GARC

We've been planning to build our first home for a few years now. When the plan my wife and I had to work with a certain contractor fell through we didn't give up on our dream to build, and having worked with GARC Design I'm so glad we didn't. There are a number of cliche superlatives I could use to describe our experience with Suping and Yang, but in short they were consummate professionals who met and exceeded all of our expectations. They handled us with care and patience, were knowledgeable and competent and their meticulousness put us at ease. We ultimately decided to postpone the build, but when the time comes, I have no doubt that GARC is who we'll call and rely upon the most to make sure our build is a success.

Everything was wonderful. My wife and I have been wanting to build a house for quite some time. We finally decided it was time to bring in some outside help to get the ball rolling. We contact GARC Design and set a time for their six hour workshop. We had created a basic floor plan several years ago so we thought we had a good starting point. Suping and Yang were able to help us finally nail down our dream home. Their attention to detail was greatly appreciated, and they offered fresh perspectives to help us layout our future home. We look forward to continuing working with them in the future.

We had Suping and Yang come to our house to conduct their 6-hour design workshop to develop the initial design for the remodel of two of our bathrooms. We live in a 1969 ranch house that has an overly large hall bathroom spread out over a very awkward space with lots of non-90-degree angles. We want to convert the space to two bathrooms. We knew that the conversion was possible from a square footage standpoint, but we couldn’t wrap our heads around how it could work with all the awkward angles. Suping and Yang were able to draw several options for us, all of which were great, creative design ideas. After we settled on the option we liked best, Suping and Yang made a more detailed drawing of that option. We love the design because it makes the conversion possible and it uses all of the awkward and unusual spaces for closets, built-ins, etc. We also had them create a drawing to reconfigure our master bathroom, which currently contains a walk-in closet that absorbs excessive moisture from the bathroom. We were hoping somehow to create a new entrance to the closet and to separate the closet from the bathroom, but without losing bedroom wall space for the new entrance to the closet. Again, Suping and Yang produced a design that we loved – which involved using a barn door entrance into a walk-though closet that is accessible from the bedroom, but is also separated from the bathroom - and does not utilize any additional bedroom wall space. In other words, they designed exactly what we’d hoped for. Suping and Yang were prompt, professional, highly-skilled and personable. We like getting immediate results, so we loved the concept of the 6-hour design workshop. It was a seamless, interactive process that accelerated results. By the end of the workshop, we had design drawings that we loved and that we can now take to our contractor for feedback. Suping and Yang were great. We will definitely use them again and would highly recommend them to anyone in need of design services.

Fantastic experience working with GARC, Suping and Yang have been great to work with. We have completed the first phase of our project and have enjoyed the process. They are very knowledgeable, organized, professional, creative and always timely with communication and scheduling. Highly recommended!!

GARC Design was able to help my wife and I with our attic remodel. When dealing with such a small space and minimal code knowledge I quickly drove my dreams of a completely diy down the drain. After a search for an architectural designer Garc popped up and I sent them an e-mail. I received a response almost immediately. My fear was that their services were going to cost me a mini fortune. After meeting with Suping and Yang all of my fears were put to rest. The prices they outlined for services on a generic build were well below what I was expecting, and to top it off they were more than willing to tailor to my specific needs, whether it be a graphical design with coding and spacing in mind, a full building schematic with a parts list, or a full project from start to finish with contractor oversight and the works; the list goes on. I couldn't be happier with their services, and will be recommending to others and using again in the future once this project is further along!

Extremely well. They were very knowledgeable and helpful and they explained every step. I gave them a list of the things that I wanted and they created a design that I am very pleased with. They were prompt, attentive, and address any concerns that I had.

Very well. They are very professional and knowledgeable. I appreciate their approach to architecture which is thoughtful, methodical and sensible. We are very happy with their plans, and they are easy to work with.

Stress free. They explained every step, listened to our requests, suggestions, and opinions. Answered any questions and addressed any concerns. We really appreciate the way they had our best interest in mind, and guided us through the entire process.

Still in progress but so far excellent service so far. Great professionalism and knowledge and easy to work with. They listen and you can tell that this is not just a job but a passion.

The results were awesome

Very well. Still ongoing.

