We are a beyond-full-service firm. We’re not just here to give you a fabulously designed project [though that’s certainly part of it]. We’re here to guide you through the entire process, step by step, beginning to end, doing the heavy lifting so you don’t have to. There are five phases in the design and construction process, and we’re your partner through them all:

discovery

Everything we design begins with the same essential (and exciting!) process: discovering a project’s unique design parameters. These are the regulating criteria that inform every decision we make throughout a project. They can be client needs, site opportunities, government regulation, climate, furry friends, culture, budget, time, sustainability, unreasonable phobias, secret obsessions. 

For Imbue, the most critical design parameters are gathered from two sources: you (the client) and place (your project's context). All other design parameters, though vital, are subservient to these. We weave together how you want to live and how a place can influence your experience of living. This is the substance that makes your building a work of architecture and your house a home. We contend that every client and every building site is unique resulting in a combination of singular possibilities that demand responsive design.

PROPOSALS

There is an infinite number of great solutions for any given set of design parameters. But at the end of the day only one design is realized. In order to discover a solution that uniquely suits you, each of the three partners at Imbue [using information gathered from you and the site] produces a distinct, initial design proposal for your consideration. The three proposals are presented in the form of 3D digital models, renders, and virtual reality tours, along with scale-able floor plans and detailed descriptions. By intentionally varying the concepts, layouts, aesthetics, and sizes of each proposal you’re able to explore a wide spectrum of possibilities and compare each solution’s compatibility with your own lifestyle and preferences. Then, with your feedback, we pinpoint your position on the design spectrum and go back to work to produce a schematic that is expressly your own. This client-tailored schematic design acts as the springboard for the rest of your project’s development.

Development

Throughout the entirety of each project all three principals are actively engaged. We are the design team (no lackeys here). However, as amazing as we’d like to believe we are, we know that real genius is the result of multiple experts in a variety of disciplines combining their experience and expertise to create something extraordinary.

Early in the design’s development we begin an interdisciplinary collaboration with the construction team, engineers, consultants, and permitting authorities to map out the most effective strategies that will maintain design integrity, financial goals, timeliness, and ultimate success. Establishing preliminary structural options, cost estimates, code requirements, and sustainability goals at this stage help to mitigate unwelcome surprises later on.

Finding the right team is critical. An integral part of our work is helping you find, interview, and select contractors, engineers, and consultants that suit your project’s requirements. We’re happy to make trusted recommendations or to work with anyone you might bring to the table.

Documents

Often referred to as plans or blueprints, construction documents contain all the information required by permitting authorities, lenders, and contractors [for issuing building permits, appraising value, acquiring bids, and building the project).

Working closely with the construction team and consultants we produce the project’s technical plans, drawings, details, and specifications. We submit them to the permitting bodies and negotiate the necessary permits. Finally, we assist the general contractor in pulling building permits, procuring bids, and fielding questions. Permit in hand and final budget established, the general contractor sinks a shovel into the ground and construction begins.

construction

By contract, we're on site at several key milestones of construction. By nature, we're there much more often. After all, we grew up chasing brooms and swinging hammers.

During construction we continue our collaboration with the contractor and the trades to answer questions, ensure that construction is going according to plan, finalize details, resolve issues, and verify fabricator shop drawings. Through it all we keep you informed on your project's progress.

At this stage we also like to indulge in a little grade school nostalgia by taking clients on various field trips to ogle fixtures, appliances, lighting, cabinetry, and finishes that may have not already been specified. When commissioned to do so, we'll even help make the finer decisions like furniture, dinnerware, and art selections.

We're with the project from design conception to the housewarming party (as prestigious guests of honor, of course).  We'll bring the baked brie.