Sustainable Design Services in Garfield, NJ

“Very professional and delivered on time. I had other consultants but these guys were honest. HIGHLY RECOMENDED. The work that was done matched exactly the graphs that I got initially. Thank you to the chief architect.”

“LEAP designed our modern and green home addition. They handled much of the creative work on the project, as well as detailed renderings, bid consultations, and construction supervision. LEAP's work was very creative and responded directly to our needs. They found ways to get energy efficiency and modern design details into a "buildable" and cost-conscious project. They are humble, hardworking, and consistent. I would choose to work with LEAP Architecture again without hesitation.”

“Very pleased with work from Clawson Architects - Rene, Marvin and their team. Over a number of years they have supported 2 projects at our house - new bathroom, new kitchen and other changes that made the house meet our needs. In the last job, we had ambitious plans, they listened to why we wanted to do it and suggested a smarter, much lower cost approach that gave us exactly what we needed. One innovative idea that no one had suggested in 10 years of our living there until they and it saved me quite a lot of money. Their work is thorough and top notch.”

“Robie is terrific. We interviewed quite a few architects for this job. Many had great ideas and beautiful plans though they were double our budget. Robie stuck to the budget and came up with lots of great ideas. He was very flexible and creative. We'd use him again in a heartbeat!!!! We love the result and the pictures posted don't do it justice!”

“We have worked with Karen at Brinkman for countless projects; baths, kitchens, whole-house remodels; light commercial spaces, and additions. She is a true professional and has some great ideas for the spaces we are hired to remodel. She is willing to stop by on a moment's notice for questions and advice, which is important for the remodeling that we are involved in. We plan to continue working with her for all of our remodels in the future.”

“My home is one of the exhibits listed here. This architect was easy to work with and gave appropriate and timely advice when needed. She is currently working another project for me, a renovation of a Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice work in the Berkshires.”

“Very helpful and organized. Helped walk us through designing a 2nd story addition. Drew up a few interior and exterior options and walked us through pros and cons before picking one. Assisted builder with question as they came up.”

“I had a great experience working with Emilia. Her ideas were always very practical and smart but with a bit of the unexpected thrown in. The originality and expertise she showed in relation to design was a wonderful asset to have, and she incorporated them all so seamlessly into the overall project. And her attention to detail ensured all areas of the project were covered and taken into account so nothing was left out. I look forward to our next project together.”

“I can count on several fingers the times I have found a local business partner that I'd describe as a rockstar, and Brian Hopkins is on that short list. On Christmas Eve, my wife and I were out doing errands. We got a call from our teenage son, telling us that water was raining down from the upstairs bathroom, through our microwave and stove, into the basement, onto the furnace and water heater. There was some once-in-a-century rapid drop in temperature, we had some poorly insulated pipes, and one of those pipes ruptured in the floor of that second floor bathroom resulting in that disaster. Total nightmare. Thankfully, one of the other rockstars on our short list of local business partners is our general contractor. We already had a plan on the shelf to renovate that bathroom, our contractor was available, we were able to get all our tile and bathroom fixtures picked out and procured in record time, and shortly after New Year's our GC started the repairs and creating the bathroom of our dreams. Salvation! Everything was going awesome, until the building department showed up. In a rush, we neglected to get a building permit. We weren't being shady or playing games. We were just hasty and ignorant and didn't do the things we needed to do. We got an immediate stop-work order. And the only way to get back on track was to find an architect to do proper code-compliant architectal drawings for our already-in-progress bathroom renovation. I quickly learned that there are not a lot of residential architects hurting for business, certainly not at that time of year. I literally called at least 15 different places. Either people were too busy, or weren't interested in the project. I finally found one who couldn't take the job, but said "hey, we know this other guy in the area who is super good, that we refer people to when we're busy. His name is Brian Hopkins." Somebody directing business to a competitor?? I now understand why they referred me. Brian is only the second architect I've ever worked with, but as far as I can tell, he's as good as it gets. I was able to get in touch with him immediately, and he agreed to take on the work. He was incredibly transparent and clear about what he was going to do, when he was going to do it, and what it would cost. Throughout the process he was super responsive, empathetic, organized, patient, professional, and enjoyable to work with. He didn't nickel and dime us or play games; he was clearly focused on good customer service and outcomes. And from what I can tell, both the building department and my GC were very happy with the quality of his work. The entire ordeal we went through, particularly involving the building department and fines and delays was horrible. Had we not found Brian, had he not been so excellent, the situation might have been unbearable. He literally was our savior. It's absurd not to want to work with someone like this.”

“We had never been homeowners, let alone renovators, before we bought a brownstone in Carroll Gardens, and ACHA was the perfect partner to get us through a daunting process to the home we wanted. Ali helped us figure out and then implement the right plan for us. He was great on the big picture and the detail -- taking the time to learn our style preferences and developing them into options we never would have thought of on our own. He was patient with us and effective at translating our priorities (and financial constraints!) to the contractors. Ali made optimal use of our limited space -- fitting in a powder room on a parlor floor, where it didn't seem one could fit, along with an open living/dining area, and three comfortable bedrooms and two baths on the garden level. And he designed a fabulous deck and got us through the treacherous Department of Building approval process for it! I cannot overstate the unusual combination of aesthetic sophistication and practical know-how ACHA offers.”