our process
preparation
Preliminary design cues come from “interpretations” of and “potential transformations” embedded in the Site. A Site has a voice that can speak of change, like that of a client. The measure of that potential- many conversations- should be taken throughout the design process. When we evaluate a site beyond addressing the basics of access and drainage, we also imagine the influence that LIGHT and SHADOW have upon the materials, contours, and layering of spaces on the site. The role that natural light will play on and within the building we will design specifically on your site is as important as the light we will introduce in darkness, to surfaces and material, in complement to the natural condition when the project is built.
So, as we begin with The Site, Light, and its context, including orientation, topography, and character, we celebrate that a Project will be occupied by a unique individual as a cohesive landscape of personal imagery, function, and culture. Inspiration comes from the land, the light, and You- the client—your opinions, your patterns, your practices, and your lifestyle. We ask questions and search for common ground between you and your site, and we will find it.
LUMstudio, our curated lighting collection, sharing storefront space with CF design, is here to help our clients understand the significance of reflected light and color/ texture transfer through light and the washing of surfaces, so essential to BOTH our design process and the resulting built work. CF design and the lessons within LUMstudio are related by design, from day one in our process to the final documentation. The great Modernist architect Le Corbusier was right when he said, “Architecture is the learned game, correct and magnificent, of forms assembled in the light.” Indeed, Charles- Edouard Jeanneret-Gris- the crow-like man- who re-invented himself as Le Corbusier, was spot on. And so begins the design process. Visit LUMstudio.
design
Design is a Process. When we begin, we do not know the solution. All of us at CF design begin our thinking with different actions. We all venerate The Site. Starting the design process, we represent what we interpret about the site in both narratives and models, electronic and physical. Our common understanding in the office is that projects will develop a storyline—a sense of interaction between building and inhabitant, including manners of arrival and departure, specific ways of occupying space and scales and adjacencies to which spaces will be related and contrasted.
There will be tactile interests, degrees of transparency, mysteries and the unexpected, and senses of light- both direct and indirect, involved in the story of the project. In the initial deliverables of our process, we are, first- extremely inclusive of as many desires and possibilities as possible, and we are reaching for a Project Scope: an extent of Building over the land. To these initial ideas, we will marry what we know of current construction costs and regional abilities. This initial solution produces talking points and active discussion between staff and clients and begins a course of prioritization and romanticism as measured against practicality and budget. The first solution is never the final solution, but it is deliciously ripe with possibility!
prescription
A thoughtful and complete set of construction documents brings out the best quality and most efficient production for the builders and fabricators involved in your project. Creating these cross-referenced documents takes the largest amount of time in the Design Process, as it is a refinement of materials, products, smart construction detailing, aesthetics, and functions collected since the beginning of the process. We can deliver many different service levels at this point but know that the construction documents are your insurance and that the project must be built as drawn by the contractor, with materials as specified, barring official change orders. The more clearly the Drawings identify the various assemblies, details, and joineries in the project, the more complete and consistent the end project will be.
Most of our clients opt for a full service through the prescriptive phase of the project, typically amounting to about 10-11% of the projected construction cost, for all of our work up to and including the end of that phase. We are willing to customize the deliveries during this phase to your needs, expectations, and your budget. Most of our project building costs are negotiated with one specific contractor whom our clients have interviewed and feel comfortable communicating with. In the best of all worlds, that contractor will also be involved on an hourly basis, evaluating decisions regarding materials and labor, during the creation of Construction Documents. Only about 10% are competitively bid to several contractors, based on a complete set of construction documents. We typically Observe our projects in construction and assist in updating and evaluating any possible changes in the project during construction, whether driven by Owners' interests, market unavailability, or cost-inflation issues.
