The design process is simple. 

Your architect or architectural designer will start off with a site analysis and review all local and provincial/state codes and bylaws.

Prior to this you would have hired your architect/ural designer and general contractor, sat down with them and discussed your project objectives, your overall vision and your budget. Making sure that they’re both on the same page.

Next, you will have the 3 design phases: schematic design, design development, and construction documents.

1. Schematic is an obnoxious word for conceptual drawings: They could be hand sketches to computerized drawings, or a combination of the two.

2. Design development is nothing more than developing the design. This is the computerized drawings and a more cleaned up, polished version than the conceptual.

3. Construction documents are the actual plans you will use for construction. They are the designs you have seen, covered with so much information so every person involved is able to do their part without question.

While you have 3 design phases, the schematic or conceptual drawings generally begin with the floor plans, the site layout (how the plan is in relation to the site), the elevations, which are the 4 exterior views (front, sides and back), and lastly the renderings, which is a 3D model of the outside of your home, that can range anything from a sketch to a simple or elaborate, realistic picture.

Each step takes time and includes revisions along the way. All in all, this process should take anywhere from 2 months for a basic home, to 6 months on average. If your home is elaborate, detailed and quite large - expect upwards to a year.

Take your time and it will show. Speed through this process and it will show.

From here, you will move on to the structural engineer to provide their own set of plans. There may also be some additional plans or information needed for your project, and we will talk about those as well. 

Now, let’s talk about how to give your team the best kind of feedback and then get into the details of each design phase.