Архитектурный дизайн Hempstead, NY

“Gustavson Dundes provided complete architectural and design services for a redesign and renovation of a 1950's Cape home , and transformed it to a modern colonial. The project was challenging in that the footprint of the house was narrow, and my wish list was long! GD excelled in ensuring the efficient use of small spaces. In particular, the family room includes a desk area and a small bar. They were flexible and listened to my concerns throughout the project. When I decided, rather late to flip a tub from the master bath to the guest bath, they made the change easily. They worked closely with the contractor and monitored progress through out.”

“My home is one of the exhibits listed here. This architect was easy to work with and gave appropriate and timely advice when needed. She is currently working another project for me, a renovation of a Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice work in the Berkshires.”

“My husband and I bought a house with some problems that we didn’t realize were there, the biggest of which was an unpermitted finished basement. When we decided to renovate, we asked Ryan to come in and help us design a space which would both work for us and bring the house up to code. We did not make a mistake with that choice. Ryan came in and took a few measurements, then spent time talking to us about what we wanted in our basement. We had some vague ideas (a laundry area for me, an office space for my husband, and some storage). Ryan took our simple thoughts and turned them into a plan for an amazing basement. He found ways to maximize the light and storage space in our basement that we never thought possible. He gave us everything we asked for and more with those designs. It didn’t stop there, though. Ryan continued to help us navigate the insanely complicated permitting process with our local authorities. He handled all the paperwork for us, picking up forms and dropping off checks at the town. He was here for inspections to help us with the inspector. He worked with us, our contractor, and the town to help resolve the additional unpermitted work that was found in our house during those inspections. He made sure we got the safe, up to code, legal (permitted) house we wanted and reduced our stress level during the whole thing. He was a godsend! I don’t think we could have made it through that work without him. If we ever decide to do more work on our house, he is most definitely our first phone call.”

“LEAP designed our modern and green home addition. They handled much of the creative work on the project, as well as detailed renderings, bid consultations, and construction supervision. LEAP's work was very creative and responded directly to our needs. They found ways to get energy efficiency and modern design details into a "buildable" and cost-conscious project. They are humble, hardworking, and consistent. I would choose to work with LEAP Architecture again without hesitation.”

“My husband and I are absolutely thrilled with the work performed by John Patrick. He went above and beyond to ensure that our vision and goals were captured in the final design. We know that when we finally move into our renovated home, we will enjoy it that much more because we worked with John. We bought a1930s colonial - our first home - and while we knew that something needed to be done to it, we couldn't figure out exactly what. John Patrick is a highly trained and skilled designer, who helped us realize ideas about our space that we didn't see before. Not only did he come up with beautiful and practical solutions to the problems we saw in the home, he willingly worked within the existing constraints of the space, i.e., the location of plumbing, load-bearing walls, etc. We held frequent check-points during our design phase. During each one, John Patrick was thoughtful and professional. We never felt embarrassed or uncomfortable bringing our ideas to the table. He was always very tactful in explaining which ideas made sense and which could be reconsidered in order to maximize space and functionality. We wanted to work with an architect who would share his professional expertise, and not simply sketch whatever we asked him to. John is definitely that architect. And yet, when there were personal elements that my husband and I were unwilling to bend on - no matter how impractical - John found a way to make them work. After each check-point, John created great drawings that helped us visualize the space. These were invaluable for two business professionals trying to make design choices with no design experience. Once our designs were final, John even produced renderings that helped us select fixtures and furniture to fit in our space. These renderings alone have received glowing compliments from all our friends and colleagues. The renderings were also very impressive to our contractor, who is overseeing the construction of our home, as were the construction documents that John produced. The construction documents helped us during the bid phase, when we were trying to select a contractor, and have served as the “source of truth” during the construction phase. We absolutely recommend working with John Patrick Cunningham. You will be happy you did!”

