Process

Initial Meeting
Red Level representatives will meet with you at your home to discuss ideas and goals. Subsequent meetings may be required, but we will work to gather as much information as we can, so that we can provide you with an early understanding of the available design options, and develop a target scope of work and budget for your project.

Proposal
The design concept, scope of work and target budget are presented in our Initial Proposal. The proposal is based on the information collected to this point and will include our assumptions on the details, materials and level of finishes for your project.

Design Contract
Once Red Level and the homeowner have agreed upon a conceptual design, scope of work and target budget, a Design Contract is presented. The contract is our commitment to work together through the design, with the intent to continue on as partners through construction.

Design Phase
Once we’ve entered in our design contract, the design phase begins. We partner with a small handful of architects, designers and engineers, and we will assemble the team that we feel is the best fit for you, and for your project. We’ll meet to review the project goals, document the existing conditions of the house, and then start to draw the plans. We’ll review the drawings with you, get your feedback, and make revisions. This is an iterative process, and along the way, we’re checking our assumed scope of work and target budget to make sure we’re staying on track. We won’t get too far down a path if the scope is extending beyond a budget that’s comfortable. At the appropriate times, structural and civil engineers will be brought in to do their work,, subcontractors will come to the house to evaluate the requirements and provide their bids, and we’ll eventually arrive at a set of drawings that’s ready for permit.

Material, Fixture and Finish Selection
Throughout the design phase, our design team will work with you to develop kitchen and bath drawings, and make material and finish selections. There are lots of decisions to be made, and while each one of them can feel important, our team will guide you through the process, creating a cohesive feel for the entire project. They’ll also take care to work within the original budgets that have been established, and give you options if certain choices are exceeding those initial targets.

Final Contract
The construction contract can be executed once drawings are finalized and all selections with significant cost impacts have been made. Once the contract is executed, we will submit a permit application.

Note that the above process is for our design/build projects, which make up the majority of our work. We also work with clients that have their own design team - in those cases, we fold the project into our process as efficiently as possible, depending on where the project is in design development when it comes to us.