dp Design | Build

I’ve provided structural engineering design for Darren Pollard for over two-dozen projects involving remodels to existing houses, and ground up designs for new houses. Darren designs are consistently excellent. He understands houses both from a designer’s perspective, and a contractor’s perspective. This high level of understanding yields finished homes which are structurally robust, and practically built, all while being highly aesthetic, and expressive of the home owners design preferences. I would definitely recommend Darren to anyone considering remodeling, or building a new home.

We reached out to Darren after working with another architect for a few months in order to get a second opinion on our drawings. Darren was able to see things and create a space that was better than we ever imagined. We immediately hired him and had no regrets. He designed a timeless home with clean modern lines, elegance and speciousness. He is incredibly knowledgable and has very creative ideas to make any space more functional. He was able to meet deadlines and went above and beyond the scope of work throughout the building process. Darren is a pleasure to work with - we would highly recommend him and would love to build again with him.

Darren was the architect on a custom project of mine in Bellevue. He is very easy to work with and had many brilliant solutions to accommodate the changes that my clients made along the way. His beautiful designs, creativity and responsiveness have lead me to refer him to many others. I look forward to working with him in the future.

We hired Darren to design our dream home overlooking the Columbia River in Orondo, Washington. He has been so great to work with! He's extremely conscientious of what we want for a finished product, and keeping it within our budget. His concepts of incorporating the views and landscape has helped us to create a home with very usable outdoor living spaces, yet when inside, still being able to feel and enjoy the outdoors. This was extremely important to us and he made it happen. His communication with the contractor kept the project ahead of schedule. We would highly recommend Darren - especially if you are building in a setting where the outdoors and outdoor living is important to you. Norm Walker and Nancy Penrose

We worked with Darren through H2View on our large scale remodel in Kirkland. Darren designed our home and helped us through the building process. We had very specific needs for this home, and Darren did a great job getting to know us, listening to our needs, reviewing our wish list, and then marrying it with beautiful design. Because of this, it did not take him long to figure out what would work for us and put it on paper. He took us through the design making sure we understood the thought process behind the layout. If we had questions or challenges, he always considered them carefully and searched for ways to make it work. We made very few changes to the design, but when we did Darren could always see our perspective and was open to making changes. But he also holds true to solid design, and is passionate about what he does. This is extremely important when doing this type of a project. We truly enjoyed working with him! He was also a life saver on all the city ordinances, rules, regulations, permits, codes and anything else you can imagine. It was obvious he had a lot of experience in this area and was instrumental in keeping us on track and abiding by all the city regulations. He's great at outlining the process, managing expectations, and keeping that open communication. He's dedicated to keeping his clients happy and faces any challenges head on which we really appreciated. We still tap into him for his perspective on various things and he is always willing to help. We loved working with Darren and would definitely hire him on another project.

Darren designed a home for us that is in Eden, Utah. He was very easy to work with and handled all of the design and permitting issues. Darren was very up to date on building costs and provided us with many variables in relation to materials used. The home itself is a standout in an area of large " mountain modern" home styles, with a very common sense approach to co-existing in a mountain environment. I would use him again and I have sent other clients to him.

Darren designed our modern home in the View Ridge neighborhood of Seattle. Because he is also a builder he was able to design a home that not only met our esthetic needs but our building needs as well. We were very pleased with his design and the timely manner in which he delivered the plans. He also helped to expedite the permitting process. I highly recommend Darren!

In 2013, Darren Pollard was a commercial architect trying to transition to a "design build" career. However, he is not a licensed general contractor, or at least, was not at the time I hired him. One of the builders featured in his portfolio recommended him to oversee the remodel of my house -- sort of a foreman to manage other contractors and follow a blueprint designed by a proper residential architect. More than two years later, I am still paying to correct all the things he did wrong. Some of the problems were life threatening (he installed a fireplace without an emergency gas shut off and without reading the installation instructions that specified metal studs, and the wood framing would have caught fire), others are just disappointing, such as the proportions of rooms are incorrect. Its possible that our project was a "learning experience," and he is now more familiar with building codes, better at reading and following instructions, and is no longer afraid of moving plumbing lines and drains. However, he was unprofessional, stubborn, angry, defensive, and would never admit fault even when faced with facts such as the fireplace being installed wrong and without an emergency gas shut off (he tried to blame my wife for that). We still work with many of the contractors he introduced us to. However, it's telling that many will no longer work with him. I spoke with a lawyer, and we weren't able to sue him because we paid him "time and materials."

We owned a small house built in 1942 in the West of Market neighborhood in Kirkland, Washington that we wanted to either tear down or remodel but couldn't find the right design for the right cost. We finally saw several homes in the neighborhood that we loved. The homes were Darren Pollard designs built by H2View/Mickey Hanson. We met with Darren and Mickey and immediately felt comfortable with their approach and preliminary design discussions. Darren took us through a variety of design options with cost estimates. He was very open to our ideas and worked hard to incorporate them into his designs, but always mindful of the costs and difficulty of construction. We decided a total remodel was the best solution with small addition. Darren took our traditional house and turned into a Northwest modern, sophisticated but warm home. Darren met and exceeded our expectations for client communication, creative design and follow-up. We would recommend Darren Pollard from dp Design /Build for any residential design work.

Today’s most successful architects are those who not only have the technical knowledge and competency to lead the design and production of great buildings, but they also have the client services skills sets that lead to new and repeat business. They are relationship masters, they build trust with clients and within their own teams, they are supposed to understand the true needs of clients. Both Darren and I are advocates for our client, and two sets of eyes are better than one. We like to think of the relationship between the builder, architect and client as a three legged stool-all three play an important role in a successful project. Architects play a crucial role in designing your project for maximum utility and value. You have helped us develop a home that not only looks the way our client wants it to, but also functions in a way that fits their needs. Our relationship doesn't end after the building plans are approved-we continue to work together throughout the building process. At H2View our goal for our client is to have a lasting project with great design, to have good communication and to have fun with the building process. If you're looking for an architect DP Design Build is the company we recommend.

We'd highly recommend Design Build! We really like Darren's philosophy of building well-crafted houses that will stand the test of time! Modern design is not a "look"; it's a way of living, and we think Darren really gets that. He is fabulous to work with and we love all the homes he has designed so far. He does beautiful work! As an architect he listened to our clients needs and has created amazing houses.