We have worked with Studio Crowley Hall a couple of times and they are great!
https://www.studiocrowleyhall.com/

Drive around your neighborhood and see what signs are out front. Next - send those addresses a piece of mail asking if they would be willing to chat about their experiences (and tips for working with that architect)

Good luck

Anonymous wrote:http://www.hillandhurtt.com/

They’ve done a number of beautiful renovations in DC.

And the two co-founders came from Muse so you know they’re good.

http://www.hillandhurtt.com/

They’ve done a number of beautiful renovations in DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thank you for the recommendations! Each architect provided a rough estimate for the full project cost (including build). We were just surprised at how different the estimates were. The first person estimated about 500k and the second was 1.5m. They both seemed to believe that given their experience with the bidding process and builders, their estimates were fairly accurate.

$500k sounds way low. People on This Board will go on and on about how you can get this or that for less money, but everyone I actually know irl who has done a nice renovation/expansion of a house in NW DC or MD has spent considerably more than that unless it was 20 years ago.

+1 OP is describing basically a total gut plus a two story addition, in NW during Covid when things are 2x more expensive at least. No way that comes in anywhere close to $500k.

Get an estimate from CASE. Figure that is the high end but not insane if you want a full service kind of experience.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thank you for the recommendations! Each architect provided a rough estimate for the full project cost (including build). We were just surprised at how different the estimates were. The first person estimated about 500k and the second was 1.5m. They both seemed to believe that given their experience with the bidding process and builders, their estimates were fairly accurate.

$500k sounds way low. People on This Board will go on and on about how you can get this or that for less money, but everyone I actually know irl who has done a nice renovation/expansion of a house in NW DC or MD has spent considerably more than that unless it was 20 years ago.

OP here - thank you for the recommendations! Each architect provided a rough estimate for the full project cost (including build). We were just surprised at how different the estimates were. The first person estimated about 500k and the second was 1.5m. They both seemed to believe that given their experience with the bidding process and builders, their estimates were fairly accurate.

I’m confused - the architect is giving you estimates for the cost of the project? IME, usually architects have a set price schedule based on various project stages. You tell them your budget and they make plans accordingly. To get an estimate on cost you need to talk to a builder and possibly work on one when in your design phase. What style are you looking for? We have neighbors that use McNeill Baker, which I think is more traditional and friends who used Heidi FitZharris who seems more contemporary.

Anonymous wrote:We recently purchased a home in NW DC that will require a significant renovation (2 floor addition, new bathrooms, kitchen etc). We are starting the process of finding an architect and are feeling overwhelmed. We met with two today and their ballpark estimates for the same work we described varied by a million dollars. If anyone has had a great experience with an architect in this area, would appreciate the recommendations.

I think you're confusing the stages of the process. The architect should have a pretty straightforward fee schedule for creating the plans. You'll then put those plans out to bid, and that's when you'll get actual estimated costs. You could also do a feasibility study early on with an experienced GC. Regardless, the architect is just offering you a rough guess on total costs based on their experience. It's pretty meaningless though.

Steve Fotiu at Fotiu Architects. www.fotiuarchitects.com. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-fotiu-aia-6400574a

Honest, reliable, professional.

A million dollar differential is pretty big, so someone may be off. I’d def reach out to one or two more companies to see where the numbers lean. Then choose from those with estimates that seem most reasonable.

Typo - were not we’re

We’re their estimates for their design fees only or construction costs or total project costs? They may have been estimating one versus the other which is why there was such a discrepancy.

GTM is very fancy.

We recently purchased a home in NW DC that will require a significant renovation (2 floor addition, new bathrooms, kitchen etc). We are starting the process of finding an architect and are feeling overwhelmed. We met with two today and their ballpark estimates for the same work we described varied by a million dollars. If anyone has had a great experience with an architect in this area, would appreciate the recommendations.