As a first time home builder, I walked into their offices as green as can be with no idea what I…read morewas doing or the journey that I was about to embark on. Astra and Lawrence guided me through the ups and downs of homebuilding and dealing with the city, contractors, engineers and the politics behind it all. They were AMAZING and couldn't hold them in higher regard. If you speak with them, ask them about my project and you will understand how amazing they were. Don't forget to ask the bit about suing the City with our local council members and gaining a favorable decision in arbitration!! Yeah!! Don't bother looking anywhere else, you found your architect's!!

Lawrence and his staff designed a home and a detached garage w/living quarters for me and my…read morefamily. The project was rather large as it was almost 6,000 sq ft. I came to Lawrence's company with plans from a prior architect that were a total mess. The plans from the prior so called "Architect" were ripped to shreds by LADBS, because they were "substandard. These plans as designed made the project extremely costly. Lawrence and his staff, Jewell in particular, quickly got the plans up to par and the cost of the projected plummeted. The plans also passed LADBS with relatively few hitches. When picking an Architect the most important factor is to get a cost effective structural design that complies with all building codes and yet meets all of your design needs. Lawrence met and exceeded all of these factors for my project. As far as the overall project design, he maintained the style of the neighborhood and my taste. The area that the project is in is a Residential/Agricultural Zone in Woodland Hills that was once farm land. While people in this area try to put a Mediterranean Villa style design or as one of my neighbors adjacent to me has a 70's stucco/90's space age/Chinese zen style home, with this in mind Lawrence and I set out to retain the "farm" style of the area and stay away from these other trends. For the additional living quarters and garage, we ended up designing a barn with wood siding and a highly efficient and beautiful metal roof that gets compliments from neighbors and passerby's. The height and style in fact matched another neighbors barn adjacent to me. Basically the barn fits right in and is far from an eye sore. I hope my neighbors follow suit with this design. The main home at the front of the property is also a farm style single story home that he designed to retain all of the original charm that the original farm home has. He designed it to be a single story farm style that again matches our neighborhood. This design utilized a lot of the key features and spaces that I loved about the existing home and simply made it better. It also is going to save me a lot of money as we are retaining these spaces. Lawrence and Jewell did a great job!

I got a project with Ognayan Design, the way my project was taking care of I could not be more…read moresatisfied. Very reliable, fast responsive, I was updated on the project details, and I got valuable tips from my architect, good communication. After everything been said, I got a new project that I'm working on with Ognayan Design. 5 Stars Guaranteed!!!

Ognayan Design was awesome to work with! We've done several projects with them (SFD, SB9 duplex,…read moreand ADU) and they handled everything from start to finish -- design, plans, and permits. They really know what they're doing and were always quick to answer questions or make updates when needed. Super smooth process overall. Would absolutely use them again and recommend them to anyone starting a residential project.

Only Think Green did a solid job from start to finish. Bill was professional, clear about the…read moreprocess, and delivered quality work with real attention to detail. Pricing felt fair for what I received, and the overall value was strong. Definitely a reliable team if you want sustainable work done right.

Bill assisted me with expediting a permit I was having trouble with. He walked me through the…read moreprocess and provided great feedback. He met with the plan checker to ensure a smooth process. Thanks again

Working with Richard and his team was great. Our main contact on our project was Ara, who has an…read moreeccentric demeanor that I can imagine rubbing some folks the wrong way - but he is exactly who we wanted even if we didn't know it. He brings more to the table than simply moving things around in your home, he brings a sense of design and livability and a wealth of experience. He is unafraid to question your intentions and ideas and challenge what you had in mind, which is what I want from an expert - not simply a yes-man. When our ideas were good, he would relent, when they were bad, he'd present better ones. It was more like a collaboration than a mere "service" and we came away with a much better project for having wrestled through the process together. Also, he and Richard are something like a duo-vaudeville act when they're together. It's pretty funny. We worked through the pandemic, we drastically changed direction mid-design, we worked on-site and remotely, our permits were acquired with ease, and we finished on budget and on time. What more can you ask for?

We were desperate for some guidance regarding a possible project and Richard not only took the call…read moreand gave us some of his valuable time and insight but was open to further inquiries. Very accessible, knowledgeable, and warm!

