During the design process, we work hard to help you establish your budget in order to build the parameters by which we will execute the design. We engage the jurisdiction to discover permit fees, SDC's, and any hidden fees that may impact your budget. We can also look for rebates, credits and cost reductions where they can be had. For other design services, we help you discover all of the consultants that you will need and assist you in accounting for these costs. For construction estimates, we suggest engaging a construction cost consultant and your general contractor in an intense dialogue for construction cost estimating that parallels and informs the design process.

As we execute the design, we believe that one of our greatest tools is the project schedule. Every project, big or small, can be boiled down to a series of tasks and milestones linked to the program document. Of course, many of the tasks are Architectural in nature - design efforts, interaction with our client or the jurisdiction, coordinating with our consultants or our overall quality assurance review.

At IDEA, we understand the interdependency that the Architectural process has with activities such as development, leasing, fundraising, financing, entitlements and neighborhood involvement. Our project schedules show links between tasks, exposing the interdependency of seemingly unrelated issues in a way that produces the best, most efficient road map for your project.

Additionally, our process has a way of discovering design and construction efficiencies along the way. We strive to collaborate with the selected contractor and their subcontractors to design in ways that expose their collective abilities and strengths while providing a very buildable solution. We feel that working with the entire team in this fashion can draw out the most creative beautiful and cost effective solution every time.

At IDEA, we believe great design can be had at any budget.