Absolutely! The basics are Scope, Budget, Timeline - we can help define all of those if needed!

Scope will help define the what - is it a kitchen remodel, a primary suite addition, a new home, or something else entirely?

Budget will define how much you are willing to spend for the Scope. We want to be sure that you’re on the path to success and aligned with the reality of the market - unfortunately you cannot build a new home $45,000, but we can help determine what a reasonable budget should be for a defined scope.

The Timeline is a multi-part how long - how long will the design process take and how long will construction take. We can provide opinions on the timing of both design and construction to better set your expectations.

We’d recommend our hourly consultation service to help get your arms around the project before you bite into a full services agreement. We may discover that you don’t need us and that’s okay!

There are a lot of potential ‘next steps’, and we will outline a few of them:

Do you have a project site? If you don’t have a project site yet, we can help you select one based on your criteria. We can also help position and orient the house on your site once you have one. Maybe there are certain views that you would like to focus on or hide. There are site conditions that we want to review, too. Is there a flood plain that needs to be avoided? Prevailing winter winds that we want to shield from? What about sun angles to avoid overheating in the latter part of the day? There are many pre-design factors to consider.

You like the plan, but do you love it? Maybe you need to add another bathroom. Maybe you want to add a scullery or a screened porch. Maybe you want a larger family entrance. We can review the plan with you in real time and start moving things around - this can be in person or digitally. Our process is more custom, tailoring each project to its owner and site.

You probably need construction documents. These are the ‘manual’ for how to put the house together, but we will need to provide some additional details and drawings to ensure a comfortable and healthy home. Most homes today ignore the basics and we’ve, as a society, seemingly been fine with uncomfortable and unhealthy homes. Many designers and architects focus on the aesthetics, which are important, but most also ignore these invisible layers. We don’t take short cuts. Health and comfort are non-negotiable. The house can be beautiful but if it makes you sick, what’s the point?

Do you have a builder? Maybe you need help finding some folks to build or renovate your home. Maybe you do have one but want a second set of eyes to make sure all of the design elements are included. We can help with this. We have over a decade of construction experience so we can be the bridge for the conversations with the builder. We want to be on your team!

Our goal is providing well-designed, healthy and comfortable homes. Our processes are setup towards that goal, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t helped folks with other projects.

The best way to determine if we’re a fit is to fill out our contact form and we can have a quick chat about your needs.

Depends on what we’re providing! This is a similar answer to if I ask you how much your groceries will cost. Are you getting spaghetti and some canned vegetables? Or are you buying prime rib and organic vegetables? The pricing depends on the level and amount of service provided.

Go check out our process page and we’ll give you a loose idea of where we have historically landed on each. However, this doesn’t mean all projects land in that range; it’s the average range. We’ve been outside the range.

We are ready! We will have an initial meeting (virtual or phone call) to determine if we’re a good fit together. We can typically schedule an intro meeting within a week of contact, and from there we’ll be able to better outline the pace of the project.

Our typical design process takes 4-12 months, but not every project falls in that range. The project type, scale, and complexity will be one of the main drivers in determining that timeline, as will your ability to make decisions.

Let’s chat about your project and how we can help!

We are a full-service architecture studio, meaning that we can help you from the initial sketches through construction. Pop over to the Process Page for a more detailed description of our service. In most cases, we tailor our services to your specific needs.

Maybe. Your jurisdiction may or may not require an architect for your type of project, but we aren’t just expensive draftspeople - if you’re only using an architect to draw lines, you’ll be unhappy with the value you receive. Architects are useful for so many things but overall: problem solving. Architects are great at problem solving and designing creative solutions to unique challenges. The drawing portion becomes the how-to solve the problem. Let’s chat how we help you!

A project that prioritizes comfort and health. This is at the core of the project and structure. It’s easy to resolve these challenges before a shovel is in the ground. It’s possible once it’s built but we can’t reorient the building so fixing it is much more costly than if we can build it from the ground up. 

