We just wrapped up a bunch of work to get drawings submitted for design review for the Modern Beach Shack located on the Mesa in Santa Barbara. We have found that soft color perspectives communicate the feel and intent of the project to the design board so much better than the hardline computer generated drawings. This usually gets the board members on our side and in favor of the project! The City of Santa Barbara has three separate design review boards, this project will be in front of the Single Family Design Review Board. The City’s process can be cumbersome but with our experience we have come to understand how best to represent each project.

This Santa Barbara Mesa project seeks to bridge the gap between the old house with it’s pleasing feel of wood ceilings and exposed wood beams with an addition of modern yet warm architecture. We’ve made good progress on the design for this modern but warm addition and remodel project on the Mesa. We had a successful client meeting recently, thanks in part to the software we use. We used the 3d model in the presentation which allowed the client to understand what we have been up to, they say a picture is worth a thousand words so a 3d model must be worth ten times that. It really is the best way to work, not only for the benefit of the client, it also benefits us to virtually build the house. We can see so much more as we work and really use it as a design tool in an iterative process which produces the best design possible.