The full arc of design services, schematic design through construction documents, drawn so the building can be priced, permitted, and built in Vermont.
Most projects come to us with a problem rather than a plan: a non-conforming lot, a code-complicated building, deferred maintenance, or a program that has outgrown its walls. Design begins with understanding what you have and what it will cost to change it.
From there we work through the phases in order, and each one ends in something you can act on: a scheme to approve, a number to budget, a set to bid. Fees are fixed by phase, so you can stop after any one of them and still hold something useful.
We coordinate the engineers and consultants a project needs and frequently serve as prime A/E. Two principals, both involved throughout. The person who draws your building is the person who visits the site.
Program, site review, as-built documentation of what is already there, and an early read on the code path. On existing buildings this is often a measured survey; on raw land it is a hard look at access, water, and wastewater before anyone draws a floor plan.
Two or three ways the building could work, tested against the program and the site rather than against a picture. Plans, elevations, and enough of the structure and systems to know the scheme is real. This is the phase where a board or an owner picks a direction, and where the first order-of-magnitude cost belongs.
The scheme becomes a building. Structure, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing are engaged and coordinated. Assemblies get resolved, materials get selected, and the drawings start carrying dimensions somebody will build to. We price again here, because this is the last comfortable place to change your mind.
Drawings and specifications complete enough to permit, bid, and build from. Every quantity is on a sheet, every product is specified, and the code analysis is on the cover. Our documents are written to be bid competitively and to hold a contractor accountable to the same scope everyone else priced.
We advertise the work, run the pre-bid meeting, answer questions, issue addenda, open and tabulate the bids, and give you a written recommendation. If the number comes in high we run value engineering before award rather than after it. On grant-funded work the procurement package goes to the agency for concurrence before anyone signs.
New town highway garages in Glover and Vershire. A 2,800-square-foot fire station addition in Woodbury with two apparatus bays, a training room, and a sprinkler and pump room. An ADA elevator addition, document vault, and basement community room at Leach Public Library in Irasburg. A 12,000-square-foot manufacturing building for Vermont Natural Coatings. A 2,700-square-foot charcuterie facility on VT-99 in Craftsbury. New homes, additions, and accessory dwellings across Orleans, Caledonia, and Lamoille Counties.
See our projects →Usually comes before
Feasibility & Facility Assessment
Existing conditions, code and accessibility review, and options with order-of-magnitude costs. Sold on its own, and how most bigger jobs start.
Usually comes after
Construction Administration
Submittal review, RFIs, site observation, change orders, payment certification, and minutes. Available to an owner who already has a set.
Next step
Send us the building, the town, and roughly when you want to be in it.