From First Conversation to Final Walkthrough
Here's exactly what working with us looks like
Most clients have been through a construction or renovation project before and walked away frustrated. Usually the same reasons: budget surprises that arrived too late to change course, a design that didn't survive contact with the contractor, a team that wasn't accountable for the whole.
Our process is built to prevent all three.
Licensed Architect · AR96913
Certified Building Contractor · CBC1268137
Pensacola, FL · Architect-Led Design-Build
Thoughtfully Designed · Expertly Built
Pre-Construction
Before anything is designed, we listen.
Every project begins with a conversation — not a sales pitch and not a preliminary drawing. We invest time up front learning how you live, what your current home gets wrong, what your budget is, and what success actually looks like for you. This is the phase that makes everything else possible.
What happens here: an initial introductory call, a full consultation at your home or property, a frank discussion about budget and timeline, and a mutual decision about whether we're the right team for your project.
Schematic Design
We design the big idea first.
Once we agree to work together, we begin with schematic design — the phase where the concept takes shape. For new construction, we study your lot: its orientation, topography, views, setbacks, and how the home wants to sit on the land. For renovations, we document your existing home thoroughly before drawing a single new line.
From there we develop schematic options that respond to your vision and your site. You'll see how the home is organized, how it relates to the land or the existing structure, and how the rooms you care about most will feel. This is the phase where you fall in love with your project.
Design Development & Pricing
This is where our process is most different.
In the traditional process, the architect finishes the design and hands it to a contractor for bidding. The bid comes back higher than the estimate. The client faces a choice between redesigning, cutting scope, or exceeding budget. This happens on almost every project.
We don't do it that way. As we develop the design in detail — working through materials, systems, structural elements, and specifications — we're developing the budget alongside it. Every design decision is made with full knowledge of what it costs to build.
By the time design development is complete, you have a real number. Not an estimate. Not a range. A real construction budget built from the actual design. You know what you're committing to before construction documents begin.
Construction Documents & Contract
The design is fully resolved.
Now we document it.
Construction documents are the complete technical record of your project — every dimension, every material, every system, every detail drawn to buildable precision. This is the set of drawings your home is permitted and built from.
Because we designed the project and we're building it, our construction documents are unusually complete. We don't leave details to be figured out in the field. We don't leave room for substitutions. What's drawn is what gets built.
The construction contract is straightforward: one contract, between you and Longleaf Design Build, covering the complete scope of work. No separate architecture agreement. No separate construction contract. One document. One team. One standard of accountability.
Construction
We build what we designed.
This is the phase most clients dread. It doesn't have to be. When the team building your project is the same team that designed it, every question that comes up in the field is answered by someone who was in the room when the decision was made. There's no translation loss. No value engineering behind your back. No substitutions that change the character of your home.
We maintain a dedicated presence on your project throughout construction — not occasional check-ins, but consistent on-site supervision from a team that understands the design intent at every level. You'll have a single point of contact and regular updates. And when the project is complete, it will look like what was drawn.
Closeout
Done Means Done.
We don't consider a project complete until every punch list item is resolved, every system is commissioned, and you have everything you need to live in your home. That means a final walkthrough, documentation of all systems and warranties, and a project that is genuinely finished — not handed off with a list of open items.
A home from Longleaf Design Build is a finished result. Not a compromise. Not a catalog. Entirely yours.
Ready to understand the process firsthand?
We'd welcome the chance to walk you through what your specific project would look like from start to finish.
Our Services
Custom New Homes
Your lot. Your vision. Designed around how you actually live — then built by the same team.
Renovations and Additions
Additions and renovations designed to feel like they were always part of the original home.
Build-Only Services
Have an architect? We build it exactly as drawn — as licensed architects ourselves.
Architecture-Only Services
Full architectural services from schematic design through construction administration — designed by an architect who also builds.