Architects, Architecture Firms, & Building Designers in Ionia

“Holly helped my fiancé and me design our dream home over the course of fall/winter 2022. She was so open to all of our ideas and put our minds to rest when we had thoughts that seemed "out there". She also had great feedback and ideas of her own to include that she thought would go along with our aesthetic of the home. One of our favorite parts was being able to do a virtual walk-through of the layout to review the smaller details that would not show up in a basic house plan. We added several little details at that stage that we are very excited to see when building begins. It was also wonderful that she drafted a basic electrical plan and included notes on the plan about future things we wanted to account for. We would absolutely recommend Holly and her team!”

“Visbeen Associates have great vision and unique perspectives that bring a challenging project to a beautiful end. We are very pleased with what Visbeen has accomplished for us!”

“Curt and the Team at Sketchpad were a pleasure to deal with starting Day 1. The 1st house we did turned out better than expected and is a huge hit on the vacation rental program. We have since done multiple projects and looking forward to many more!”

“When we decided to build our home, we were pretty naive to the process. We are blessed to have met Ryan and 42º North to help educate us on the process, and point out specific things we never thought of. Ryan has been the single most important asset in our home-build process – not only designing us a house we absolutely love, but also looking out for our best interests when dealing with other parties, such as builders, vendors, etc. The integrity that the guys at 42º North have is rare, and something that shouldn’t be taken lightly. They are swift to hold your hand through the process, and the design work is top-notch. Ryan’s communication is also amazing, making the process with him stress-free and easy going. 42º North is the only architecture firm we will ever recommend and use should we decide to build again. We’re happy to take a friendship out of this year-long process as well, and that is something that you can never put a price on.” Steve & Ashley E, Ada MI”

“Gifted home designer. Understands the role of sustainability in affordability and personalized function. Eric has set a new standard in home design, delivering LEED-Platinum certification at entry level through custom price points. My role as a third-party auditor for a variety of national performance building programs affords me a unique opportunity to see hundreds of architects, designers and builders. Eric Hughes stands out in a very crowded field.”

“Our kitchen was trapped in the 1970's, and there did not seem to be an easy way to bring it into the present. Brenda walked us through the design process with ease. She has a wealth of ideas, and steered us towards likewise-creative professionals to help with each aspect of the project. She is a design genius - taking careful note of what we liked, where we wanted to end up, and found such a creative way to get us a kitchen better than we ever could have envisioned. We love our new kitchen! It is exactly what we wanted, and is the perfect blend of function and fun. She has also helped design our adjoining family room space, giving us a new dining area. Hiring Brenda from B-Squared Design Studio was one of the best decisions we made for our project. We would recommend her to anyone wanting to breathe new life into their home.”

“Jeff Visser is an extremely skilled and talented residential designer. He has an amazing eye for detail, scale, and proportion. His home flow well and have tremendous character and charm. I think that anyone that meets him and see's his work, will understand why he is one of the top designers in West Michigan and will want to work with him. I highly recommend J. Visser Design and will continue to enjoy building his homes.”

“Sears Architect designed a 3100 sq house for us in East Grand Rapids, MI. We have never built a home previously. We found the design process to be very efficient which resulted in a home that matches our needs and wants. The Sears project manager was very responsive and Rob Sears seemed to be full informed and involved at all times. Having said this there were many heartaches that occurred that could in part be mitigated with up front client education. In talking with another friend who build a house with Sears last year, our experience was similar to theirs. 1. Architectural costs - designing a custom build house is more expensive and has more components than one would expect. Multiple site surveys, structural engineers, each set of more detailed plans add to the final cost. We spent $xxxxx for plans - which were the refinement of a plan presented to us in a design build proposal by the builder. In addition we used an interior designer recommended by the architect another $xxxx. We would have been happier if we had a fixed predefined budget as the builder led us to believe the costs would be about $25,000. Having said this, Rob Sears was very responsive to financial questions and happily and promptly provided the billing records that justified their billings. In addition I felt Rob made a strong effort to follow the project to completion and did quite a bit after delivery of the plans, uncompensated, to finish the job. In the end we are very happy with Sears Architects - but wiser for the experience. 2. Cost of building. We learned that there was essentially no communication between our builder and the architect regarding the building allowances and the costs of the developed plan. Our home ended up xx% over budget, despite most components falling within allowances - the builder just underbid to get the work. What I learned from the process is that is not the architects job, rather the home owners sole responsibility, to verify all components are accuately costed prior to contracting a builder. 3. Interior designer. We did not expect how important the interior designer would be in implementing the design of the home - guiding interior and exterior materials, designing lighting schemes, plumbing, etc as well as planning for furniture layout. Sears recommended Christine DiMaria. We separately retained her. My wife and I thought she did a great job - design, providing perspective from other project, helping sort priorities, communicating with the architect and in general holding our hands through the up and downs of the 10 month process. We were glad we used a designer who had worked with the architect before. 4. Landscape design. This was a separate contract and budget through a landscape architect. Sears coordinated well re the placement of the house on the lot, grade decisions needed so proper retention walls could be planned and built by the Landscape team. So overall, I feel that Sears Architecture is a terrific firm that does good work. We are very happy with the completed product of our home. We would recommend them to other home buyers.”

“Our experience with Lucid Architecture has been 100% spectacular from start to finish. Eric possesses every ideal quality a client would seek in an architect: honesty, intellect, ingenuity, and humor. He excels in the ability to take what is conceptual and transform it to actual. If there were 6 stars to allocate, we would do so for Lucid.”

“I have worked with Via Design as an Owner Representative and have referred them to multiple shared clients who have had very good experiences with Via Design.”