What to Expect When Working With a Building Designer - Phase 3: Conceptual Drawings
Phase 3: Conceptual Drawings
Here’s where things get exciting! From the information you provided in the initial consultation, you’ll now start to see the first visual representation of what will be your home.
Block Diagram Concept by LGA Studios
After meeting with you to understand what you’re looking for, many designers will start by creating a bubble or block diagram of the potential home. Your designer will get to flex their training and creativity here, establishing spatial relationships, living zones, and considering site topography to take advantage of any views, slopes, or driveway preferences. This will also allow the designer to roughly formulate the square footage.
Methods for this process vary. Many designers tend to have an artistic touch and work with sketch tissue and felt tip pens, though software including SketchUp, Revit, and ArchiCAD all have similar modeling functions that aid the designer through a diagrammatic approach.
Generally, your designer will produce a concept or schematic design after evaluating and working through the initial programming input. These schematic/concept designs are then presented to you as floor plans, exterior elevations, and site plans for your review and initial notes.
Contemporary Elevation by LGA Studios
For a new home, the designer is creating the size and shape of the structure from scratch.
A good designer will be able to take specific site conditions into consideration when creating and positioning the home’s footprint. They will also have a deep understanding of spatial relationships and be able to meet various style vernaculars to get you an initial concept that is in the ballpark of the home you’ve been dreaming of and that you’ll be able to refine together.
That’s a wrap on Phase 3! We’ll be back tomorrow with Phase 4: Design Development.
Main Level Floor Plan Concept by LGA Studios
For your convenience, we’ve linked every phase and post from this blog series below.
Phase 5: Construction Documents
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