Drafting Cafe Architects

I've hired Drafting Cafe for several remodel projects in both Seattle as well as the Bay Area. What stands out to me is their focus on cutting edge technology (3D photographs that they convert to scaled as-built CAD drawings) and their superior communication - both with listening as well as to their detailed proposals and project updates. I've also been impressed with the quality of their drawings and the speed with which they produce them. When you add in their competitive pricing you've got a no-brainer. In a crowded field of design professionals, Drafting Cafe stands out for all the right reasons. Highly recommended.

Drafting Cafe provides exactly what a lot of clients really need. Thoughtful space planning and design, and a set of drawings that will get a building permit easily without so much detail that it causes problems with inspectors later. I have in the past often encountered on plans from others lots of little notes on drawings that really aren't necessary and are sometimes confusing. Drafting cafe produces drawings that are clear and easy for everybody to read, They also consistently line up structural engineers whose work is also very clear and reasonable. I know they offer very reasonable rates and I recommend them to clients without hesitation.

Drafting Cafe is a great resource to work with. I'm a Residential Designer focusing on space planning and room layouts for remodels and additions for all kinds of homeowners. Since I'm a 1-woman show, working with over 90 homeowners a year, I don't have the time to deal with Permit process, and that's where Drafting Cafe saves the day! Everyone is professional, knowledgeable, efficient, and friendly. My clients are in good hands with Drafting Cafe and they provide me with the peace of mind my business needs.

Drafting cafe is great to work with. As a contractor I've built hundreds of projects. Ethan's designs are creative, distinctive, and elegant. His team prepares conceptual and permit drawings quickly and his rates are fair. You will be happy with whole Drafting Cafe Team.

We worked with Ethan to rebuild our garage and add about 500 sft of living space. In total our addition was about 1000 sft. We priced out several architectural firms before we started the process and Drafting Cafe was by far the most reasonable. Ethan worked with us to provide a great design even with severe zoning restrictions in our community. Ethan was also responsive in working thru the multiple changes that our planning commission required to get our plans approved. I would recommend Drafting Cafe to anyone looking for an architect.

Drafting Cafe did the permit drawings for the remodel of our home in Castro Valley. Service was prompt and attentive, and they had some insightful ideas on how to make the best of the space that we had to work with. The building department was particularly tricky to deal with and they were able to create the plans we needed to get the permit approved.

A once useless room is now the sunny centerpiece of our home. Our blooming backyard and California sunshine fill the first floor with light and color. The thanks are owed to architect Ethan Andersen and his vision of how to transform a difficult-to-access, too-small room into space that could catapult the house into an altogether different home. He suggested removing a wall of unnecessary hallway and increasing the nonfunctional room by 40 square feet with lots of windows. Ethan Andersen is a gifted designer. He was not only able to visualize an unusual approach to the problem, but his design outlined a number of design details that added class. The project was expensive. We live on a hill and the remodel required a consulting structural engineer plus seismic corrections, including three 16 -foot pilings. But with this caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation, we're feeling very lucky we found someone who visualizes so artfully. --Happy homeowners, Walnut Creek, CA

We're not beginners. My wife and I love a good remodel and have a good sense of what we like. On our most recent project, a living room addition, we just couldn't put it together. We couldn't find that one piece that would make the project pop. Then we found Ethan at Drafting Cafe. He pulled together our ideas and added the missing pieces. We loved his vision from the first draft and had fun (yes, fun) working together to finalize the drawings. Folks that find construction stressful will appreciate Ethan's laid-back, but always professional attitude refreshing. We look forward to working with Ethan and his Drafting Cafe team in the future!