Clark Richardson Architects

Finding the right architect is daunting. You collect potential names from friends, do your research, and tour some homes, but none of this due diligence prepares you for how deeply personal the journey of designing a home with your chosen professional really is. We are so grateful we found Ed and April, principals at Clark Richardson Architecture. Through their process, we drilled down and dissected our list of wants and needs, finding that there was a big difference in what we thought our vision was and what the vision really needed to be! Ed and April are keenly inquisitive, highly receptive and genuine. Throughout the design phase they were able to weed through our idea overload and focus the design into a home that fits us beautifully, and continues to surprise us. Their knowledge of materials, products, construction best practices, home tech, green living, and—it has to be said—City Code, is astonishing. That they hold this knowledge and are able to patiently guide you through it sets them apart. They are a small firm with big office power. Ed and April pick up the phone when you call and yet they are also able to specify the final building set of plans to the nail (literally!) like they have a back office of 20. We still have moments at home where we take in a view corridor, a special vignette, or we walk from the carport to the house under the steel cantilever walkway they designed and think, Thank You Ed and April!

Clark Richardson Architects are the perfect combination of creative and professional. Their ability to drill into what a client wants/needs and execute a plan with precision and detail all the way through is unrivaled. They were professional and communicative with us through the entire design and build process. They simplified what can be an overwhelming number of decisions and walked us through more intricate details of the process. During a tough time for consistent construction budgets and timelines, their detailed plans and communication made it possible to anticipate and avoid many potential pitfalls. The end result for us is a dream home with all of the qualities that are important to our family. Ed and April are absolutely the best!

We worked with Clark Richardson Architects on a whole house gut renovation of our South Austin home. They transformed what had been a dark home with no flow into a beautiful light-filled space that suits our family's needs perfectly. Ed and April were amazing to work with. They understand how a family and a couple want to use space. They understood our style, offered us an array of choices, and were respectful of our budget. They are highly talented professionals and good people. Big construction projects can be daunting--Ed and April will guide you through the process and help you achieve the home you've always wanted.

We are in love with our new home! Ed and April were wonderful to work without throughout the entire design and build process. They were flexible, attentive, and really captured our style and our needs. There were many moments when I second guessed design elements, fixtures or finishes. Their response through these moments was supportive without being blown around by my whims and changing ideas (which was all the time). They were keepers of the vision while still incorporating our ideas and our feedback. The result is a home that is beautifully designed and functional (thanks to them) and also feels like “us” and like we had a hand in making it. This was our first home build, so we don’t have anything to compare to, but the level of responsiveness felt really above and beyond. Last but not least, the level of detail and foresight in the plans made for a virtually seamless build process. Many, many headaches bypassed by working with these guys. So incredibly grateful for Ed and April.

April and Ed built us our dream house. We started with a complicated lot — very old house that we wanted to preserve that was built into a hill, some precious heritage live oaks to preserve. We knew we needed an architect who could build us something exceptionally functional for a family to really live in day in and day out, the preservation skills to understand the old house, as well as the vision for beautiful to match our aesthetic sensibilities and the character of the neighborhood. They went above and beyond. Working them was a breeze. We had never done anything like this before and they made every step of the way accessible, understanding + seeing our vision and taking it to places we did not have the professional insight to imagine ourselves. They helped with every obstacle, from our lot through permitting and beyond. We love it, our neighbors love it, random passerbys walking down the street call out to let us know they love it. Thank you, Ed and April, for being the best!

We are now living in our dream house after working with Clark Richardson over the past year and a half. The process was collaborative, creative, fun and enjoyable. The attention to detail and quality was terrific. The result is a beautiful home!

We hired Clark Richardson Architects for a major renovation of our home in Westlake. We gutted the first floor and added a third room to the 2nd floor. Ed and April transformed the dated interior and exterior into a modern open floor plan that took advantage of our wonderful views of Lake Austin. They were great to work with during the entire process. An added plus was having a husband and wife team that could incorporate the practicalities of raising a family without sacrificing design. We would highly recommend Clark Richardson Architects!

