Our clients come to us with a great variety of ideas and dreams about their projects. We sometimes are provided with a very detailed list of requirements which may be accompanied by photos or magazine clippings of examples our clients like and diagrams of proposed solutions. Other times we are simply asked to create a design “that feels right” and meets our client’s needs. In any case we see our clients’ aesthetic and practical requirements as the main driving forces in this process and in this phase we work with them to develop, understand and accommodate their needs.
Through a series of concept sketches and layouts we then begin to shape design alternatives in our minds and on paper. These initial drawing are based on what we learned about our clients’ tastes and needs, as well as the site and the budget, and are the starting point from which we further develop the design concept. It is rare that a perfect design is realized at the very beginning of this phase and it usually takes several revisions until we have a design concept that meets all requirements.
We have found that this process allows us to better understand our clients’ needs and it also gives our clients the opportunity to understand more about the design process. At the end of this phase we arrive at a concept that everybody is happy with and that accommodates the criteria that everyone agreed upon. Developing the design concept is the first and most important step in a design process which is shaped by the site, our clients, their tastes, needs, and budget, and Crisp Architects.
