Rev One Architects

Rev One Architects

5.0Exceptional(8 reviews)

About

At Rev One Architects, we not only bring an incredibly practical perspective to everything we do, we bring the experience of well over 400 completed projects for property owners, just like you - everything from room additions to new homes, condominium buildings, offices, restaurants, hotels, and stores.

We have won multiple customer service awards from places like Angie's List and the Better Business Bureau because we are committed to being there for you until the last nail is driven.

We know how to deliver you the most square footage we can for your money. We have years of expertise in working with older buildings, tight budgets, and building departments.

We don't just custom design each of our projects to look beautiful and carefully respond to its surroundings, we always design them first and foremost to address your unique functional needs.

Peter has been involved in multitudinous types of construction undertakings, from building furniture to designing and building his own multi-unit buildings, for almost the last 3 decades, with over 20 years of that spent as a professional architect. Having an unusually wide variety of experiences performing construction industry activities like real estate development, construction defect consulting and analysis, and new product ideation; plus having sold and administered the construction of projects in locations from Chicago to Indonesia to California, he has the unique ability to look at any situation through many different lenses. He has also amassed over 2 decades of entrepreneurial business experiences in every facet of starting, operating and managing a business, from strategic planning to marketing to accounting, and in almost every sector of the construction industry, starting up three sole proprietorships and 6 companies in the process.

Peter is an extremely intelligent, creative, critical and organized thinker with a broad educational background at the university level in everything from the humanities and arts to engineering and the sciences, and is also no stranger to a toolbox, having constructed entire residences himself. Being a seasoned, pragmatic creative professional with a deep interest in designed spaces and how they relate to and directly effect the natural environment and the psychology of human beings, he strongly believes that design can immeasurably shape the human experience. He is an intrepid networker and an inspiring mentor who is extremely talented at coming up with quick, innovative and practical solutions to just about any situation, and has technical expertise in the areas of space planning, detailing, and historical construction means and methods.

Peter holds a Professional Bachelors degree in Architecture and Structural Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, and is an NCARB Certified Architect and an APEC Senior Architect. He was also an honor student in the humanities and sciences at the university level, has an editorial-level knowledge of the English language and an entry-level comprehension of both the Indonesian and Spanish languages.


Highlights

2 employees
10 years in business
Serves Chicago , IL

Social media


Reviews

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JB

John B.

We talked to 4-5 architects and Peter, by far, carried the most innovation and understanding of our needs. Our space is not typical. The others seemed perplexed by high ceilings and a lot of brick. Peter saw it as an opportunity. He came up with a plan that was a great design and, utilized the square feet of our space above and beyond what we would have ever thought of. Definitely thought outside the box to give us excellent results.
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November 09, 2018

AS

Art S.

We hired Peter to design our new addition. We asked Peter to include three bedrooms and two full baths and we needed a new stairway up to the new space. A very difficult task, Peter solved our space issue, thinking out of the box to meet our needs!
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November 09, 2018

DH

David H.

Peter was a pleasure to work with during the design and construction process. He came up with unique ideas on how to blend new space into existing space and took great care to offer suggestions on updating the styling into timeless… appeal. He worked closely with us in the custom design of the kitchen and several bathrooms. I… would recommend him to anybody seeking a keen approach and quick and courteous customer service.
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November 09, 2018

RH

Robert H.

My husband and I thought that Peter was very knowledgeable about the construction that needed to be done for our home addition. He was professional and explained things in detail when necessary. It was a plus to work with Peter on our addition since he has an architectural background. We would recommend Peter to others who are interested in work being done in their homes.
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November 09, 2018

LO

Lolita O.

[Rev One] Architects designed our dream home! Peter was very responsive and worked with us to design a space that did not look like every other house on the block. He listened to our needs and was open to our feedback as well. We had interviewed other firms who were, shall we say, a bit full of themselves, so Peter was a refreshing change of pace! Peter takes pride in his work and sticks around to deal with issues. I would work with Peter again any day.
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November 09, 2018

DR

Dan R.

