Cushman Design Group offers personalized architectural, interior, landscape and master planning design services for those who value elegant design, natural materials, green building practices and environmental consciousness in their home or business. For more than 35 years we have had the pleasure and privilege of working with many engaged and fascinating people, turning their energy, wishes and visions into successfully built projects.
…is critical and essential. Doing so enables us to discover the sensibilities of all the stakeholders that are involved in a project, giving time and space to listen to you and the land you steward. Your values, ideas, and goals may take time to emerge and it is our privilege to witness and translate the embodied energy around a project’s beginning.
Our job is to apply our wisdom to how we listen to and facilitate the conversations that illuminate your yearnings. Then, we apply vigorous thinking and technical expertise that culminates in design that offers an integrated balance of comfort, beauty, efficiency, prospect and refuge. Your vision is at the heart of what we craft. This works because we’re listening deeply.
The ‘Pre-Design Phase’ is the point at which we visit your space or building site and begin to merge vision and reality. This is a tender and challenging moment that our designers are masterful at navigating with clarity & compassion.
Analysis of distinctive site features including solar orientation, topography, vegetation, renewable energy potential, water supply, and waste water and utility infrastructure are considered as well as zoning and permitting requirements. We intersect this comprehensive analysis with details about your space requirements, desired design style, and energy efficiency goals to begin to reveal the fundamental elements that compose your project.
Now is the time to be direct about your budget and timeline so we may build a strong foundation upon which to bring your project into being.
A lot happens before it's time to put pencil to paper, and once we've reached that point it's an exciting moment in every project.
Utilizing what we have learned, hand-rendered drawings of your site, building, landscape or interior are created to explore how your project might inhibit its setting. An initial opinion of cost is an essential ingredient of this step, helping you evaluate how your design decisions impact your budget, and guiding our work.
As concepts emerge, you and our designers come to share the same vision. We’re aligned. We know how we’d like the finished space to look and feel, and it’s time to bring it into being. At this point, we become more granular, assessing structural, mechanical and electrical systems while refining the dimensions of the project.
We thoughtfully explore materials and textures with you to define the finished quality of your project, and continue collaboration with your contractor to develop and refine their pricing.
The work of translating your vision into an architectural form has been a journey, rich in both creativity and information. Now it’s time to create comprehensive sets of construction documents for your contractor. These documents serve as the road map for a construction contract.
Traditionally called “blueprints” construction drawings carefully define design intent, dimensions, assemblies, details, and relationships; and create the framework with which interior design, material selection, and fixture and furniture selection can be advanced.
These documents may include written specifications for site work, architectural, structural, and electrical plans as well as contain pertinent door, window, plumbing, and finish schedules.
For many of our clients, recommended contractors are interviewed as early as the schematic design phase and often selected at that time to guide decision-making with pricing, feedback and to collaborate on defining the project’s scope. Our team also works with contractors who are brought in by our clients.
We enjoy the deep and meaningful relationship built between client, contractor and designer.
Finally, the nails and studs! Concrete and wood! Ideas are now being crafted into three dimensions and your project is under construction. Communicating the unique design elements of your project requires hands-on attention in order to be successfully built.
Our designers apply robust experience to working through questions and details with your contractor on the job site, as we continue to guide the process while you watch your project unfold and grow.
While on the job site, our design team will observe progress, address questions from the contractor and their sub-contractors, and provide supplemental information as needed with the goal of ensuring that your intention and vision are translated accurately into physical form.
A space is now built, and is becoming a home for you or for your business. Making the space your own - fully embodying it - is the task at hand. Our designers have rich experience fully integrating and harmonizing the aesthetic intent of our work, designing the details that once crafted will elevate your intention to its most elegant realization.
We collaborate with you to design and select:
We’re passionate about designing sustainable homes that honor that beauty, using local materials, collaborating with local artisans, and creating spaces that honor both the landscape and the lifestyles of our clients.
The recent completion of Chateau W marks the close of an extraordinary chapter in Vermont building history: a partnership spanning three decades with John Steel and the team at Steel Construction.
Porch of the Week: Perched Like a Nest in the Vermont Mountains. A designer gleans inspiration from Adirondack and modern architecture, keeping Green Mountain views in mind.
