Process
Feasibility first: testing a California site before you design
Before the first sketch, confirm what the site can actually support: zoning designation, height and setback limits, utility capacity and whether environmental review is likely to be triggered. A rough pro forma alongside these checks shows early whether the numbers and the design ambition can meet. It is the cheapest hour of the whole project.
Regulatory
Permitting is a design material
Entitlement requirements shape a building as surely as structure or light. Treating them as constraints from day one, and meeting the planning department early, keeps the schedule honest and avoids redesign late in the process.
Practice
One point of accountability
When design, feasibility and delivery sit with one principal, decisions are made with the full picture. Clients deal with one person who understands both the drawing and the budget, from first sketch to final certificate.
