Approach
History
SteveHallArchitecture was founded in 2013 to serve clients out of a passion for design excellence, material craft, and good building science. With over 35 years in the construction and architecture industry, broad project experience enables us to explore creative expressions and feasible construction.
The firm holds corporate licensure under the North Carolina Board of Architecture. Individual credentials include professional licensure under the same and a national certificate with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), and membership with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national, state, and local chapters:
- North Carolina Board of Architecture, License #9868
- North Carolina Architectural Firm, License #52833
- National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB)
- American Institute of Architects (AIA)
- Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Construction Documents Technology (CDT)
- USGBC Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP)
- North Carolina State University, Bachelors of Architecture (2000)
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Bachelors of Arts in Architecture (1991)
See about for a more detailed story.
Project Locations
Now in its eighth year of practice, about half of SteveHallArchitecture projects are within the intra-Triangle region of North Carolina: Morrisville, Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, and Fuquay-Varina (#MoCaApHoFu).
About a hundred projects beyond include Raleigh to Durham, Mebane to Greenville, and Fayetteville to Butner, with several farther from Bath to Black Mountain. Career-long experience is across the U.S. and international.
What We Do
Services are broadly available, tailored to the individual project. Traditional and advanced architectural services can be organized into four general phases:
Planning
- Vision concept and goals
- Site selection
- Feasibility testing
- Jump start can test feasibility prior to beginning design for unsure or complex situations.
- Residential needs analysis plans first steps
Existing Information Gathering and Evaluation
- Land survey
- Site analysis
- Architectural field survey (commercial)
- Architectural field survey (residential)
- Property Condition Assessments (PCA) for evaluating commercial real estate purchases, documented with a Property Condition Report (PCR)
- Electronic drawings and models as base information for renovations and additions
Design
- Developing multiple design concepts
- 3D modeling and rendering to explore and conceptualize design
- Typical construction and wall section
- Material selections
- Engineering strategies, services, and system sizing
- Design coordination
Documentation
- Detailed plans, elevations, interior elevations, casework drawings
- Large scale details of assemblies and conditions
- Engineering, interior design, specialties, and coordination
- Specifications for components and materials
- Construction contract and general conditions
- Drawings suitable for permit
Here are a few individual pages outlining some commonly provided services:
$/usable ≠ $/acre
Designs are created with an array of experienced consultants, as appropriate, for interior design, site planning, engineering for structural, fire protection, plumbing, mechanical, and electrical systems, and other specialties as required. The process is a partnership with clients, owners, tenants, engineers, designers, consultants, contractors, and jurisdiction officials from initial conception to the completion of construction.
Examples
Below are a few individual project examples. Click on the project to go to a dedicated page with more information about each.
Next Steps
For clients exploring project feasibility, we offer a number of services.
For commercial projects, a jump start offers and initial consultation and information gathering, along with a specific plan of action for moving forward with the project.
For residential projects, review kickstart questions with the residential needs analysis. A more in depth look on how the architectural process works is covered by the residential process.
For more on engaging services, fees, and general licensure requirements for architects and contractors, see working with an architect.
Effort
Design effort is related to three variables:
- Complexity of the project
- Design quality and sensitivity
- Detail required in the documentation to understand, price, contract, and build
These three corners of the triangle are closely linked so that for any project, no variable will be more than one level above or below the adjacent.
For example, it's unrealistic that a school wouldn't require engineering or its forms be composed. Likewise, it would be unusual for a house to require the detailed plumbing, mechanical, and electrical engineering needed for a hospital.
So then a simple formula approximates the design fee as a sum of the three percentages from each corner multiplied by the construction budget.
This is a rough rule of thumb for calculating design fees for a project. These might be adjusted for any number of specific design requirements:
- site design
- interior design
- 3D virtual model
- 3D printing
- renderings
- custom millwork and trim
- building science or performance
- existing conditions
- renovations or additions to existing buildings
- engineering
- specialists (e.g., equipment, process, healthcare, shielding, acoustics)
- style (e.g., historical, modern, minimal)
- unconventional (shipping containers, A-frames, underground, living roof)
Fees and Rates
Typically arranged as a lump sum fee, most projects require a collection of services, including design, 3D models, site evaluation, field surveys, and consultants for structure, plumbing, sewer, HVAC, electrical, telecommunications, site layout, roadway, landscape plantings and features. These vary considerably from project to project, but can be roughly calculated from the expected construction budget:
Residential New Construction: 10%–15%
Residential Renovations and Additions: 12%–17%
Commercial New Construction: 5%–9%
Commercial Renovations and Upfits: 6%–10%
Existing Building Surveys, Code Analysis,
Property Condition Assessment and Report: $1,500 + $0.10/SF – $4,000 + $0.30/SF
Questions or Ready to Begin?
If you have questions about your specific project, the design–construction process, fees, or scheduling, please reach out to any of our contacts.
(See residential approach to see the residential project version of this page.)
(See commercial approach to see the commercial project version of this page.)
