Smart Process
A fully integrated design process allows a project team to coordinate its design efforts from the start of a project, fostering collaboration and innovation while limiting conflicts between building systems and other design choices.
At Stevens & Associates, we achieve integration by having architecture, engineering, and landscape architecture under one roof. This allows us to see the interaction between a building and its site, as well as the larger context. We also develop close partnerships with outside experts and contractors to make sure we have the total picture.
When you look at a building—or a neighborhood—holistically, you find synergies that you might miss otherwise. Siting a narrow building so its long sides run from east to west, for example, provides daylight to interior spaces and limits unwanted heat from the sun. Planting or keeping existing shade trees also helps keep the building cool and limits glare. Looking at existing buildings around your site through the eyes of several areas of expertise may provide solutions to design problems at both the building and site level.
Our work is guided by these resources, among others:
- The Whole Building Design Guide