Architectural Services for Office Buildings and Senior Living Facilities (ALFs, SNFs)

ARCHITECT
Warren E. Barry
DBA: W.E.B. Designs
(352) 472-2600
Commercial Services
Senior Living Facilities and Office Buildings - Overview

Florida Architect Warren E. Barry offers quality oriented Architectural Services for Senior Living Facilities including: Assisted Living Facilities, Skilled Nursing Facilities/Nursing Homes, Independent Living, and more. In addition to Senior Living Facilities, Warren also offers architectural services for single story office buildings for doctors, lawyers, accountants, realtors, and other professionals.

 

Throughout the design process, Warren personally performs all aspects of his Architectural Services, from start to finish, including communication with the client(s), code research, design, and production of the architectural construction documents. Additionally, Warren coordinates with the structural and mechanical engineers, as well as other design professionals who may be involved, to ensure the design and construction documents are well coordinated between all those involved. Construction observation services are also recommended and available to ensure plans are adhered to during construction, and to answer any questions that may arise while the facility is being built.

 

Regarding senior living facilities, utilizing his extensive research and specialized knowledge of senior living facilities, Warren generated a detailed 46 page startup questionnaire prepared specifically for such projects. Warren begins Senior Living Facility projects by reviewing this questionnaire with the client, in person. During the review, Warren discusses every aspect of the facility with the client. Topics discussed range from resident room content and layout(s), to services and amenities to be included in the design, accessibility considerations, aging-in-place considerations, exterior finishes, interior finishes, kitchen design, mechanical/electrical/plumbing systems, sound control, structural systems, and MUCH more. The detailed startup questionnaire helps Warren collect the client’s thoughts and opinions on each option, allows Warren to give guidance and feedback on the decisions being made, and helps ensure that nothing is overlooked or not considered. Once the initial startup questionnaire meetings are complete, a copy summarizing the client’s requests is provided to the client so they can review it with others that may be involved in the project, yet could not attend the initial meetings. If any revisions are requested, they are discussed and incorporated as desired, and the revised copy, once approved, becomes the preliminary project program.  Warren utilizes a similar questionnaire and startup process for office buildings, only it is more abbreviated as an office building is not as complex programmatically as a senior living facility.

 

Going into such detail with the client at the beginning greatly aids in client, resident, and employee/caregiver satisfaction with the final construction as it causes the project to be very well thought out, from the overall design, down to the details. This detailed startup process also makes the design process itself much smoother and efficient, saving everyone time in the long run, as the client’s wants, needs, and opinions are thoroughly understood before design begins.

 

Once the preliminary project program is completed, Warren reviews the most current codes and regulations that apply to the project. Even though Warren is very familiar with the building codes for senior living facilities and office buildings, the codes are filled with exceptions, and code requirements change depending on the building square footage, number of stories, number of beds, the exact type of senior living facility that it will be (5 bed ALF, 16 bed ALF, SNF, etc.), and so on. Completing a detailed, project specific code evaluation, assists Warren with generating a code compliant design, and can also save the client money during construction as any applicable code exceptions can be utilized. This is in contrast to applying worst case scenario codes to the project in order to speed up the architectural services, which is not uncommon with lower cost architectural services sometimes offered by others. Such low cost services can cost a client far more in the long run due to unnecessarily expensive construction costs when compared to the costs of obtaining a better architectural service which eliminates unnecessary, and undesirable, construction expenses.

 

Warren’s code research is transferred into a multipage code summary that is refined and finalized as the project proceeds through the design process. When the design is completed and approved, the code summary is signed and sealed for submittal to the local building department along with the construction documents. This submittal assists during the building department’s plan review, and during construction, for several reasons. Submitting a detailed, project specific code summary, assists in making it clear to the local building department that the architect was thorough in making sure the design is code compliant, and outlines how code compliance was achieved.  This minimizes second guessing of the designs code compliance. The code summary also makes it much easier to address any code related questions or concerns that may arise by the building department during the plan review process and/or by the contractor during construction. Having a detailed code summary makes it easy to find what code sections were referenced, and how calculations were performed to derive at the results incorporated into the design. This is in contrast to the architect having to remember the details of how he derived at code requirements months after this research was originally performed, which is difficult to do as the building codes are very complex.

 

Warren’s services and fees for Senior Living Facilities and Office Buildings are tailored to the wants and needs of each client and project. To obtain a quote for your Senior Living Facility or Office Building, please contact Warren for a project specific proposal. 

 

When providing a fee proposal for a project, Warren prepares a spreadsheet of information relevant to the project type being considered that includes typical size and construction cost of such a project, typical engineering fees, typical architectural fees, and more.  This spread sheet is prepared using reference publications that specialize in providing such information.  Warren concludes the spreadsheet with his proposed fee.  Combining this information into a single spreadsheet provides the opportunity to evaluate Warren’s fee, and how it relates to typical fees by others.  If the fee proposal is acceptable, Warren prepares a contract for review and execution in order to begin services.

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