Suping and Yang spent time with our family and developed three tree house concepts based on our family values and interests. They visited the site to take pictures, make sketches and collect our ideas about the project. After a few short weeks, they returned to our home to present their design with a multi-media presentation in our living room. The design encompassed both exterior and interior details. There were three very different configurations presented. Each option was complete with exterior finish examples, discussions of materials and ways that the option could be tailored. They presented fully rendered graphics on the exterior and then interior for each of the three options. The graphics were professional compilations of the pictures, sketches and their model of the tree house. Multiple perspectives were shown for each option. We could not have been happier with the work that Yang and Suping did for this tree house design. Their thoughtfulness in the design was impressive. Each option had a direct link to our family values and/or frequent activities. They also performed in-depth research on several aspects of the tree house that we never even considered such as prevailing winds, sun exposure and accessibility. All in all this was an extremely professional and thorough job.

What they did was beyond our expectation.They spent a lot of time on truly understanding our lifestyle and needs, and introduced the “aging-in-place” concept. The scheme looks beautiful, detailed, and innovative.They did a good job on bringing out the potential of our house, which has great views to the lake. The new great room looks spacious and full of natural light. As their concept proposed, it will be vacation at home for us. Yang and Suping are delightful to work with. They are good at communicating their design. Since I’m not familiar with reading drawings, they used 3d models/images to help me understand, even a VR glass to help me visualize the rooms. Now with the schematic design completed, I’m looking forward to move to the next stage to develop the design concept and picking materials and products, the fun part!

We hired GARC to do the conceptual design and really liked it. When our finance allowed us to move forward, we hired them again to further develop the design, provide construction drawings, help us pick the general contractor, and do construction administration during construction. As in the conceptual design stage, they did a very professional job again. They delivered a very thoroughly thought and well-drawn construction document set, so to leave less problem and argument during construction stage. It also allowed the general contractor to give more accurate cost estimation when they competed for the project. GARC helped us picked all materials and products, including furniture, which are both meet the design aesthetic and the budget. They have great resources of material and products, much better than the Home Depot or Louws. They did thorough research and narrowed down the options before presenting to us, and saved us a lot of time. Some of the products were customized, like the mural, which was designed by GARC, drawn by an artist they hired, and printed on wallpapers. With them helping us pick the general contractor and manage the quality during construction, we feel much more relieved. They were very responsible and came to construction site very often to make sure any mistake could be spotted and corrected in time. We couldn’t imagine how to deal with the construction and the general contractor without them. With the great effort of GARC, as well as our general contractor, we only need to close our restaurant for 7 days during construction. Our new renovation is proved very successful. After we reopened, we received a lot of compliments from our customers. It totally changed the image and atmosphere of our restaurant, which was considered having great food but not great dining environment. Now we have a lot more people to organize events, and have family gatherings, birthday parties, and anniversaries in our restaurant.

We decided to renovate our home by removing walls, including a load bearing wall. The contractor we selected was able to do the work within our required timeline (which was right away). However, before we could get a permit, we needed detailed engineered drawings showing the LVL beam replacing a load bearing wall. Our contractor recommended G Architecture & Research Collaboration LLC who was able to meet will us the next day at a time that was convenient for our busy schedules. Once all the measurements were complete, we asked for the drawings within a day and a half in order to get the drawings into the permit office...and they came through! Not only did they complete the drawings on time but the details were more than we expected. Our renovations are now complete and they wouldn't have happened (on our timeline) without the great service from G Architecture & Research Collaboration LLC!

G ARC did an excellent job with the design. They are very experienced as well as creative. They listened carefully to our requirements and feedbacks, identified the core design issues and needs, and prioritized our goals. We have a limited budget. Their design achieve our both functional and aesthetic goals in a cost-effective way, which I really appreciate. They are professional too. They arranged regular meetings to allow us to review the design progresses and made sure everyone is on the same page. They explained the design in a way that laymen could understand. One thing I have to mention is that, they use photo realistic renderings and animations to visualize the final looking of the restaurant, which is SO easy for us to understand (I am not very good at reading plans and elevations). In addition, they brought us to showrooms to see the real products or ordered material samples that could be used in the project, which helped us to make decisions with confidence. On top of this, they care about every detail to make sure they work.