If you are looking to build your dream house, and want to have absolutely every detail covered down to the last nail, April & Ed the Co Owners of Clark Richardson Architects, are your people. There process started with my wife and I sending over photos of homes we love and styles we love. A few weeks later April & Ed presented to us a home that was 10X better than we could have ever dreamed of! Their focus on incredible design can not be overlooked, they incorporated every feature we wanted and even surprised us with features we didn't know we needed! After we decided on final renderings, April & Ed found, vetted, and got bids from great builders around town. They were able to find us really high quality builders who were a fraction of the cost of the other builders we spoke with. I could not recommend them higher!! April and Ed are the kind of people you dream of getting to work with when it comes to building a custom home!

Clark-Richardson Architects is a wonderful architecture firm! We had the privilege to work with April Clark and Ed Richardson on our new home design that is now in full-on construction in Austin. They are outstanding in all aspects -- getting the clear needs/wishes/visions from the client, developing creative alternatives and solutions, producing meticulous and constructor-praised drawings, and maintaining integrity of design and vision through the construction phases. April and Ed are personable, creative, fun, great listeners and keep the process moving in clear, efficient and enjoyable direction.

I give April and Ed my highest recommendation and will continue to use them for future projects. Their professionalism and knowledge is exceptional and our project is better than we expected. They met every deadline and continued to work with us and the contractor to help make sure the completion and punch lists were complete to our satisfaction.

We found Clark Richardson Architects because they were remodeling a home a few streets over from our lot in Hyde Park. We loved how they were modernizing an older home and blending the new architecture so that it compliments the neighborhood. We were unsure if they would fit our budget because of their high-end aesthetic, but they were reasonably priced, approachable, eager to accommodate all of our ideas and even included our 10 year old son at the meetings. It was important to us to not look like so many other new houses in Austin, and they created a mid-century modern design that is unlike anything I have seen anywhere, yet still fits in perfectly. On a daily basis I am amazed at the details they included like the beautiful sizes, shapes and locations of the windows. And I did not realize our ceilings would bring me so much joy! Ed and April are talented, honest, professional, FUN, and care about their clients and Austin.

It has been a joy to work with Clark/Richardson to design a guesthouse that will be our winter residence in Austin. We chose Clark/Richardson because we like their aesthetic. The unexpected bonus is that they are also delightful people with an approach that makes decisions seem effortless. Ed Richardson is collaborative, responsive, knowledgeable, a good listener, an excellent problem-solver and an effective communicator. While this was a relatively small project, there were a lot of specific things that we wanted and he had to assure compliance with the many requirements from the City of Austin. In addition, he had to accommodate the needs of our family in the existing, somewhat quirky main house. We knew we were in good hands as he navigated the many challenges with expertise and a calm demeanor. He helped us find a contractor that was a good fit for us, and he was available throughout the construction to advise us. We are thrilled with both the design process and our beautiful new guesthouse!

I've worked with CRA on two different projects - a 2,900 sq. ft. spec house and a 2,000 SF addition to my own house. Ed & April have a collaborative approach to design, and were always flexible with our requests. They work very efficiently and always kept to schedules. Ed is a real sleuth when it comes to the local Austin codes and ordinances. From a creative standpoint, their architecture is well proportioned interior and exterior. They spend a great deal of time getting the openings and door heights just right. We felt they understood our needs and on a personal note were just wonderful to work with.

Beyond the excellent work, what I most appreciated was the recommendations and options provided for each design decision instead of requiring me to research everything myself and always know exactly what I wanted.

I have worked with Ed Richardson on several jobs over the past 7 years. His projects are always organized, stylistically well thought out, and tasteful. I appreciate his design style, and he has always been a pleasure to collaborate with.

Ed and April have been absolutely wonderful to work with. Their plans are wonderfully detailed and thorough and they are very involved their client's selections. Their knowledge of construction practices and methods is extensive. All of this translates into great projects with superb customer satisfaction. When issues arise in the field, they are very responsive and understanding and work with a team mentality to come up with a solution that everyone is pleased with. I highly recommend Ed and April for your next project!

