Choosing a customized plan can offer several advantages based on your specific needs. Here are a few reasons why you might consider a customized plan:
1. Tailored to Your Needs: Customized plans are designed to meet the specific needs of each client. This means you can get exactly what you need without paying for features you don’t require.
2. Flexibility: Customized plans provide great flexibility in terms of features, services, and pricing. You can choose the features that best suit you and only pay for those.
3. Scalability: Home plans evolve every year, making it challenging to find a plan in a collection without needing modifications.
Ultimately, choosing a customized plan allows you to benefit from a tailored solution that fits your specific needs, potentially saving you time, money, and hassle in the long run.
The steps for designing a custom plan
1) The Idea it all starts with your Idea
A custom home can be designed to meet the specific needs and desires of a family or individual. Here are some ideas for customized features and designs that you can consider:
Custom Interior Layout: You can personalize the interior layout of your home based on your needs and lifestyle. This can include an open kitchen connected to the living room, a spacious master bathroom with a shower and bathtub, or extra rooms for guests or home offices.
Ample Natural Light: If you enjoy natural light, you can design a home with large windows to let in plenty of sunlight.
Outdoor Space: If you like spending time outdoors, you can design a home with a large patio or a porch to enjoy the view.
Eco-Friendly Features: If you are environmentally conscious, you can design a home with eco-friendly features such as solar panels, a green roof, or a rainwater harvesting system.
Unique Architectural Style: You can customize the style of your home to reflect your personality and personal preferences. This can include modern, contemporary, traditional, or rustic designs.
These are just a few ideas for customized features and designs that you can consider for your custom home. The possibilities are endless, and the key is to design a home that meets your needs and desires.
So, to get started, gather images that inspire you, make a list of your needs, and establish your budget.
2) Meeting
During our first meeting, we will become familiar with your project to understand the details and grasp your vision and needs. We will discuss several key elements, such as:
Your Needs and Desires: This may include the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, living spaces, special features like a pool or garage, construction materials, building techniques, aesthetics, etc.
The Land: It is crucial to discuss the characteristics of the land where your house will be built to properly plan the project and ensure compliance. This may include topography, orientation, trees, neighbors, local zoning and construction regulations, etc.
Regulations and Permits: Local construction regulations need to be considered from the beginning to establish the feasibility of your project and understand the required steps for obtaining permits. This can impact pricing and the work involved in submitting the appropriate documents. We will also discuss the timelines and costs associated with obtaining the necessary permits to avoid surprises along the way.
In summary, during this meeting, key points of discussion will include your needs and desires, budget, the land where your house will be built, regulations and permits, preliminary plans, timelines, and costs. If you have any questions, we are here to answer them and provide guidance.
3) Zoning Research
Before beginning the plans, it is essential to conduct zoning research. But what exactly is it?
A zoning study for an architectural project involves examining local zoning regulations to determine the constraints and development possibilities on a specific piece of land. This study helps us better understand land-use regulations and development requirements in order to design a project that complies with these rules.
The zoning study may include the following elements: zone classification, height and density regulations, setback distances, parking requirements, and more.
Zoning research is crucial for the planning of an architectural project as it allows us to understand the limitations and opportunities of the site, avoid violations of regulations, and propose a feasible project that complies with current standards.
4) House plan design
Plan Design The time for designing has finally arrived!
Plan design involves translating your ideas and needs into technical drawings that will enable the construction of the desired structure. This design phase is one of the most crucial as it transforms abstract ideas into concrete plans. At Dessina Plan+, we first prepare sketches, either hand-drawn or computer-generated, to propose a plan that meets your requirements while adhering to construction standards and municipal regulations.
Additional Meetings
Engineer (Structural or other Disciplines)
Being comfortable with today’s technology, we send the plans by email to allow you time to review them. You can also send us your requests for modifications or questions via email or phone. However, sometimes it is preferable to meet in person to discuss the project as a whole, especially if certain constraints need to be addressed.
5) Coordination with other professionals
Coordination with Other Professionals Our goal is to successfully carry out your project under the best conditions. We also send files to other professionals involved in producing the documents required by the city and work closely with them throughout the development of your project.
Coordination with the surveyor, engineer, and contractor is crucial in the realization of a successful construction project. Each of these professionals plays an important role in different phases of the project.
Surveyor
The surveyor is responsible for measuring and determining the exact boundaries of the land on which the house will be built. It is important to work closely with the surveyor to determine the layout of the house on the land, taking into account existing boundaries and constraints. The surveyor’s work may also include topographic surveying, locating underground utilities such as sewage systems, water pipes, electrical cables, etc.
Engineer (Structural or other Disciplines)
The engineer is typically tasked with designing more detailed plans for the house, such as foundation plans, framing plans, electrical and plumbing plans, and heating and air conditioning plans.
Contractor
Before officially finalizing the plans, we can submit a version of the plans to allow you to obtain bids from the contractors you have chosen. We can also provide referrals to contractors we work with.
By working together, the surveyor, engineer, and contractor can ensure that the construction plans are feasible, that the house is built according to the required quality and safety standards, and that the construction is completed within the specified timelines. The coordination between these different professionals can also help resolve issues that may arise during the project, such as unforeseen limitations of the land, structural problems, delays in material supplies, etc.
6) Urban planning service
At the beginning of the project, when we go through the zoning process, the urban planning department of your municipality will inform us of the steps to obtain your building permit. Depending on the regulations related to your land’s zone, the project may require a minor variance application or even a rezoning process. The city may also require your project to be presented before a PIIA or a CCU. What are these?
The PIIA (Plan of Site Layout and Architectural Integration) or the CCU (Consultative Urban Planning Committee) are common regulatory processes in many cities and municipalities and are typically put in place to allow cities and municipalities to control the external appearance of buildings and ensure that their use is in compliance with zoning rules and regulations. This process is important as it ensures appropriate land use, preserves the aesthetics of the built environment, and ensures user safety.
Comprehensive preliminary plans must be produced, and often a 3D illustration of the proposed residence is also required to validate the proposed architecture, as well as the choice of materials and colors.
In any case, we will work with you to successfully navigate through all these stages, leading us to the production of final plans that will be used for the construction of your home.
7) Finaly Plan
Once the plan meets your expectations (and, if applicable, has been approved by the PIIA or CCU), we can proceed to the final step: producing the plans and details for the construction of your beautiful project.
The final plans are much more detailed than the preliminary plans we have presented to you so far. They provide instructions for the construction of the house and for the permit application. These plans include scaled drawings of each floor and each facade of the house and provide clear and detailed instructions for the construction of the house, from the foundation to the roof.
And there you have it! It’s now up to your contractor to build your dream home!
