The art of bringing ideas to life.
Bringing your ideas to life. That’s what we do at Ekocite. To do this efficiently for our clients, we have created a four-step approach that goes from a site plan review to architectural sketches to fully developed construction drawings ready for bid.
We see this as art. Not just lines on a piece of paper.
To make this as easy as we can, we work directly with you through each of the steps. Below are brief explanations and examples completed during each step to help explain our process further.
Of course, we’d always love to discuss these steps with you in-person, too. Just let us know.
Step 1: Predesign & Architectural Proposal
We aim to understand what a client is looking to achieve. This is where ideas are brought forward by everyone involved, allowing for the creativity to flow. There are two parts to this step: Predesign and the Architectural Proposal.
Pictured: Site Plan Example. Commonly associated with a mortgage, this is used for the preliminary review of zoning ordinances, including building setbacks.
Predesign:
In Predesign, Ekocite meets with prospective clients to understand their ideas, needs, and project requirements. This is called the “program”. During this we will:
Architectural Proposal:
Once the Predesign work is completed, Ekocite will develop your proposal from the requirements gathered. In the Architectural Proposal, we:
Step 2: Architectural Design Services
Once an architectural proposal is accepted, the most interesting piece of the project begins: the design. Here Ekocite fully documents the site and finalizes the review of all zoning requirements for the project. This includes:
Pictured: Preliminary Sketch. This is an example of an early sketch to explore ideas based on the building, site plot and even things like direction of the sun.
Site Documentation:
Schematics & Design Development:
The schematics and design development work begins when the site documentation is completed. This step is often the most enjoyable part of the program for the client. We kind of love it, too.
Why? Because the project comes alive with the drawing process.
First we do a series of sketches, kind of like architectural doodles, to look at concepts and ideas on paper (see Preliminary Sketch photo).
From there, a more detailed sketch occurs, still just freehand and not to scale, to show the ideas and concepts more in-depth on paper (see Second Preliminary Sketch photo). It’s here when the structural form is developed.
We then test the free hand sketches by putting them into hardline drawings, with true-to-scale dimensions. However, these are only concept drawings at this point. Just lines.
There are no construction notes or dimensions added, but rather these are meant to explain and show ideas to the client that are now drawn to scale and within the site plan requirements. During this phase, it is very easy and inexpensive to move elements of a drawing around to ensure our clients are satisfied.
Once the design drawings and schematics are reviewed with the client and approved, the program moves into the third step.