Value
Do you want genuine value? We have a simple way of doing business. We begin any proposal by asking:
If we work on this project, will our client be better off? Will his or her life improve because of what we do?
If we work on this project, will the world be better off? Will it be a little more comfortable, beautiful, and sustainable?
Will this be a fair exchange? Will we give our client value well beyond what we charge, and will the fee allow us to do our very best work?
We work on proposals until we can answer “Yes” to all three questions. If we can’t, then we know we're not right for the project. That’s it. Provide more in cost savings and value than we charge. Help make the world a little better.. Be paid enough to do the best possible work.
How we charge. Some architects set fees as a percent of construction costs. We don’t. Your construction budget doesn’t define the services you need, nor the effort needed to achieve comfort, beauty, performance, and value. For example, it takes real time and work to lower construction costs and still ensure quality.
We offer a free first consultation with prospective clients. We listen carefully to understand goals, needs, and challenges of the project. If we’re a good match to someone’s needs, we’ll estimate how many hours we’ll devote to the project. We’ll then multiply that by an hourly rate. If we’ll be working with engineers or other consultants, we’ll add their fees, with no markup. The total becomes a “not-to-exceed” fee cap. Then we’ll charge for the actual time we work, or the fee cap, whichever is less. Our proposals also include a schedule for our work.
We’d love to prove our worth to you. With our fees, we pass along some costs, such as document reproduction and postage.
We don’t charge travel time or mileage — for trips more than 40 miles from our office we charge a fixed stipend based on distance.
Though we don’t charge the way many some other architects do, we’re darned competitive with them. The chance to work with people who care, to help create worthwhile projects, is our major reward.
If we’re not a good match for you and your needs, we’ll be honest with you about that, and try to recommend an alternative to you if we can.
"David and Sarah's involvement in the construction process was critically important to us. We did not want to work with an architect who would hand over a roll of finished plans and then walk away… there were challenges throughout the site and foundation and framing of the house that we could not have resolved without David and Sarah's direct involvement."
“Sarah and David saved us far, far more than we paid them.”
"We constantly appreciate the inherent positive qualities of the house ― qualities that we owe largely to David and Sarah… so as we leave the process behind, we wish the best to anyone about to begin it, and know that they would be in excellent hands with Holland and Foley.”