I've been working with Marc on my dream home: a microhome with sustainable features, as a DIY…read moreproject and private place to enjoy the night sky with my fiance. Though there's plenty of information online, nothing beats having a seasoned architect with not just a flare for design, but one who has true knowledge around construction and this growing trend. Even though I'm in Los Angeles and he's in Seattle, between emails and Skype calls we've accomplished a lot. He's been incredibly thoughtful and patient with me, and has saved me a lot of research time, and continues to point me in the best direction. He's like my own private Google for all things related to microhome construction. I highly recommend his services.

George with Velocipede architects was wonderful! My dad was restarting a home remodel project that…read morestopped about 10 years ago. I hired George for a consultation. He came out to the house at 9:00 am this morning, discussed the project with us, and by 11am, we had the reinstated permit from City of Seattle!! I can't thank you enough George!!

Lee Edwards is an innovative designer, a trustworthy associate, and consummate professional…read more Referring my own clients to him is a no-brainer, as there is never any doubt that he will take the utmost care of them. As a Realtor, I've been fortunate enough to sell homes designed by Lee, and I've seen firsthand how impressed buyers are with his inspiring designs and quality craftsmanship.

Lee is an excellent designer and project manager. I have worked with Lee on a number of projects…read moreand can't count the number of compliments we received. I wholeheartedly recommend Lee for any residential design project.

I am extremely disappointed with their design, which caused us significant frustration and added…read moreexpense. I would not recommend this firm to anyone. They specified 7' interior and exterior doors, which must be special-ordered and cost nearly three times more than standard 6'8" doors. By the time this issue was identified, the house was already framed. We requested that the contractor lower the door openings from 7' to 6'8", which required additional materials and labor. In construction, any change order means redoing completed work, resulting in unnecessary additional costs. The bathroom windows are also oversized for the rooms. No privacy. Additionally, the drawings were inconsistent across the three bathrooms. In two bathrooms, the toilets were correctly centered at 18", but in the third bathroom the toilet was centered at only 15", even though there was sufficient space for 18". The plumber had to move the toilet 3", which again resulted in added expense.

This review doesn't exist for any reason other than to let others know of our life-altering…read moreexperience from trusting AIRD with our home; a fact-based caveat emptor of sorts. An outcome of trusting AIRD is delayed retirement to fund remediation of design/construction defects so our 1000sf house can function w/o long-term structural, water & other damage. AIRD's reviews & ratings on this site as well other sites are compromised by reviews made by employees of the general contractor she collaborated with). (Rebuttal to Jan2023 reply: Alexandra Immel did not fully cover costs related to one of her firm's erroneous omissions. We were still stuck w a $3K balance for one subcontractors. We paid for/endured delays due to her employee's other omissions. Wasting $3K+, extra months of double rent/mortgage, do-over construction materials & labor is a tiny expense relative to our total cost of remediating issues that originate AIRD's design (& omissions), as well as trusting the contractor Alexandra so wholeheartedly recommended for executing AIRD's plans. The client should never need to research City construction energy code when they're paying professional designers. But I was forced to. Like most people, I *want* to give good reviews, want to believe that when several hundred thousands of dollars is being borrowed & spent, it's spent it wisely. In reality, some people will allow emotions to positively bias their reality of such a huge investment, their reviews, enable excuse-making for individuals they find personally amiable, overlook the aspects that were professionally lacking. Unlike them, for this project, I invested time & money not to make a new "friend" to forgive, but to have a home with better space & small 250sf addition for a better quality of life. The cure is almost always worse than doing things right w the right people from the start. We had/hv no choice but to remediate ASAP. The time to minimize risk of preventable rot (of materials Alexandra insisted on), leaks & other defects is upon discovery of such design defects, not 5-10 years down the road which is when they would have shown up in the form of compromised structural integrity (final product & plans were evaluated by several design/construction pros). There's no space for "positivity bias" in this case no matter how much benefit of the doubt I wanted to extend. When a project involves moving out/in, (14mos of gas guzzling time-suck commuting is more than adequate for adding 250sf & a bathroom), mortgage $, it's critical staff hv adequate skill, knowledge & attn to structural/enviro detail, be *up-to-date* on critical skills/issues involved (appropriate materials, enviro impact, bldg & energy codes). Also essential is a genuine leader of a team who also truly values the time & financial resources of their client. AIRD fell short in all these respects. I'll never forget the comment spoken out loud at an early zoom meeting where Alexandra Immel literally said, in her own words w/ a smile, "money is cheap" (interest rates were lower; conversation is on record). The standard *looking* design plans AIRD produced were so lacking in detail, especially at critical structural junctures that the builder Alexandra recommended could not to execute her firm's designs, w/o trial & error & multiple do-overs, as if they were learning on the job & lacked the experience Alexandra Immel claimed they had. They'll naturally blame each other but absent legal action, the client is stuck w/ the total cost. Cascades of decisions are based on upstream decisions & good data, visual renderings. In our case they were asked for & promised at the start. But were never delivered in a timely manner PRIOR to critical decision points. A logical *looking* workflow on paper from a designer means nothing w this frequency of omissions (incl on plans signed off by the then lone registered architect in the firm at that time & caught by the city inspector). Any builder is dependent not just on designers' plans, but also knowledge of & respect for city code, as well as time-tested experience. Per WA records for just the last 7 yrs, the builders so heartily, *gushingly* recommended by Alexandra Immel had numerous safety violations & violations involving unlicensed (in our case, also incompetent) workers. Per state court records the builders also have 16 cases listed, between the state SUPREME, Appellate courts plus superior courts of at least two counties. When I checked with the state, spoke with Olympia, Immel's own registration attempt as an architect stalled out over two decades ago. Which would be fine had she kept up with the ever-evolving field of residential design (sub 4000sf builds don't require registered architects). I wasn't looking for inspiration, just competency, honesty. What I got was, & is still to this moment, a nightmare of a mess to tediously undo & clean up at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, robbing us of years of quality of life.

