I just finished working with Steve on 2 projects for our homes in Kirkland. He made the planning…read moreand permitting process for our upcoming remodels extremely easy from what I felt would be an intimidating and unfamiliar process. (Dealing with city government and forms, etc) Steve is incredibly prompt and works much faster than I'd ever expected for a process like this. He handled everything for us from start to finish, including the permitting process. Within 2 weeks we had full and complete plans in hand and he had the projects submitted to the city for permit approval. I was pleasantly surprised to hear after just 3 weeks that our permits had been approved and issued, the first time around with no modifications or added conditions. This speaks alone to Steve's accuracy, attention to detail and knowledge. He was also very helpful in making suggestions and giving us multiple options during our consultations. We highly recommend him.

Stephen consulted on a extension we had hoped to build adding to our existing home. We found him…read morevery knowledgeable and pleasant to deal with. He asked pertinent questions and provided some great suggestions. He went above and beyond before to do research to confirm that due to zoning requirements, an extension was not an option. It was a pleasure to deal with Stephen.

It's taken awhile to write this review, I have so much to say... Hiring an architect was one of the…read morehardest parts of building a new home. We found the perfect lot and I had a vision of what we wanted there. We interviewed three architects and Carl blew us away. (He was also very busy with other projects.) So after meeting him, we knew immediately that we wanted to hire him for the house. Carl doesn't take on multiple projects, so we felt pretty lucky that he was able to take ours. Carl asked a lot of thoughtful questions to drill down on what we valued in a home. He was interested in flow, size, budget, the view, style, room count... We had a lot to think about. Because of the thoroughness of his questions, he had a great feel for the project immediately. After each breakthrough, Carl would come over with the latest design. One of my favorites came to him while trying to sleep. He was always creative and excited about our home. He blew us away with his tissue paper designs and he often had more than one to choose from. Carl is very easy to communicate with. He understood the changes we made. He was efficient with his time, with our time. He visited the job site during construction, often. I feel he had a great relationship with our builder and the contractors on-site. And almost everyone building our home remarked at the wonderful design. If you are looking for a custom home, Carl is the guy. I marvel at what he created. His design offers a view from all five bedrooms, our kitchen and dining area, the living room and the lower TV room. Our bedrooms are situated away from the noisy street. He added beautiful finishing elements and maintained the integrity of the style. "I love my house"only begins to describe how much I enjoy and appreciate what Carl designed.

While creating a website for Carl Colson (http://carlcolsonarchitect.com), I had the pleasure of…read moreseeing many samples of his beautiful work and collaborating with a highly creative, accomplished, and thoughtful architect with a great sense of style and impeccable attention to detail. Carl can apply his passion and experience to many different projects, commercial as well as residential, while always staying true to the beauty and harmony of the architectural language he has developed over many years.

Don was easy to work with and got my residential project done in reasonable time and at a…read morereasonable cost. He had great ideas and was able to work out solutions for some tricky requirements. I was tempted to subtract one star because the engineer he used over-sized the foundation, but that wasn't really Don's fault. I would use him again.

Great company to work with! Great group of talented individuals that care about the individuals…read morevision for the project.

Amazing Outstanding company, they helped me obtain my permit in Bellevue, WA they carefully…read morelistened to the details of my project discussed with me what I want to do and suggested alternatives which really gave me some other ideas after few reviews with the city the permit approved and issued. Rihanna and Anna work always amazing and outstanding, price is the best for the quality received and guaranteed to obtain your permit with them, I am recommending them to my friends and family and to anyone that want to make the process of obtaining a permit easy.

I've been working with Harmony on designs for an addition to double the size of my one bedroom…read morehome. He is amazing to work with in so many ways, professional, responsive, experienced and he offers great insights and suggestions that I would never have considered. His attention to detail is incredible. I'm looking forward to seeing all his great work become a reality in the next year and will post photos back. I highly recommend Harmony!

Harmony Cooper designs new homes that feel both comfortable and special. He did a four‑bedroom,…read morethree‑bath mountain house for our family, using big windows so every room enjoys the view but still created a few private spaces that feel more intimate. Even with all that glass, the place stays cozy year‑round because he planned a super‑tight, well‑insulated shell. We barely run the heat, and our energy bills prove it. Throughout the project Harmony listened closely and kept us in the loop, which made the whole process smooth. If you want a house that looks great and runs efficiently, he's the architect to call.

Like the previous reviewer, I am considering purchasing a property. Also, like the previous…read morereviewer, I am concerned with taking advantage of Pietro's goodwill, i.e., not paying him. My family is considering purchasing property. We approach this with endeavor with caution for many reasons. (1) The property is sloped. (2) We are ignorant to the process of buying land and building. (3) We come from humble backgrounds, and have three children, one of whom is in college. The aforementioned is not to say that others who may be more fortunate economically aren't concerned about their money--it's only to convey that we live with the PERCEIVED threat of falling back into poverty and the REAL experience of being taken advantage of because of our lack of knowledge. Pietro is generous with his knowledge and his time. This is a bonus. The other reasons we contacted ALCOVA is because of their experience building on sloped properties, beautiful designs, and ALCOVA is listed as one of the best residential architects and designers in Seattle by "Seattle Architects". To find those that are experts at their craft and compassionate is indeed a rarity. Pietro is working with us to clearly assess and delineate concrete steps to determine if we should purchase the land and assessing the (capital and other) costs of doing so. If we end up buying the land, and do in fact build, I will update my review about the actual process with ALCOVA.

I was considering purchasing a property that had unpermitted work (which might violate zoning law)…read more I wanted to double check. So, I called up Pietro. Pietro was very patient on the phone answering my questions. Twenty minutes into the conversation, I felt bad that I was taking up his time without paying him, and offered to pay. He said that he would start charging me when he really sat down and worked with me. I was impressed by Pietro's grace and knowledge. If I end up going for this property (or any other property that I have doubts about legitimacy), I would definitely hire him to check it out and advise me.

Having worked with CAST over the last several years, I would describe the group as a small, but…read moremighty firm possessing talent, vision, and approachability all with an eye on the budget. They possess that rare ability to make the experience fun and agreeable, yet still have a very keen eye on details both small and large. With CAST, feedback and questions are genuinely heard, carefully thought through, and very interesting solutions are always presented.

We worked with Stefan Hampden from CAST to design a master suite in our attic. Stefan proposed two…read moredesigns within our limitations (budget, keeping the house in the vein of its original architecture, considering the way we live and what we like to have as features in our home) and worked steadfastly with us to tweak our chosen design until it was exactly what we wanted. He made several very detailed, complex alterations to the design to satisfy some rather challenging customer requirements and we are extremely happy with the outcome of his entire design. Stefan is very easy to work with, has clear schedules, budgets and budget vs actual tracking, which made the process very simple for us. We wish everyone had that level of organization!! Stefan also worked directly with our contractor when requested to clarify the complex design work that he had added in for us. The house looks amazing and we have already received several compliments from the neighbors regarding how we maintained the look and feel of the original house in the new design. We had no complaints/concerns at all. Look no further for an architect - Stefan and CAST are top notch!

Blue Brook Architecture provided me with quality, creative, timely, and reasonably priced design…read moreservice, and was a genuine advocate in my relations with the local permitting authorities. I wholeheartedly recommend this firm.