ABOUT HABITATIONS
WHO WE ARE
Originally emerging as “Designs for Living” in North Florida in the early 1980’s, our passion for residential design transitioned to Atlanta in 1996 preceding the Olympics. Along the Gold Coast of North Florida we produced custom designs for coastal and inland residences from Atlantic Beach to St. Augustine.
In Atlanta, our focus has broadened to address the vast number of older homes in mature communities that present wonderful untapped potential. We have become expert in working with the freedoms and restrictions inherent to modifying these fabulous homes from all eras of every size. It is our belief that within every older home is a new purpose waiting to be discovered. It is from this broad foundation, spanning over three decades, that we present with confidence our ability to serve your design needs skillfully.
WHAT WE DO
Habitations provides full spectrum residential design services with a specialty in renovation and retrofit design for existing homes. Although our passion is the re-purposing of older homes with a new design mission, we are equally comfortable with new home design forged from decades of experience. At our core is the firm belief that the Designer is the consumer’s guide and moreover, their advocate. The residential designer is where the project should, and does, begin. In this day and time, residential construction is a complex process with significant regulatory oversight. It requires practiced design skills coupled with detailed planning and documentation to properly achieve your envisioned outcome. We embrace the privilege of being your creative home design professional, and dedicated project guide through this exciting process.
Our achiEvements
We aren’t big believers in ‘likes’ or ‘client reviews’. It’s too easy to select just those in our favor. So, we thought, what better endorsement than that of our peers? Let’s face it, we have nothing they want AND they know what we do better than anyone. Beyond the fine professionals and organizations we associate with through the course of practicing our craft, please refer to the recognition of our peers, nationally, on the ‘Achievements’ tab. These are not “Contest” trophies but moreover ‘Standards of Excellence’ presented for actual project presentations reviewed by the judges of the “American Residential Design Awards” (ARDA) on a nationwide basis. ARDA operates under the umbrella of the American Institute of Building Design (AIBD); a national organization dedicated to excellence in the residential design industry. We sincerely hope that these achievements provide you with a superior level of comfort when considering Habitations as your design professional.
THE HABITATIONS FAMILY
Habitations is a family owned business. Our business has a very down to earth style. We will work with you like friends as together we embark on a journey to creating your dream home. Meet the Habitations family.
Meet Robert
Meet Aaron
Meet Kathryn
Meet Walter
Meet Nemo
SERVICES
We work with state-of-the-art 2D & 3D CADD software to include the following: SoftPlan 2020 & Envisioneer Version 14, Forte v5.3, StruCalc 10.0 & BeamCheck v2016 among others
RESIDENTIAL DESIGN SERVICES
- Complimentary on-site consultation
- Custom Fixed Fee Proposal
- Professional Evaluation of Relevant Existing Conditions
- Detailed Graphic Documentation of Existing Conditions
- Custom Design Concept Development
- Detailed Client Reviews and Modification / Alteration Sessions
- Permit Submission Drawings & graduated Bid Specification packages
- Professional support acquisition & coordination (engineering, surveying, environmental, etc.)
- Project bid release, acquisition and review
- Builder evaluation and selection assistance
- Pre-construction Meetings
- Permitting Authority interaction
- Limited Project Oversight as desired
ARCHITECTURAL SUPPORT SERVICES
- Zoning variance submissions
- Historic compliance submissions
- Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) submissions
- Community Association Compliance submissions & Presentations
- Coordination for Environmental issue resolution
- Energy Code Compliance (RES check) analysis
- Structural engineering review affidavits (expedites permitting in some jurisdictions)
- 3D concept rendering packages (interior & exterior). – Limited 3D is routinely used to aid the client in visualizing the proposed design. These packages are intended for investment clients to aid in advanced marketing and presentation.
- Expanded Site Planning – Site planning is a component of most designs. This refers to larger parcels that may have multiple structures, future phases, or special considerations.
- Professional Interior Designer support – We offer a graduate interior designer for personal assistance in specific planning issues, materials selections and acquisitions.
- Graphic exhibits for trade show booths, presentations, site signage, real estate marketing, legal and courtroom exhibits, etc.
MAJOR DAMAGE RESTORATION
- Interaction with Claims Adjusters
- Coordination with Restoration Contractors
- Interaction with Permitting Authorities as needed
- Permitting Requirement & Tax Assessor Verifications
- As-Built Baseline (Pre-damage) Drawings
- Damage Assessment with Graphic Scope
- Graphic Detail and Scope of Repairs
- Assessment of Code Improvement requirements beyond Restoration scope.
- Structural Engineering Acquisition and Review as Required
- Single-Family, Multi-Family & Light Commercial Claims
- Requests for 3rd Party documentation such as Surveys, Fire Reports, Etc.
- Preparation of plans necessary for permit submission
- Liaison with specialty suppliers (Replacement Trusses, Specialty windows, Etc.)
- PDF files for archiving, reprographics and Permit Submissions