“I can count on several fingers the times I have found a local business partner that I'd describe as a rockstar, and Brian Hopkins is on that short list. On Christmas Eve, my wife and I were out doing errands. We got a call from our teenage son, telling us that water was raining down from the upstairs bathroom, through our microwave and stove, into the basement, onto the furnace and water heater. There was some once-in-a-century rapid drop in temperature, we had some poorly insulated pipes, and one of those pipes ruptured in the floor of that second floor bathroom resulting in that disaster. Total nightmare. Thankfully, one of the other rockstars on our short list of local business partners is our general contractor. We already had a plan on the shelf to renovate that bathroom, our contractor was available, we were able to get all our tile and bathroom fixtures picked out and procured in record time, and shortly after New Year's our GC started the repairs and creating the bathroom of our dreams. Salvation! Everything was going awesome, until the building department showed up. In a rush, we neglected to get a building permit. We weren't being shady or playing games. We were just hasty and ignorant and didn't do the things we needed to do. We got an immediate stop-work order. And the only way to get back on track was to find an architect to do proper code-compliant architectal drawings for our already-in-progress bathroom renovation. I quickly learned that there are not a lot of residential architects hurting for business, certainly not at that time of year. I literally called at least 15 different places. Either people were too busy, or weren't interested in the project. I finally found one who couldn't take the job, but said "hey, we know this other guy in the area who is super good, that we refer people to when we're busy. His name is Brian Hopkins." Somebody directing business to a competitor?? I now understand why they referred me. Brian is only the second architect I've ever worked with, but as far as I can tell, he's as good as it gets. I was able to get in touch with him immediately, and he agreed to take on the work. He was incredibly transparent and clear about what he was going to do, when he was going to do it, and what it would cost. Throughout the process he was super responsive, empathetic, organized, patient, professional, and enjoyable to work with. He didn't nickel and dime us or play games; he was clearly focused on good customer service and outcomes. And from what I can tell, both the building department and my GC were very happy with the quality of his work. The entire ordeal we went through, particularly involving the building department and fines and delays was horrible. Had we not found Brian, had he not been so excellent, the situation might have been unbearable. He literally was our savior. It's absurd not to want to work with someone like this.”

“Very helpful and organized. Helped walk us through designing a 2nd story addition. Drew up a few interior and exterior options and walked us through pros and cons before picking one. Assisted builder with question as they came up.”

“We had never been homeowners, let alone renovators, before we bought a brownstone in Carroll Gardens, and ACHA was the perfect partner to get us through a daunting process to the home we wanted. Ali helped us figure out and then implement the right plan for us. He was great on the big picture and the detail -- taking the time to learn our style preferences and developing them into options we never would have thought of on our own. He was patient with us and effective at translating our priorities (and financial constraints!) to the contractors. Ali made optimal use of our limited space -- fitting in a powder room on a parlor floor, where it didn't seem one could fit, along with an open living/dining area, and three comfortable bedrooms and two baths on the garden level. And he designed a fabulous deck and got us through the treacherous Department of Building approval process for it! I cannot overstate the unusual combination of aesthetic sophistication and practical know-how ACHA offers.”

“Neil is amazing. I am a new developer and he was always available, explained everything to me and helped me make intelligent choices. As a result my four rental apartments always get rented within a week. They look like condo finishes but did not cost nearly as much as how expensive they look. In addition I ran into some structural and equipment problems. He helped streamline the repairs and helped me feel confident that I was making the right choices for my building. My project lasted for a couple of years because after I renovated two of the units two more became available. It was always a pleasure to have Neil on my team. He can tackle any project from small to large!”

“Michael Lewis is a consummate designer with years of experience, talent, and organizational ability. We felt supported by Michael and his able firm throughout our project. There was a culture of sensitivity to our needs throughout the firm and skillful handling of issues as they inevitably cropped up. The firm worked with our century old house to bring it into the modern age, by retrofitting an amazing kitchen into limited space and converting an unusable attic space into a dream master bedroom suite with dormers, increasing our living space significantly. We highly recommend this firm!”