An Architect will likely contact the planning and zoning departments that govern your City and preliminarily gather information regarding codes for heights, setbacks, easements and other ‘restrictive’ guidelines. Then he can design a site plan, floor plan and exterior elevations appropriately.

The Architect will hire, coordinate with and facilitate the necessary cohesion of other professionals work and with his plans as well. Typically these consultants would consist of engineers such as: Civil, Soils, Structural, HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, Energy, Life Safety/Sprinkler, etc.

An interior designer has not had the education, number of years required to work for a licensed Architect nor the State Board Licensing that an Architect has had. Thus, the building department will not accept plans for processing, unless they have the Architect’s seal with license number, signature and license expiration date on each sheet. Additionally the Architect’s name, address and phone number are a part of the plans.

Sustainable is a more long-term, holistic and life cycle set of considerations. Buildings that will be viable for over a century, utilize local materials for efficiency and creates balance with ecological, social and economic considerations. Green is focused more on the how the building itself can reduce waste, pollution and energy use. Strategies for this include: solar panels, water saving plumbing fixtures, use of recycled materials, high efficiency hvac, etc.

Inherently, if an Architect has also physically built in the field as a general contractor, the daily efforts working with subcontractors will yield formidable cost efficiencies that he can in turn incorporate into your plans. Also, since the framing of a home is a substantial line item cost, working with the engineer to design it in a way that is optimal regarding material and installation efficiencies, can save the owner six figure benefits.

Both have advantages, depending on conditions. If the site is modest, a second story addition will conserve or not even intrude on site usage, will have better views and is more private. If there’s site availability, it can be more convenient to ‘travel’ on one flat surface to anywhere else in the home, outdoor yard access is easily attained which could be quite advantageous to the Mom of the house and access to and from the garage is very convenient as well.

An ADU that is a detached accessory dwelling unit, is typically known as a ‘Cottage’ ADU. They can be a one story or two story building, depending on HOA and zoning codes. This would be typical of an ADU in Westminster, Colorado.

A second story addition to a detached garage would typically be know as a ‘Carriage House’ unit. The stairs can be external or internal, as long as the minimum interior clear width and length of the garage is maintained and it will need to have a firewall and door enclosing it. This would be typical of an ADU in Louisville, Colorado.

A unit attached to the home, typically on the rear of the building, is usually called a ‘Granny Flat’. This is most commonly a three-sided structure and has access into the home. Because of its adjacency, sometimes the main home’s kitchen is also utilized, saving the Homeowner some ADU construction costs. This would be typical of an ADU in Erie, Colorado.

The exterior ‘barrier’ of your home should include the following: enclosed eaves, plaster walls or cement siding, a minimum of five feet of non-plantings and materials such as cement or stone all around the building, double glazed tempered windows, Class-A rated roofing materials and ventilation screens with only 1/16” openings.

In lieu of a typical cut and fill procedure, level-off half the homes ground level footprint to be flat with a slab on grade design and design the other half to float naturally over the slope with a traditional wood framed floor system that intersects with the slab. This will save at least $100,000 in construction costs.

The most energy efficient (no electrical lighting), architecturally attractive and functional way that we respond to this situation is to open up the ceiling to get some welcomed volume and install skylight(s) in this area that are double glazed and have at least a 6” curb to sit on above the roofing material.