My husband and I chose Nicolette because we were looking for a clean European style for our new…read morehome. Coming from Germany ourselves and Nicolette being from the Netherlands, we knew that she would understand what we were looking for. Nicolette is a master in guiding you through the design process. She would come up with ideas, colors and arrangements that I would never dreamt of (e.g. I would not have dared to pick a blue-grey color for two accent walls, but they turned out perfectly). At the same time she listens carefully and incorporates the clients ideas. She made mood boards for us, so we could see and compare beforehand what our fireplace would look like. All designs were made to scale, which made it easy to read and understand. The result is an interior design that truly reflects our style, just way better than if we would have done it without her. With the help of Nicolette we have turned the new house into our stunningly beautiful home. Thank you so much Nicolette!

I hired Nicolette when I finally got tired of the messy home office syndrome. She was fantastic!…read moreShe started to envision solutions right away. I didn't know what to do with all my paperwork and business stuff. Now, I have implemented her design and when I had her come back to help me organize the stuff into their places that are logical for me and my business, she made it look so easy. She is remarkably left brain (logical) and right brained (creative) and I am remarkably happy! Thank you Nicolette!

If I could rate them, it would be zero, didn't deliver on time, designer left halfway through job,…read moremy wife did more design work on this house. No consideration for building functionality. Would never recommend

Great work! Very inspiring and modern design! LEED platinum homes including the Ellis Residence on…read moreBainbridge Island. Seattle Architects - Coates Design specializes in green building and sustainable design.

As a custom home builder, Cutuli homes has worked with Don Rasmussen for the past 8 years on a…read morelarge number of projects, both large and small, encompassing many different styles of construction. We have always been very confident referring him to our clients for their architectural needs. Don is very thoughtful as he helps the client develop a plan that works for their needs. He skillfully designs visually aesthetic plans tailored to the individual client's preferences. The clients have been extremely happy with his designs. Don has the important ability to understand the cost associated with the projects he designs, so there are no surprises once the plans are given to a builder. As a builder, I appreciate the accuracy of his plans, especially on remodels. Don is the perfect choice for any client because he understands and beautifully implements the balance between design, cost and practicality. I highly recommend Don for your architectural needs. Jim Cutuli Cutuli Homes www.CutuliHomes.com

We wish we had chosen a different architect. Initially, H2D seemed competent and pleasant during…read morethe first part of our home remodel. However, our overall experience with them was unsatisfactory. Admittedly, our remodel was problematic and revealed challenges we hadn't anticipated. However, common oversights and miscalculations by H2D resulted in generated revenue for H2D and added expense and time to our remodel. At the beginning of the project, H2D called for a meeting so we could discuss key design aspects of a particular room. The plans that H2D created after that meeting failed to reflect the very specific design choices we had made. Additionally, H2D miscalculated a key structural measurement that cost us time and money with our contractors (and it was a mistake that we, with no architectural background, were able to clearly see). H2D also provided plans with handwritten notes that we and 2 contractors could not clearly read. We asked the architect to make the notes legible, which was our expectation from the onset. She made them legible, but charged us an additional $1,200 for the changes. After receiving the invoice and us questioning the charge, the architect stated that she "did not work for free." We asked her to consider reducing the charge by half. She agreed to a 16% reduction. The next invoice we were charged hourly every time a contractor called about our project. H2D managed to recuperate that 16% discount (and then some) by fielding our contractor's questions. Our last dealings with H2D were when we discovered they had provided the wrong plans to a contractor without key revisions. At this point, all parties involved decided it would be better to deal with our structural engineer and bypass H2D entirely. A relationship with an architect is a critical component to a remodel. We had hoped that our architect would take responsibility for poor work and provide helpful customer service (other significant examples lacking in these areas are not included in this review). The continual errors made by H2D, combined with navigating the architects' temperament, made for a sour experience that aggravated an already stressful experience of a home remodel.

I called looking for specific plans and found out I'm just outside their scope. She referred me to…read morethe proper contractor right away and was extremely helpful.