Programming: Define before Design

The first and foremost step in the design process is Programming. It is the coarse of gathering and analyzing the information about the project before trying to solve it with the design. Think of it as a road map: Try to navigate in a new area without a map and you will get lost; so does the design. With your feedback, we set up the project parameters and objectives to sail to the finish line. Programming consists of:

• PROJECT INFO
• Goals: What do you want to achieve and why?
• Facts: What do we know about the given project? Are there any concerns?
• Needs: How much money and space do you have?
• Time: How much time do you have?
• CODE REVIEW: We look for any redflags in the existing space for any non-compliance
• FIELD SURVEY: To understand the visible as-built conditions, we survey and document the existing property conditions and develop as-built drawings. We usually ask to provide us with the existing backgrounds for the structure to ease the process and to see non-visible conditions.

Schematic Design: Interior branding

This is the inception of the artistic side of the process. The aesthetics will start forming within the parameters discovered during the Programming. They will reflect your or your company’s vision, goals and culture. We will look for sustainable solutions to address the parameters defined in the previous stage. Schematic design includes:

• SPACE PLAN: It is an analysis of how physical spaces are used in a structure considering their purpose and who they will be used by. We usually go through several options before selecting the final.
• SKETCHES: designers’ and architects’ preferred language of thinking and looking for solutions. It is a tool to jazz up the space plan as well.
• INSPIRATIONAL BOARD: a collage of images meant to kick-start your imagination. It is a great way to explore ideas, finishes and set the tone for an interior design project.

Interior Design Presentation

Based on the scale of work, presentations range from an informal meeting via Zoom to a formal pitch in front of a board/ stakeholders. The goal of this process is to provide you with the visuals, the project’s story and solutions discovered during the schematic design.

It is a two-way street, we’d like to get your reaction, comments, and finally the approval to proceed to the next phase. Sometimes it takes one meeting and sometimes more to achieve the satisfying results for all project members and move on to the Design Development stage.

Design Development

At this stage of the process, also known as DD, the schematic design is detailed. Prior to this phase, we only had visual ideas. Yet to get a better understanding of project costs, work with consultants and contractors, we will need tangible drawings, called pricing plans, and specifications of materials and fixtures. At this stage of design, we exchange backgrounds with architects, engineers and other consultants involved in the project. There are 3 steps in this process:

• MATERIAL BOARD: Adhering to the schematic concept, finish materials such as tiles, stones, wallpapers, trims, paint colors etc. will be selected to solidify the design concept. The final choice will be included on the pricing plans to continue to the next phase.
• FIXTURE SPECIFICATION: this will include but not limited to lighting and electrical fixtures, plumbing fixtures.
• PRICING PLANS: To evaluate the project cost and to confirm that we are on budget, we will start with the pricing plans when we are half way invested in the project. As some decisions are not yet finalized, we can include some alternate routes that can be priced out to help with the decision making. Just like any design plans, pricing plans include the typical demolition plans, partition plan, furniture plans, electrical and reflected ceiling plan, finish plan millwork design.

Consultant coordination

Consultants are essentially the extension of the project team. They may include engineers, architects, IT and Security specialists, artists etc.

For the success of the project, all the team members will need to work towards the same project's goal but in their own speciality, so the results are seamless. Coordination, communication, exchanging of background files between each discipline is how we get all of the specialists on the same page.

We conduct peer review of other team members’ documents for compliance with the design intent. It creates a check and balances model for the design process.