Design

Design is the point of origin in any construction project whether on the west side of the country or the West End of Billings.  It does not matter if you are designing a barn, a house, or an office building.

The very first thing that needs to be done is a plan needs to be drawn up.  It can start with sketches in a notebook, playing around with a computer program, or just brainstorming with interested parties.  Regardless, the project has to start with a design.

Brainstorming is often an overlooked, key element in designing a project.  One person can sit down and collect ideas and do it all him or herself, but there will inevitably some other ideas that they did not think of.  Determining the most aesthetically pleasing designs, determining building orientation, how energy efficient the structure is to be, basically every part of the project needs to be gone over.  And having several people get behind the design process will make the final product be that much better.  As Alex Osborn said, “It is easier to tone down a wild idea than to think up a new one.”

From the brainstorming phase, the design can be taken into sketches.  A quick sketch of what the final product will look like makes it so much easier to visualize.  Small stylistic tweaks can be made, and before long all those ideas start to become a reality.  The final product is now actually visible, if only a two-dimensional rendering of it.

Nobody would ever get in the car to travel across the country, to a city they have never been to before, without a map.  So there is no way that anyone would start a project without a map as well.  Only when the map is how to build a house or other structure it is called blueprints.  These are the final step in the design process.  The blueprints will guide us in just how to build your new home or room addition.  Everything down to where the wires will go, and which direction the water pipes will travel.  While there can be a few superficial changes done after the blueprints are ready to go, this is your design that will guide us.

Designing the project can actually end up taking more time than building does.  From the time the idea first enters your head, to the time the blueprints are laid out and the foundation is poured is an exciting period.  It is a period in the project with which we want to help.  Everything in the design needs to be perfect so that the outcome can be perfect.  Everything needs to be set and finalized so that after the design has been implemented very little needs to be changed.  If you have an idea and need help brainstorming it and getting it to come to fruition, contact us here at Van Arsdale Construction.  We have over 30 years in the building industry, we know what goes into these projects and our ideas can join forces with your to help build your dream project.