Remodeling your home, planning an addition, or building an entirely new home can be a stressful endeavor. Working with a design professional from the very beginning of the process will help sort out the over-whelming requirements of local municipality and building codes, as well as sorting through all the types of finish materials available and assist you with contractor selection.

An experienced designer is familiar with permit drawings and applications, and has the product knowledge necessary to assist with selections that are right for you. To be a success, the designer’s work must capture your style and performance preferences while adhering to your budget boundaries. A successful designer must not only have talent; it is also essential that they utilize a network of trusted professionals they would allow to work on their own home.

Belle Design + Build provides professional architectural design services for residential projects of all types. We strive to deliver quality designs that are efficient to build.

About the process…

We begin the design process by meeting with the homeowner. We listen as homeowners discuss and how they live and what they would like to achieve. Having this knowledge, we then work with the client to establish their project’s scope and goals. It’s vital to have all decision makers, including consultants, at the initial meeting. This creates a mutual understanding between the clients and the designer regarding scope of work and services provided. Additionally, conducting these meetings with broad participation is crucial to discover other pertinent information that may reside with consultants and other third parties. Finally, these discussions are generally just a nice way to get to know each other. I value establishing an honest and trustworthy relationship with homeowners from the very beginning.

Following the meeting with the homeowner is the start of the design process. The design process can be thought of consisting of three phases: (1) the As-built Phase, (2) the Schematic Design and Design-Development Phase and (3) the Permitting and Engineering Phase. These three phases are further defined below.

The As-built Phase. The first phase of the design process is to schedule a site-measure where we review site conditions and evaluate the feasibility of the proposed project. Additionally, we document existing conditions with photos and take measurements of the existing building to produce a set of drawings that are commonly referred to as “as-built” documents. This set of plans helps clearly communicate what is existing from what is being proposed to municipalities, engineers, contractors and trade professionals. Completing a set of as-built documents aides in all phases of architectural services and is the foundation of planning any renovation and/or addition.

The Schematic-Design/ Design-Development Phase. The second phase of the design process is focused on the preparation of schematic design options – this is the fun phase! We review and discuss the pros and cons of each floor plan option, using partial exterior elevations and/or a schematic 3D model to help communicate and illustrate proposed changes. The Schematic-Design phase explores what’s possible, often uncovering ideas that the homeowner hadn’t considered prior to working with a designer. It is during this phase that the project starts coming into reality. Upon evaluating all of the options presented during the Schematic-Design Phase we then work towards finalizing a design with which the homeowner is excited to move forward.

The Permitting and Engineering Phase. The third phase of the design process is geared towards producing permit sets of documents and coordinating with a structural engineer. This work is based on the final and approved design. We then submit a building-permit application to the municipality. During this phase we address any revisions as required by the municipality. At the end of this phase a homeowner will walk away with all the necessary documents to begin construction on their project.

My name is Emily. I am an experienced Architectural and Interior designer who complete her education locally, studying Architecture at the University of Washington. My passion is working with clients to achieve their home-improvement goals. I value building relationships with my clients and trade professionals. Bringing these two worlds together is what I love to do.

Let's design together!

Yours truly, Emily Wold

(425) 591-7034

info@belledesignseattle.com