Building a new home from scratch is an exciting, and often intimidating experience. Reflective Designworks is your partner through the entire process, from site planning and development, to developing the design for your dream home, obtaining permits, requesting pricing from general contractors, and providing construction drawings for the builder to work from. We don’t force you through a boiler-plate process, but rather adapt our work flow to your pace, stye and comfort level.

With all projects, but especially with new construction, there is a gentle dance between the primary vectors impacting the design and decisions - budget, zoning regulations, site considerations, functional requirements, schedule, and the chemistry of all the personalities involved. This is truly where we shine as calm, empathetic communicators, and level-headed, rational team players.

While design may take a perceived path or direction, it is in no way linear, but rather iterative and cyclical - we are cycling through the primary vectors mentioned above, advancing the project at each touch point.

We’ll begin the project with a study of relevant regulatory limitations and rough out a site plan to ensure the location you’ve planned for the house is compliant. This will likely change, but gives us a starting point for inferring solar access, parking, entrance points and certainty about setback parameters.

We are pragmatic by default, and often will suggest bringing the design along to a point where we can begin getting an idea of construction costs, so we are adding “nice-to-haves”, rather than subtracting “needs” to fit the budget. The alternative way to do this would be to spend months designing the entire house down to every last detail, only to find out it’s drastically over budget, which wastes everyone’s time and your money.

As we’re reaching out to builders for initial pricing, we’re getting a feel for their availability and charting various project schedule possibilities. We’re also closely listening to their feedback to understand what may be driving up costs from their perspective, so the design can be modified to accommodate their value engineered ideas.

Perhaps the interior designer or kitchen design company needs a floor plan to begin their work, we may prioritize locking down the footprint of the kitchen to begin advancing the cabinetry and fixture design, while leaving other areas of the house more flexible for adjusting once they’ve actually been framed.

Navigating the new construction process takes more than a map with a starting and ending point - it requires a compass focused on the project’s north star; it demands a clear and reflective vision that can filter distraction and focus on the next best step towards a successful outcome.

Check out our full process here and learn more about our values here.