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Friday, February 11, 2011

Design Meeting #3

Well we heard back from Brad and Trisha that hey really loved the split level design and you will see that we have transferred the plan from sketch form to CAD (Computer Assisted Design) and we now have a computer-based design from which to work for this meeting.  It is the Client’s first look at the home in blueprint form. The home is still larger and likely more expensive than the program allows but before we start sizing it we want to first get a better idea of what the Watts are looking for in the way in interior and exterior finishes.  We need to take that information into account when we begin making final decisions about the size of the house, the pool and other large ticket items.



You will see that we have amassed and presented a vast collection of “contemporary” images that will help us draw out the specific taste direction of the client. This way we can very quickly identify the hot buttons, or “must haves” in the project. For example, this client loves to entertain and must have an outdoor kitchen and a waterfall into the pool, but will be satisfied with a single car garage and a carport for a second vehicle – as long as the lot is designed so he can extend the garage later if he wishes. A little give and take and a whole lot of honest dialogue to get what is important into the program without breaking the budget – hard work, but better to do it now than when the drawings are finished!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Design Meeting #2

Brad with Tami and Ray Boyce, Phoenix’s Senior Project Manager, who will take the early design and coordinate the preliminary costing to make sure we are on track with the budget. Ray also will identify any buildability issues and cost savings opportunities in the early design phases – great to have those builders at the design table early in the process!




Pictured above and below are a single story (split-level) design and a two-story design, both of which suit Brad and Trisha’s design criteria but each with very different feel and different set of advantages, flows, views, and budgets. We hope he likes the one we do!

So now we have two plans for Brad and Trisha to take home, study, and make notes on. It is uncommon for a client to come back and say that we completely missed the target so we always look forward to the feedback – Brad initially liked the split-level plan and this is the one that the development team also felt was more dynamic. Let’s see what happens next.