Building Designers in Red Oaks Mill

“We have had the pleasure of working with Conklin Architecture many times now and look forward to working with them on many more projects. Conklin Architectures' attention to detail is second to none. They maintain the ability to seemlessly blend modern architecture with classic, timeless designs. With quick, attentive responses to any question that might arise, you would think your project is Conklin Architectures' main priority at any given time. Without hesitation, we would recommend Conklin Architecture to any client.”

“My husband and I were interested in a house, but saw some things that needed to be changed that were a deal breaker for us. I reached out to Stephanie and she fit it in her busy schedule to meet with us. Stephanie came to the house we were interested in and took a great amount of time walking through taking measurements and discussing all our options. She was very helpful , knowledgeable and full of insight.”

“I live in Manhattan and have a country house in the Catskills upstate. The house is a contemporary design built in the mid 1970's. The "bones" were great but the aesthetic was completely wrong. We had Kimberly redesign the interior of the entire house - from moving electrical work, plumbing, windows and walls to choosing finishes and fixtures. She is amazing and I have referred her to many friends and clients. Next.... the apartment.”

“We had a complete renovation done of our bedroom wing with 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms and a hallway under Heike's guidance. This was the 2nd project we have done with her, and we are once more thrilled with the result! What we like about Heike is that, she is a nice person to work with, she listens well, does extra research, has a lot of knowledge of materials and where to get them, and last but not least the fact that she comes from Europe and understands our modern European taste well. She introduced a number of nice touches in the overall design and paid attention to the overall energy efficiency of the renovation. She also worked with our contractor and the building department of our town. We can full-heartedly recommend her.”

“Michael Bird is a very talented and knowledgeable Architect specializing in Adirondack style homes. He designed our home and garage, obtained all permits, hired top contractors and supervised the entire construction and landscape project. The finished product is amazing. His attention to detail is impeccable. He and his staff are a pleasure to work with. They kept us up to date with progress reports and photos and met all deadlines. We are so very happy with the way our home turned out and would highly recommend Michael Bird and Adirondack Design. We will be working with Michael in the Spring of 2014 on a boathouse.”

“Hudson Design designed and provided construction management for our 3,500 sq. ft. house in Cold Spring, NY. The design process was an iterative one with many revisions resulting in a modern, loft-like weekend getaway that we use almost every week. We have become friends with the principal of Hudson Design.”

“Our Project was an 1300-sf commercial addition to a summer camp/conference center 4 season dining room facility. It included open dining space, an additional egress, and an ADA bathroom. The interior blended in perfectly with the existing dining space and added new modern flare with large windows/views. We were able to seal the addition up tight with foam/fiberglass combo insulation and the large windows were triple pain solar heat absorbing windows to help control our winter heating costs. In the summer, very large/simple shades pull down to mitigate heat gain and some of the pains are operable to let out the hot interior air. The space is not air conditioned. They were excellent at reviewing our needs and coming up with an elegant approach to our project. much to our surprise, they even built a physical model. Its hard to say if it was worth the time to do the model, but it likely abated some questioning and delays on the part of our boards and review committees. They were very considerate of our needs and worked fairly with both us and the contractor. We did have some project challenges as the project bids the first time came in way over expected prices. A testament to their character and focus on delivering a successful/quality project, they performed design modifications (structural/location) and helped us rebid the project with successful results. The changes kept with the original design elegance/simplicity and brought the bids down to a very reasonable fee. We had three change orders on our project and they were all opportunity changes to fix moisture issues on the existing unmodified portion of the building. Basically, they did a very good job scoping the project and including all info on their plans and specs. If I had to pick out any low points it would be their construction cost estimating. However, i still give them 5 stars because when things went astray, they fixed it fast and effectively. Their design prices are not rock bottom but they are MORE than fair for their skill, style, and people friendly manner. I would hire them again in a second for another project.”

“I had a great experience working with Emilia. Her ideas were always very practical and smart but with a bit of the unexpected thrown in. The originality and expertise she showed in relation to design was a wonderful asset to have, and she incorporated them all so seamlessly into the overall project. And her attention to detail ensured all areas of the project were covered and taken into account so nothing was left out. I look forward to our next project together.”

“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.”

“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!”