Wiebenson & Dorman Architects PC

I worked with Kendall Dorman and Jessica Verbanic at Wiebenson & Dorman for the renovation of my studio. I loved working with them: they were attentive to my requests, responded to my questions and problems in a timely manner and they were knowledgeable about every aspect of realization of my project. The renovation involved knocking down walls and gutting everything so it wasn’t simple and I really appreciated that Kendall and Jessica were able to clearly explain to me each step of the permit application, contractors’ selection, design and building work. Kendall recommended an excellent contractor JV Improvement, a great structural engineer and they all did a fantastic job. Kendall was also able to give me a few options to request building permits which allowed me to limit costs. We bumped into major issues a couple of times and Kendall was able to assist me in discussing with the condo board, the building management company and work with the building’s structural engineer to make sure structural issues were fixed quickly and costs assigned fairly (the condo paid to fix some of these issues). I also really appreciated that Kendall and Jessica were cautious about cost. For the building permit and condo board application, they were careful for example to keep plans and descriptions general enough to meet their expectations (permits and authorization were granted quickly) while leaving us some flexibility to mature the project and modify it based on construction costs. I don’t want to encourage their future clients to freak out, but I had a couple of freak out moment that they were very kind to help me manage very well. With renovation, there are always a few “Oh my God this is the end of the world” moment and when I picked up the phone or emailed, they listened to me and gave me a couple of scenario and a way forward to solve my issue and helped communicate with contractors when I needed it (followed by the end of my freak out moment). Kendall and Jessica did also a lot of design and I really enjoyed working with them because they understood very well what I wanted and they were able to translate my vision into drawings and technical drawings and instructions to contractors. To top it all up, they are extremely nice people, they don’t rush you and communication was very easy. I had a period where I was short of fund and they quickly adapted their service to my means. Finally, Wiebenson & Dorman’s office are centrally located in DC which made meetings easy and my visits were always greeted by Kendall very sweet dog who loves to play with customers which is perfect for the dog-less dog lovers like me.

Once we made the difficult decision to re-build a house on 12 acres in Virginia, the decision to hire Wiebenson & Dorman as our architect was an easy one. We have seen a number of Kendall Dorman's renovation projects and know he has a keen eye for design and offers creative solutions to perplexing space issues. We brought a lot of vague ideas to our initial meeting - like we want good air flow and we like the views. He took those initial thoughts, asked a lot of good questions and returned with an amazingly efficient, really cool and practical design. And now that the house is nearly complete, we are experiencing the house in ways we couldn't have imagined. The design elements that we didn't fully appreciate on paper are the parts of the house we love the most. Thanks to Wiebenson & Dorman we LOVE LOVE LOVE our new place.

Fantastic contemporary design that exceeded my expectations, was perfectly suited to my life style, yet pragmatic and cost-conscious, and does NOT look like a McMansion. Just AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME! The wonderful home that Weibenson and Dorman architects have remodeled for me is like an oasis on the outskirts of DC that brings the indoors inside with large windows and a string of skylights.....it's hard to leave this home to go away for a vacation!

We hired Dorman and Wiebenson after firing another firm for not listening to us. Kendall listened, but better still, was truly thoughtful about our renovation. Some of his simplest ideas changed the whole look of the house. His creativity does not get in the way of being a flexible and reasonable human being. His best quality: finding beautiful and affordable solutions. He's a great problem-solver, which makes everyone happy to work with him.

I worked with Wiebenson & Dorman Architects on a nonprofit art facility project in Silver Spring, MD. Kendall Dorman was our lead architect. He was creative, professional and paid high attention to bringing this project in on-time and on-budget. I highly recommend this firm for projects big and small.

Kendall was the architect for our apartment renovation. He spent a lot of time talking to us to develop a workable space based on our vision. We wanted to reverse the layout to enjoy the light in the living spaces and keep the bedrooms away from street noise. He put together a plan that we love and have enjoyed for almost eight years now. He made our 950 square foot space look and feel much larger than it is. He built wide hallways where our small children now play all sorts of fast sports. His floor plan has grown nicely with our growing family and has given us the chance to stay downtown longer than we expected. He also built in a storage area were we keep five family bikes. Thank you Kendall!

In the fall of 2004 my husband and I purchased an old 1897 rowhouse in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of DC. It had been uninhabited for over 5yrs, and had not been renovated since the 1950s. After reading about Weibenson and Dorman, we contacted them. From the moment we met Kendall until the following year when we celebrated Thanksgiving in our 'new' home, we have been delighted. One of the reasons we hired Kendall was to help us reconfigure our 3bed 1 bath into a 2bed/2bath and to utilize the small 1100sqft home in a way that fit with our lifestyle. Kendall presented us with innovative and clever ideas and the process was fun and interesting, and still within our budget. We highly recommend Kendall for anyone interested in exploring creative options and marrying the old with the modern. Ten years after our project we continue to enjoy our home and Kendall has become a friend. We look forward to working with him again in the future.