A project that has constraints versus a no-budget tire-kicker with pie-in-the-sky aspirations. We can design in a vacuum but ultimately everyone has a budget. We’ve not been on a project that had unlimited resources yet! Also, the constraints are one of the elements that makes a project unique.

This is a good question but not easily answered. The short and quick answer is that it depends! The scale and scope of the project will push that figure around.

We’ve worked on a variety of projects, ranging from 300$/SF up over $750/SF. We use the conditioned area of the home to find this figure, so we exclude porches and garage in that area. For planning purposes, we suggest starting with 450$/SF and you won’t be frustrated that this and that weren’t ‘included’ in the assumption.

Yes! Some folks are concerned that we price our services based upon the cost of construction. That’s not the case - we evaluate each project on a case-by-case basis to determine how long we think each phase of the project will take and the value that we provide. A helpful check is to balance against the cost of construction. Due to the economies of scale, smaller projects tend to end up with soft costs being a higher percentage than a larger project. The same is generally true for renovation/addition work versus a new construction project. We want to help you understand what you can get for your money - for example, if you want to build a 5,000 SF house for $225k, we can quickly tell you that it’s not going to be possible, even if you can do all of the labor yourself.

Every project has a budget, whether it be a time budget or a financial budget.

We encourage folks to consider needs, wants, and dreams. These are in order of importance and can help finetune as we consider budgeting.

The needs are the bare essentials. You need your home to be comfortable and healthy. It cannot be creating health risks for you. You need high-performance windows, but you don’t need floor-to-ceiling glass.

The wants are a step above the needs and these are items that if you have the means, you want to add to the project. Remember those high-performance windows, maybe you want them to be floor-to-ceiling! Maybe you want fully custom cabinetry because you prioritize the kitchen as your center of home and it should support that.

Then we get to dreams. This is yet another step up. Perhaps those floor-to-ceiling windows, you’d like to have automated shades that draw at certain times of the day, or lighting that turns on/off similarly. The dreams are typically the things that should get trimmed first if we’re up against a budget constraint.

The bulk of our work has been in Indiana, but our service territory is the Midwest US, and on a case-by-case basis, we are happy to (and have) explore projects outside that territory

We are currently only licensed in Indiana but maintain NCARB to get reciprocity as needed elsewhere.

It’s a good idea understand who you want on your team!

Why Sted versus another design firm or designer? We pack a punch of experience having worked in a role as architect AND construction manager, we are several steps ahead of the average designer. Our past clients will vouch for that. We also hold certificates, in addition to our license, which require maintenance via continuing education. That means we aren’t ‘doing what we’ve always done’, we’re always learning and refining our process.

It’s important to compare and make sure the proposals are apples-to-apples. Again, for example, we have over a decade of architecture experience, a decade of construction management experience, we’re comfortable working with and alongside the tradespeople, not perched atop an ivory tower pointing fingers. We aren’t afraid to get dirty.

We’re here to provide the best service - focused on exceptional comfort and healthy homes, not code minimums. We want to give you a home of the future, not a home that’s designed for 20 years ago.

LEED is a reasonable, single step in the right direction, but Passive House takes many steps further to reduce operational utility costs and create comfortable and healthy spaces. If we’re using ‘code-built’ as a measuring stick, passive house structures should be achieving 80-90% less energy use - that means direct savings every month. There are other ‘green’ programs out there but none that are as building science-focused and performance-based.

This is a fantastic question, but it’s similar to us asking you how much your groceries cost? The answer of course is: it depends! On the whole, a passive house construction could cost 0-10% more than a standard custom home. In some areas where passive house is more prevalent, it’s actually possible for the build to cost less! The operation of that passive house home will be much less than a standard home.

Yes*.

This question can have multiple meanings, so we have some clarifications.

Yes, we can absolutely help you through the process of vetting and selecting a contractor, and continuing in construction to help answer questions, and more.

If the question is more along the lines of ‘can we build your house for you?’, the answer becomes “maybe”. We have a decade of construction management experience, and while we’re not focusing our efforts in that direction, for the right project, we’re happy to have the discussion.