

Our Custom Home and Home Addition Design Process

Our Jacksonville custom home design process is organized to include all aspects that are important to understanding our client’s lifestyles, architectural preferences, initial and possible long term space and family requirements, and many other aspects of home design such as building materials, spatial desires and more. We gather this information through a series of steps that include meetings, phone calls and site visits with our clients. While our services are tailored to the requirements of each home and addition we design and our client’s preferences, they are generally organized into the following four steps.

The Initial Home Design Consultation

The design process starts with an initial home design consultation, and involves an initial design meeting with you, a visit to the project site to photograph and verify existing conditions, a detailed discussion of the preliminary scope of work, and proposed design solutions.

Our Jacksonville custom home design process initial consultation meeting is typically our first meeting with you. The initial design consultation is a complimentary service. During this meeting we thoroughly discuss your ideas and goals; are you building your dream home, adding an addition to your current home or even making an exterior architectural enhancement such as a new entryway. We refer to this as the “Scope of Work”. We will also discuss the budget for your project and how involved you would like us to be. Our services can go far beyond the design of your new home or addition. If you wish we can be involved and consult with any or all of the various trades to assure that your project is completed as it was originally designed. We can be as involved as much or as little as you prefer.

Following the design consultation meeting, with your preferences in mind, we will prepare a formal quote for your project. We will move to the next step in the design process upon your approval and receipt of your initial retainer.

The Site Visit

The site visit, in the case of new home design, is to visually inspect and photograph the site to determine best views, important tree locations, get a feel for the existing neighborhood, and document any other factors that may affect the design.

We will also discuss other intangibles that can influence the project such as your lifestyle, hobbies and activities, aesthetic values, and future plans. It is always helpful to bring in pictures of designs and features that you like.

Altogether this information will determine our best approach to the design and exactly what services will be the most beneficial to you. We believe that with the chance to build your own home, you should design a house around your life, currently and into the future.

If you’d like us to design an addition or remodel of your house, we would also visit your home for measurements in order to create an accurate existing floor plan to work from.

Preliminary Designs

Preliminary design services are the next step after the site visit. After the initial consultation and discussions, and the site visit, we generally have a good understanding of your architectural and style preferences, lifestyle, any disabilities that should be considered, and other important aspects. We also conduct research to make sure that what you want can be done, taking into account zoning laws, building and fire codes, and any covenants, bylaws or deed restrictions.

In this phase we generate preliminary floor plans and elevations. The number of floor plans and elevations can vary depending on the project and your wishes. Whether you want 3 different options for a new kitchen design or if you want to see how your home would look in different exterior materials, we can tailor our services to best fit your needs. If required or needed a site plan can also be done at this time.

What we commonly provide for our clients:

• 2 different design options sketches, unless more are requested.
• 2 design review meetings.
• 1 revised final preliminary drawn in CAD.
• Exterior elevations of the final preliminary floor plan.
• A preliminary site plan.

Preparation of Formal Construction Documents

The final step of our Jacksonville custom home design services is to create the architectural construction documents. These are the official plans used to by you or your builder to obtain structural engineering, pull permits and to construct your new home, addition or architectural enhancement. While all projects call for certain documents and plans, other may or may not be required.

The following documents and plans are typically produced:

• Architectural floor plans
• Exterior elevations
• Roof plan
• Foundation plan
• Framing plan with sections and details
• Electrical plan
• Site plan
• 4 complete sets of prints or 1 copy of electronic cad files for permitting and construction.

As we previously mentioned, we provide all levels of support and involvement in our client’s custom home, addition and architectural enhancements. Our clients commonly request that we remain engaged through the entire project consulting and communicating your wishes. If you like, we can work with your builder and structural engineer, your interior designer, and other trades as you see fit to assure your project is completed as it was planned and designed.

We can also assist with the selection of a structural engineer. Costs of structural engineering services are generally evaluated and quoted after the design process is completed.

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