01Services
Four engagements, and the honest version of what each one is for.
We do not have packages. We have four shapes of work, and most projects move through two or three of them in order. If you are not sure which one you are, the answer is almost always the site study.
0114–22 months, design through construction
Architecture
This is the whole arc. We start on the site with a tape measure and a sun chart, and we finish standing in the finished room with the contractor and a clipboard. Between those two days we do the zoning research, the schematic options, the structural and mechanical coordination, the permit set, the bid analysis, and the weekly site visits that keep what gets built resembling what got drawn. We do not disappear after the permit. Roughly a third of our fee sits in construction administration on purpose, because that is where a good drawing set either holds or quietly unravels.
What is included
- Zoning, wetlands, and historic-district research before you commit
- Two to three schematic options tested against your site's real February light
- Structural, mechanical, and civil engineers coordinated by us, contracted by you
- A permit and construction set drawn for local trades, with named suppliers
- Bid levelling across three contractors, with the differences explained
- Weekly site visits and shop-drawing review through to substantial completion
Who it is for
Owners building a house, a substantial addition, or converting an existing structure — typically $600k to $4M in construction.
You end up holding
- Existing-conditions survey and site analysis
- Schematic design package
- Design development set with material board
- Construction documents and specifications
- Bid comparison memo
- Field reports, RFI log, punch list
12% of construction cost · $95,000 minimum
Enquire about architecture028–16 months depending on lead times
Interiors
Sunil runs this side, and it starts earlier than most people expect: while walls can still move. Interior architecture means the millwork, the stair, the plaster, the tile setting-out, and the lighting layout are designed with the plan rather than applied to it afterwards. Then comes the part clients picture — the furniture, the textiles, the specified and procured list of everything you will actually touch. For hospitality we take it through to opening: FF&E budgets, lead-time tracking, receiving and install, and a maintenance sheet for the operator so the finishes survive year three.
What is included
- Interior architecture: millwork, stairs, plaster, tile, and built-ins
- Reflected ceiling and lighting design, fixture by fixture
- A material palette proven with full-size mockups, not swatches
- FF&E specification, sourcing, and a live budget you can see
- Procurement, lead-time tracking, receiving, and install supervision
- A written care-and-maintenance sheet at handover
Who it is for
Innkeepers, restaurateurs, and homeowners furnishing a whole house — with us on the architecture or with someone else's.
You end up holding
- Concept and material direction
- Interior architecture drawings
- Lighting and RCP set
- FF&E schedule with budget tracker
- Purchase orders and expediting log
- Install plan and styling day
Fixed fee from $60,000 · procurement at 12%
Enquire about interiors036 weeks from site access
Feasibility & Site Study
Most of the expensive mistakes in this valley are made before anyone hires an architect. A parcel with a wetland buffer that eats the only buildable knoll. A mill with a beautiful facade and a floor structure rated for hay. A short-term-rental plan the town quietly stopped approving in 2023. So we sell a small, fixed, self-contained study: we walk the site, pull the records, talk to the building department, bring a structural engineer if there is a structure, and hand you a bound document with two or three massing options and an honest construction cost range. Around one client in six reads it and walks away from the property. We consider that the study working.
What is included
- A half-day on site with a principal, and a structural engineer if warranted
- Zoning, setback, septic, wetland, and historic-review research
- A conversation with the building department, on the record
- Two or three massing options at a scale you can judge
- A construction cost range from current local numbers, not national indices
- A written go / go-differently / do-not recommendation
Who it is for
Anyone under contract on a property, weighing two parcels, or unsure whether their programme fits at all.
You end up holding
- Bound site study, 20–30 pages
- Annotated survey and constraints plan
- Massing options with areas
- Cost range and phasing note
- Ninety-minute review session
$12,500 fixed · credited to design fees
Enquire about feasibility & site study04Annual, cancel any time
Stewardship
The second owner is the point, and buildings get handed on. Stewardship keeps the file alive: an annual walk-through before winter, a maintained record set with as-builts and every product data sheet in one place, and a standing two days a year of design time for the next phase — the barn you always meant to convert, the terrace that never got built, the room that changes when a child leaves. It is not a maintenance contract and we are not the ones on the ladder. It is continuity, which is the thing nobody sells and everybody wants at year seven.
What is included
- One annual pre-winter walk-through with a written report
- A maintained as-built record set and product archive
- Two days of design time a year, rolled over once
- First call on the studio's calendar for phased work
- Introductions to the trades who built it originally
Who it is for
Past clients, and new owners of a building we drew who want the file rather than a mystery.
You end up holding
- Annual condition report
- Living as-built set
- Product and finish archive
- Phase-next sketch when you want one
$4,800 a year
Enquire about stewardship05How it runs
Six stages, and the one most studios skip.
A quarter of our fee sits in construction administration. That is deliberate: the difference between a good set of drawings and a good building is entirely made on site, in the eleven months after the exciting part is over.
- 01
Site walk
We come to the property, walk it with you, and tell you what we see. No presentation, no deck. If we are not the right studio for it we say so before you have paid anyone anything.
One afternoon, free - 02
Feasibility
Zoning, structure, septic, cost range, and two or three massing options. A bound document and a recommendation. Credited against design fees if you carry on.
6 weeks, $12,500 - 03
Design
Schematic, then design development, then the construction set. You see full-size mockups of anything we have not built before, and we price at each of the three gates rather than once at the end.
5–9 months - 04
Bidding
Three contractors, levelled by us into one comparison you can read. Marisol runs it. We tell you which number we believe and why.
6–8 weeks - 05
On site
Weekly visits, written field reports, shop drawings reviewed by the people who drew the details. A quarter of the fee lives here because this is where buildings are actually made.
8–16 months - 06
After
As-builts, a product archive, and a walk-through before the first winter. Stewardship if you want us to keep the file alive.
Ongoing
Registered architects in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. AIA member firm. We visit sites weekly during construction, which is the reason we work almost exclusively within Hudson Valley, the Catskills, and the Berkshires.
Not sure which of these you are?
Neither are most people on the first call, and that is fine — describing the property is usually enough for us to tell you. If it turns out you need a site study first, we will say so rather than selling you a design contract.