3iVE

After intitial meeting, often at the client's site, we put together a proposal based upon our understanding of the project. Upon acceptance, we ask the client to respond to an interactive design survey in order to learn about their design preferences and tastes. With that in hand, we begin a series of sketches and or models which we introduce in a meeting looking for preliminary feedback. When a strong design emerges through this collaborative process, we work it into a set of documents for construction. We work closely with the client to establish a fair and transparent contract with a contractor and then shepherd the project through construction. 

David de Sola, the firm's founding principal, has Master's degrees in Architecture as well as city planning from MIT. He has over 25 years experience in architecture and construction and has worked on dozens of residential and commercial projects in the Boston area. He is highly regarded in the construction industry, is a speaker at local and national design and construction seminars, has worked as as a consultant to dozens of local architecture firms,  and has house Dr. relationships with the Massachusetts School Building Authority as well as the University of Massachusetts. 

On residential projects we work on a time and materials basis, as we have found this is the most transparent, flexible, and fair form of contract. 

To us an architectural solution is the affirmative response to Niebuhr's Serenity Prayer: "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference." As architects, we favor changing things for the better rather than accepting something that's not working. Our name is 3iVE. It's our version of Thrive -- because we want our clients to thrive in their built environments. 

We tend to work best with thoughtful clients who apprciate good design and enjoy the process of collaboration. We have worked with lots of budgets, from simple to extravagant, and do our best to find an appropriate level of service to make any client interested in our services glad they sought us out. 

15 Dane Avenue in Somerville. A small rehab of an existing house that we've put some special touches on including a full curtainwall window system on the south end of the house as well as a solar panel system.

Find a designer you like and trust. Fees for this work tend to be fairly similar, so it's more important to find a good fit than the cheapest price. You will be working with your firm of choice for a long time, often well over a year or more. For the results to be wonderful and the experience to be positive, it's important to find someone with whom you click. Someone who gets you!

Ask to see in person recent projects; ask about names of particular contractors they've worked with; and get a sense of how the contractual relationships will work.