Process

Discovery, Site & Program

We begin every project with an in-depth conversation about how you live. Together we define the program and your goals for the project, plan for future needs, and often account for future generations — creating a legacy asset.

That conversation is followed by a thorough reading of the site. Orientation, topography, views, context, and local zoning all inform the design before a single line is drawn. This phase establishes the foundation for every decision that follows.

Concept & Schematic Design

From the site analysis and program brief, we develop a design concept specific to your project — not a template applied from elsewhere. We work through massing, circulation, and spatial sequence, testing proportion and scale, and locating the thresholds where interior volumes open onto the landscape.

A three-dimensional digital model is built early and carried through the phase. We use it to set the building against its site, to explore materiality — cladding, texture, and how surfaces will read in changing light — and to run sun studies that trace shadow and solar path across the day and through the seasons. The phase concludes with schematic drawings and a clear design direction for your review.

Design Development & Construction Documents

A broad phase, in which the schematic design moves from concept to hard copy. We develop a set of documents that grows in detail to depict design intent — lighting design, material assemblies, and the details that resolve how the building goes together.

From this set a detailed pricing package is issued. The project can be competitively bid among qualified builders, and this is the point at which a builder is brought onto the team. In parallel, the structure is engineered and permit applications are filed. We manage permitting directly with local authorities across New York and California.

Throughout this phase we partner with a carefully selected network of top-quality consultants — structural and MEP engineers, audio-visual and technology specialists, and interior designers — to provide a comprehensive, holistic approach that addresses every dimension of the project.

Construction Administration

The firm principal remains actively involved throughout construction — conducting regular site visits, reviewing submittals and shop drawings, and coordinating directly with your builder to ensure the design intent is fully realized. During this phase we use 3D imagery to explore interior layouts and help finalize finish selections.

This level of principal engagement at the construction phase is what separates London A+D from larger firms, and is what ensures the finished home matches the precision of the drawings.