Architects, Architecture Firms, & Building Designers in Grand Rapids

“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!”

“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!”

“Dan listened to our wishes and worked up possible alternatives. Then he met with us to discuss the options and trade-offs. He was very accommodating and resourceful. We have already recommended him to others. He personally visited our building site to get the full picture. Great job, Dan.”

“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.”

“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.”

“Great to work with very responsive and uber creative and talented. HIGHLY recommend! You will be very happy with results!”

“My wife and I got Tom's name from neighbors in Rogers City where we own a cottage that needed renovating. It has always been our desire to retire up north and we needed to do a major "overhaul" to make the cottage into more of a HOME. We met with Tom several times and provided him with our ideas (our wants and dreams) and our "budget", and we started working from there. Tom has an uncanny ability to visualize things that are not even in the normal person's "realm of possibility". We originally thought our only option would be to tear the cottage down and start completely over - but it didn't take Tom long to develop a plan that allows us to keep the majority of the cottage as is - adding on and giving it a facelift to make it all work together. Amazing results! Not only did we get a home better than we dreamed possible, but this allowed us to stay within our budget as well. We are now in the process of putting the plans out for bids, and hopefully we can get started on our "dream home" either late in 2013 or sometime in 2014. We would highly recommend Tom Parker to anyone who has a renovation project, or a new build, as he definitely thinks "outside the box" and can make your home or vacation spot truly something tailored specifically to YOU. He is extremely accessible, willing to listen to any option, and full of great ideas. He stays current with all of the newest "trends" and has completed a lot of spectacular renovations which gave us a chance to see his work first-hand. Can't say enough good things - but Tom's at the top of our list for any work we will do in the future.”

“Jim is an extremely talented architect and we had a great experience working with him. We could not have been more satisfied with his design and what I was expecting to be a much more difficult process. Jim tailored every detail of our plan to our lifestyle. From the master closet, to the dog wash. He is obviously experienced and it was a pleasure working with him on the design of our custom home! HIGHLY recommend Create 3.”

“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.”

“The Berghuis Construction team and work product are exceptional. Across our entire custom build project, they maintained our desired outcome as the primary driver for every decision. They were patient with our learning curve as first-time custom build clients, and receptive to our needs both in terms of the house project as well as our customer service needs. The experience was a joy and our new house is stunning. We plan to work with BC again on our future building needs.”