April and Ed were very effective listeners. They did an excellent job of designing the remodel of our house and guest house to create spaces that met our goals of energy efficiency, simplicity, and comfort. We enjoyed working with them throughout the design process, and they were timely and efficient in delivering their work product. They were sensitive to our cost objectives, not only telling us when we were considering alternatives likely to take us beyond our target, but also telling us where we could do things differently to save money. After the design phase was complete, Ed and April were invaluable in making sure the renovations were done properly and as designed. We feel the finished product achieved all of our goals, and we enjoy the spaces that have been created. Pictures of their fine work are on their website under the headings Goldenwood residence and Goldenwood guest house. If you could see the "before" pictures, you would really appreciate the creativity used and the huge upgrade achieved.

I love Clark Richardson (CR). April and Ed are just straight out wonderful to work with. Hiring them to build our new home was a great decision. They are hard workers and responsive to our questions and requests, have fantastic attention to detail, are creative problem-solvers and above all-- do beautiful, well-engineered, unique architectural work. They have been excellent guides for the entire building process including permits, expectations, budgets, hiring the contractor, and everything else. Super comprehensive. First I need to say, my husband and I have been in our same 866 square foot home for 30 years with little change to the house. And believe me, there was reason to change. We have had no dishwasher, no central A/C, no closet space, and two children (a boy and a girl). This lack of movement is due in large part to my anxiety around the remodeling process and the stories you hear (literally on the street) about delays, lack of sticking to a budget and timeline, and all the many unknowns you hear from seasoned re-modelers. I was extremely scared--worse than going through a haunted house or one of those wacky themed roller coasters that turn you upside down. It has not been that way with Ed and April. They have really guided us through the process and helped us with all the decisions construction of a new home requires. And because of this thoroughness, expertise, and transparency, April and Ed have made the project manageable and low stress--always helping us with the details. I am so happy we hired them as our architects. We discovered Clark Richardson on the homes tour in our neighborhood. I loved the remodel they had done--it was gorgeous and had also won several awards. During the tour, I got to speak with Ed, and immediately noticed how easy he was to talk with. This ease of communication has continued throughout our project with both Ed and April. I recommend Clark/Richardson wholeheartedly to anyone who is considering a new build or a remodel. I will definitely hire them again if a need ever arises, and it just might now since I can see (because of them) the home design and construction process is not so bad.

As a builder, I am continually impressed with their professionalism, detail, and creativity. It has been my pleasure to work with April and Ed on several projects and I look forward to working with them more in the future. Collaborating with them on projects is gratifying, because they listen to the clients' wishes, come up with beautiful, creative solutions to issues, and really own and take pride in their work. I have not only worked with them on a professional level, but have also hired them to design my own home.

We hired Clark Richardson to design a master suite addition and a few other modifications to our existing living room. We were very happy with the results and the whole process leading to the finished design. They were easy to work with and did a great job of understanding the aesthetic we were looking for and designing toward that. They also helped keep us conscious of cost when we were tempted to do something that was likely to blow the budget. This was our first time doing this sort of project so we were pretty green on the whole process, but Ed and April were always patient and willing to help. If we have need for an architecture firm in the future it'd be a pleasure to work with Clark Richardson again.

Clark Richardson Architects is a trusted partner for all my residential construction projects. Their professionalism, detail, and design are all top notch and I would recommend them without hesitation. In addition, they’re great people, and are truly a pleasure to work with.

We hired Ed and April to design plans for a major remodel to our Rollingwood home. While we have not yet begun construction, we can't say enough good things about our experience with Clark Richardson. This was our first project, so we met with many different architects before enlisting the CR team. Frankly, our decision was easy. Not only are Ed and April AMAZINGLY talented, but they took the time to understand our goals, respected our budget, went above and beyond to educate us about options (including cost-savers) and made the process fun. We hope and expect to work with them again!

I have worked with many architects over the years, and and can easily say, Clark/ Richardson Architects was hands down the best. They paid close attention to my vision of the spaces I wanted to create in my new home and worked closely with me to bring them to a reality. More than just the visual aesthetic, they created the feel that I was hoping for. Not easy to do when you are remodeling a 90 year old home and have to deal with Historic Preservation guidelines at the same time. They were easy to get along with personally, for both me and my contractor. Their attention to detail was impeccable. I am thrilled with my beautiful, comfortable, 5 star energy efficient home!!