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Our Process
Every Merideth Cole Architecture project moves through five clear phases. You always know which phase you are in, what you will receive at the end of it, and what it costs. No black boxes, no open-ended billing.
The Five Phases
Each phase ends with something you can see and approve before the next one starts, so the project moves forward on your terms, not ours.
We start by understanding the site, your budget, and how you actually intend to live in or use the space. This programming phase turns a wish list into a defined scope - square footage, room relationships, must-haves, and the realistic budget range the design has to hit.
We translate the program into form - floor plans, massing studies, and early exterior concepts. You will see two or three directions, and we refine toward one. This is where the big moves get decided: orientation for passive solar, where the light comes from, how spaces flow.
The chosen scheme gets resolved. Wall assemblies, window and door selections, structural approach, and interior architecture - built-ins, millwork, materials - are all locked in. We coordinate early with structural and MEP engineers so nothing surprises us later.
We produce the complete, code-compliant drawing set a contractor builds from and the City of Austin reviews. Then we submit for permit and manage the back-and-forth - plan-review comments, revisions, and resubmittals - through approval, so you never have to navigate the permit desk yourself.
During construction we stay involved - reviewing contractor submittals and shop drawings, answering field questions, making site visits at key milestones, and confirming the work matches the drawings. The goal is simple: the building that gets built is the building we designed.
We stay on site through construction, so what gets built is what we drew.
No commitment past the phase you approve. Or call (512) 555-0173 and we will walk you through what your project needs.
Five phases later: the final walkthrough.
Questions
Most projects move through five phases: consultation and programming (defining scope, site, and budget), schematic design (early plans and concepts), design development (resolving materials, structure, and details), construction documents and permitting (the stamped set the city reviews and the contractor builds from), and construction administration (staying involved during the build). Every Merideth Cole Architecture project follows this sequence, scaled to the size of the work.
A home addition or renovation typically runs 3 – 5 months for design and construction documents, plus construction time. A full custom home usually runs 6 – 9 months through design, permitting, and documents before ground is even broken. Timelines shift with scope, how quickly decisions get made, and the City of Austin's review queue - we give you a realistic schedule at the first consultation.
Fees are set once the scope is defined in Phase 1 - usually as a percentage of construction cost or a fixed fee - and you approve them before design work begins, so there is no open-ended billing. Structural and MEP engineering is coordinated in-house and quoted up front. City of Austin permit and plan-review fees are paid to the jurisdiction and are separate from our design fee.
Yes. Because Merideth is a licensed Texas architect, she can stamp the construction documents the city requires. We prepare the permit submittal, respond to plan-review comments, and manage revisions and resubmittals through approval - you do not have to deal with the permit desk yourself. On historic-district, floodplain, or variance sites we flag the extra review steps at the start.
You can. The phases are contracted so you have a natural decision point at the end of each one. Many clients complete Schematic Design first to lock in the direction and confirm the budget, then decide whether to continue into Design Development and construction documents. You are never committing to the full scope before you have seen where the design is going.
Yes - that is the Construction Administration phase. We review contractor submittals and shop drawings, answer field questions, visit the site at key milestones, and walk the punch list at the end. Staying engaged through the build is how we make sure the finished project actually matches the drawings, rather than drifting during construction.
Schedule a consultation and we will walk you through Phase 1 - the site, your budget, and exactly what your project will take.