As a lawyer, I am in the service business and am always really excited when I meet other professionals who really understand first class service and think of ways of saving their clients money. Let me just say this upfront: - I am highly impressed with Peter Dreier and his firm, [Rev One Architects]. I found [them] through the Web and talked Peter through emails and then phone calls. I have found Peter to be very thorough, very responsive and have a great ability to think outside the box for projects. He was able to customize a job that required research and thinking into a great package for us. I have recommended him to others in my building and I believe they are finding the same great service. Furthermore, I have found his billing for services rendered very fair and reasonable. What else can I say? If you need architect services, I would really recommend Peter.
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November 09, 2018

Frequently asked questions

Typically as follows:

  1. The architect will meet with you initially to get a general idea of the scope of the work to be done, and then create an estimate/ contract for you.
  2. Once the contract is signed, the architect will sit down with you again to get very detailed information from you about what exactly you want in your building. This is called a program. If the work is being done to an existing building the architect will have to take detailed measurements of the existing building and create existing drawings as well.
  3. The architect will take the program information and design your building to your specifications.
  4. The architect will meet with you and discuss the initial design with you and make any changes that you might require until the design plans are to your satisfaction.
  5. The architect will develop the design details prepare construction documents based on the approved design plans, often in conjunction with a structural and MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) engineer.
  6. Once finished, the construction documents are submitted to the municipality for permit approval and to a few general contractors to be priced, or bid.
  7. Once the contractor has been selected, the contractor's information is submitted to the municipality, a permit is issued and construction can begin.
  8. The architect will periodically inspect the construction site to ensure that the building is being built in accordance with the construction documents and good workmanship practices, as well as being available to answer questions and clarify his drawings.

Much like engineers, attorneys, doctors and most other professions, architects are required by law to complete very specific requirements to obtain and maintain their professional title and licensure:

  • A minimum of 8 years total of rigorous architectural training, including a minimum of 4 years of professional education in an accredited university program and a minimum of 2 years of internship working directly under a licensed architect
  • Passing 7-10 rigorous board exams covering all facets of architectural practice and building regulations to become a licensed architect
  • A minimum of 7 years of additional experience as a licensed architect to be designated as a "Senior Architect"
  • The completion of 12 hours of continuing professional education, including 3 hours of "Health Safety and Welfare" education, each year to maintain licensure

Architecture is a very competitive business, so it is important to look at the persons or firms themselves and not just the prices. The lowest priced architect most likely is not including everything that you will need from him in his bid to get your project completed - it is very important for you to know what is included in your bids and what isn't. Many "discount" architects will just give you a bid for construction documents or drawings only, and not include things such as zoning variations, permit expediting, engineering fees, and construction administration/ project inspections, all of which would typically be included by a full service architecture firm. Firms that have more experience and do better quality design work tend to charge more - with architects, as with most other things in life, you typically get what you pay for.

When hiring an architect you should look for design skill, construction knowledge, experience with local building regulations, and a collaborative attitude. You should get references from your architect and find out how his past clients feel about the spaces he has created for them. An architect should have experience not only creating drawings, but also dealing with contractors in the field and building projects. Many architects focus on only creating drawings of buildings, so they are not in touch with the realities of the construction process and therefore are prone to designing things that are not efficient and/ or economical to build. It also is helpful when the architect has a thorough familiarity with the local municipal codes, ordinances, permit reviewers and permit review procedures in order that you can obtain your building permit with relative ease. And remember that architecture is all about communication, so be sure to hire an architect who has a collaborative approach to creating buildings and is someone whom you feel that you can communicate comfortably with.

We find that the most useful information you can provide is a list of rooms with what you specifically want in them and/or how you want them to feel and pictures of any buildings you may have seen that you may particularly like, as well as a survey of the property. Many clients attempt to sketch floor plans, and while these can be somewhat useful in communicating what you are looking for to us, we have found that they usually don't show the types of spaces that our clients really necessarily want and that they really aren't much of a help to us in our design work.


Services offered

Architectural Services