The beauty of custom architecture is that, when executed with care, it results in a home that you love. The home planning process, however, involves more than design inspiration to make your vision come to life. No matter where you choose to build your home, every municipality has its own set of regulations (building codes, zoning ordinances, environmental regulations, etc.) and stakeholders (i.e., neighborhood or homeowners’ associations, historical commissions) that may influence the design with which you’ve fallen in love.
The best way to navigate this process is by choosing an architecture practice with the expertise to lead the way. At Turkel Design, our team has designed more than 200 homes for locations throughout North America and beyond—including in such notably strict regulatory environments as Mill Valley, California; Kealakekua, Hawaii; Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts; and Waiheke Island, New Zealand.
Successfully securing all the necessary permits to build your home is an essential step in our signature process. Here are some of the measures we take to ensure success:
Comprehensive Drawings and Documentation
We create a comprehensive set of drawings and specifications for your local building department to review, including plans, elevations, sections, framing plans, and specifications.
Consultant Coordination
A successful permitting process requires communication with the vendors and consultants involved in completing your home: structural engineers, mechanical engineers, plumbing, HVAC, etc. We coordinate with each one, ensuring that we are providing a comprehensive submission that meets all local requirements.
End-to-End Management
With many stakeholders involved, it’s important that one party takes responsibility to lead the overall process. At Turkel Design, our team takes pride in effective project management. In addition to the steps listed above, we present your home’s drawings and documentation to design, planning, and architectural review boards, communicating directly with these stakeholders to address any concerns, and to secure their endorsement.
Creative Solutions
We believe that almost any conflict between a homeowner and a local stakeholder can be solved through good design. From interpreting local design parameters to communicating a homeowner’s goals, our team uses a creative approach to guide all parties to a place where they are comfortable with a project moving forward.
A complex local permitting process should not deter you from designing and building the home that you want, where you want to live. With an experienced firm, with architects guiding you through each step, you can rest assured that your project will obtain the necessary approvals.
At Turkel Design, our expertise with permitting is part of an overall approach that brings predictability to the cost, timeline, and quality of every home we design. “They were able to get through one of the most challenging design review municipalities that I have ever experienced,” says one of our clients, a California real estate developer with experience in design and construction. Through rigorous preparation and coordination, we bring an element of predictability to what, in the wrong hands, can be one of the least predictable steps in the home planning process.
Get in Touch
Don’t let concerns about local stakeholders and regulations keep you from designing the home you envision in the place that you love.
Contact us to discuss how you want to live.
