ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PHASE
CONSULTATIONS

Starting Your Dream Home off on a Solid Foundation  

BUILD YOUR DREAM TEAM EARLY

Congratulations! You've made it to the starting line of your homebuilding journey. In many ways, this is the most crucial stage of all.  During this architectural design phase, you will build the team that will carry you through the entire process of designing and building your dream home.  With this dream team on your side, these next few months will be exciting and creatively fulfilling. You’ll share your vision and we’ll make it come alive, together.

HOW IT WORKS

PRELIMINARY DESIGN

You and your selected architect will tap into your creative side during this step of the process. Together you will flesh out a preliminary design for your future home. This preliminary design is essentially a rough floor plan and exterior elevation sketch which reflects your family's needs, lifestyle, desired aesthetic, home size, and space layout.

luxury architectural design consultation

PRELIMINARY ESTIMATE

Using your preliminary design, our team will produce a rough cost estimate for your home using our detailed database of historical project costs as well as current material and labor pricing and availability. This preliminary estimate gives us a good idea of how closely your home design aligns with your budget and will guide the rest of the architectural design phase.

estimating construction

FINAL PLANS & ENGINEERING

We work collaboratively with you and your architect during the remainder of the architectural design phase, providing valuable construction expertise and insight, value-engineering alternatives and cost-saving options before the plans are finalized. We ensure that any constructability or budgetary issues are addressed during this step in order to avoid a costly plan revision process later.

home builder service architect drawings

Detailed Budget

As soon as plans have been finalized, we work diligently to compile a comprehensive and accurate budget for your home. Our estimators study the plans and specs, then gather and thoroughly vet dozens of bids from our wide network of high-value subcontractors in order to produce the most accurate budget possible. We shoot for no holes in our budgets. This translates to a smoother construction process and no stressful surprises for our homeowners!

construction project management residential

PRE-CONSTRUCTION PHASE

This is when things really start moving! If you choose us as your builder, our team pushes your plans through the HOA approvals and city permit processes. We also create a comprehensive construction schedule for your home, guide you through the material selections process, and continue to refine the budget with each new selection made.

construction contract approved

WHY SIMS?

We began offering architectural design phase consultation as a stand-alone service after witnessing one too many heartbreaks. Prospective homeowners would design homes with an architect but without a builder consulting along the way, only to discover after receiving bids from multiple builders that their home could not be built within their budget. When this happened, they would either end up in a costly architectural revision process, or in some cases, would have to abandon their dream home altogether. As builders who grow to deeply care about our prospective homeowners, this weighs heavily on us.
As a result, we now offer the design phase services below without any commitment from you to choose us as your ultimate builder. We will:

FAQ

  • How do I choose the right architect for me?

    With so many residential architects in our beloved city, this is a very important question. A good first step is: ask people you trust for recommendations. Feel free to ask us for a few recommendations if you’d like. Throughout the past 30 years, we have worked with Houston’s most gifted residential architects and we continually research up-and-comers to identify new high-quality talent.

    Be sure to research several architects and interview the top 2 or 3 who seem to match your personal design aesthetic. Visit our blog post Trying to Choose an Architect? 10 Questions to Ask for more information.  

  • I'm not ready to choose a builder yet. Can you still help me?

    Absolutely! We’ve made it our mission to help prospective homeowners through the architectural design phase without you having to commit to us as your ultimate builder. We believe so passionately in the importance of having a builder working collaboratively with your architect during the design phase that we offer this as a stand-alone service. No commitment, no surprises… just added value.

  • Help! I'm already deep into the design phase and I don't have a builder. What should I do?

    Don’t worry. If your plans and specifications have not been finalized yet, there is still time to have us study your plans and provide consultation without going through a lengthy and costly architectural revision process. At this stage, we will look for value-engineering opportunities and constructability issues as well as work up a budget estimate to ensure alignment of your home design and desired budget.

  • What can I expect from the architect/builder relationship?

    When we work with architects during the design phase, we build a truly collaborative relationship with the shared goal of benefiting you, our mutual client. We respect the architect as the artistic visionary of your home’s design, and the architect respects us as the experts on how to make that vision a reality. As the builder, we must present value-engineering options that satisfy your budget AND maintain the integrity and authenticity of your architect’s design. Having an architect and a builder on board during the design phase is like having two advocates in your corner simultaneously and ensures that your homebuilding journey will be smooth and extraordinarily fruitful.

  • If the architect is designing my home, why do I need a builder now?

    We’re so glad you’re exploring this, as many people don’t until it’s too late. In short, having a builder on board while your plans are still being fleshed out ensures that the home your architect is designing fits within your budget and doesn’t pose any constructability issues that should be addressed before breaking ground. Builders, especially those with extensive experience in custom homebuilding like us, are very in tune with current construction costs, material and labor availability, schedule requirements, and other factors that affect the cost of a home. Once your architect completes a preliminary design for your home, it’s very helpful to have us provide a rough estimate of construction costs. From this, you and your architect can gauge whether the home design is on the right track. Throughout the remainder of the design process, we can continually refine this estimate and also enhance your home’s design by providing construction expertise and design ideas.

  • How do I choose the right builder for me?

    Well, to begin you’ve got to know that in the state of Texas anyone can be a builder. There are no licenses or certifications required by law here like there are in most other states. Because of this very low barrier to entry, there are hundreds of homebuilders in and around Houston. Take this into consideration when choosing a builder. Do as much homework as you can to assess how experienced and capable your builder candidates are. Interview them. Request to visit a home or jobsite with them. Speak to their past homeowners. Learn their processes to confirm they are organized and effective. Make sure they are a good fit for you and your family.

    If you’d like a little more help on this topic, visit our blog post How to Choose the Right Builder for You.

FEATURED PROJECT: LOUISIANA ACADIAN HOME

Our team took this home from initial design concept through construction completion, allowing us to enhance it with unique design features.

"Our custom home has been everything we expected it to be and more. Sims has brought beauty, style, and function together to produce an achievement we are all proud to call our home." —Dr. and Mrs. Pakzaban

SEE MORE OF THIS HOME

Exterior-2

Game Room

Living Room

Veranda

elegant bathroom bathtub

Kitchen

Sims Luxury Builders

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CONTACT US

  • (281)-242-7900
  • Sims Luxury Builders
  • 4665 Sweetwater Blvd Ste 106
    Sugar Land, Texas 77479

What we offer

Company

Partners

Sims Luxury Builders