It's easy to be successful when a project is easy and straightforward, but true talent and…read moreprofessionalism shines when circumstances are far from ideal and creative solutions are required. I had the pleasure of working with Dozie and his colleagues at SteelRock Engineering on a somewhat tricky project involving a retaining wall and ADU build at my home in Los Angeles, and I was incredibly impressed with their depth of knowledge, skills, their ability to pivot when necessary and make themselves available as the project required. It wasn't a quick, easy, or straightforward process, but dealing with Dozie and the SteelRock crew WAS the easy part - they were accommodating, creative in their approach when it was necessary and incredibly helpful - I don't think our project would have been successful without their involvement and I'm super grateful to have been referred to them when I was. Highly, highly recommend.

I don't leave a lot of reviews, but felt I should for this company. Dozie (the owner) is a VERY…read moreresponsive and proactive engineer! He's a genuinely nice guy and easy to get along with. Covid really screwed up the permitting process. What used to take a day to a week, took about 3 months for a simple load bearing wall removal permit! Dozie hounded the city, immediately responded to the plan checkers requests, and kept me updated along the way. He took the initiative to keep me informed without me having to call him, and I LOVE that! It was a crappy process dealing with the city, but Dozie always made sure I knew where we stood and what we were waiting on. He had very fair pricing especially considering the extra work he had to put in dealing with the Covid delays. I can't recommend him enough! I hope im done with engineers, but if I ever need one again, he's definitely my first call!

Service requested: architect plans/structural engineering and permitting process. The design was…read morehow we wanted. A few hiccups along the way with the final permit but Sam acknowledged the mistake on his end and said he would sign off the edits in the revision phase of construction. I will give an updated review once that time comes. Quality: quality of work was good. Efficient in communication and dealing with a difficult city in a permitting process. Took about 6 months for the permits and the city kicked back for corrections 2x which is pretty standard. Value: felt his pricing was fair and reasonable Customer service: always responds to phone calls. Even after our final payment when we had questions or needed assistance. So not a "take your money" and we are done type of guy Overall impression: would use him in the future for any architectural or structural engineering jobs

Ilya Engineering responds to emails within minutes and answers their phones. Surprisingly, once an…read moreengineer is assigned to your project you can contact him/her directly. I also want to mention that my project took less time than originally thought. As a result I was invoiced for three hundred dollars less to reflect the actual time spent. This is definitely the firm to use if you want great customer service, plans that meet LADBS requirements and charges that reflect the actual time spent on your project.

I hired Joe to draw plans for an improvement to a commercial property, and my experience couldn't…read morehave been better. He was intelligent, prompt, careful, and professional. He was particularly helpful getting my plans past the city's building dept. Also, when the plans were ready for revision, he drove down to city hall on the same day, and we had the revisions submitted and approved in 2 days. I wish I could give him 6 stars.

My homeowners association worked with JSA to develop plans for an exterior renovation of our…read more18-unit complex in Santa Monica. We worked with Jennifer, Joe, Robert, and Eileen. They were excellent. I can't begin to express my gratitude to them. They did an excellent job with managing expectations, pushing back at the City when appropriate, collaborating with an HOA (not fun or easy), and communication. The JSA team is diligent with time tracking and the use of Asana to track tasks internally and to provide outstanding customer service. They have experience bringing projects to the City's Architectural Review Board, but in our situation, they argued convincingly that our project (which sought to complete an emergency repair to address safety and water intrusion issues) should get a waiver. I found JSA originally by perusing meeting minutes for projects using James Hardie plank.

I've had the pleasure of consulting Daniel on a few home projects and was amazed at his knowledge…read moreand creativity. I thought he only did commercial properties but realized he know a lot about California bungalow/craftsman style homes. He listened and understood my goals, and came up with creative ideas to work with my plans, environment, and budget. I only recently found out that they worked on a favorite restaurant of mine, Kasih in little Tokyo - great design and use of space. If I have any home projects in the future, I'm coming back

Not from Los Angeles, but needed a company to handle all the structural, mechanical, plumbing, and…read moreelectrical engineering to get city permits. Called and interviewed many design firms and architects through Yelp, settled for Zeise. Just get them on the phone after you call other architects. Very professional and experienced. Lease bills add up and I didn't want to deal with the down time from mistakes. Been on that road and just wanted to hire someone that would just handle business like a pro. Tip* If you are looking for a licensed architect to draw up plans, call at least 10. I usually call 3 and settle for one but this niche has too many inexperienced players. Make sure there is no open clauses that bind you into extra payments. If there is an open clauses verify the amount before you sign the contract. Seems like most companies in Los Angeles like to hike the price up with these open contracts.