When noted art collectors and philanthropists Amy and John Phelan commissioned in 2007 a piece for their Aspen home by conceptual artist Jenny Holzer, they called on architecture and design firm Stonefox to facilitate the installation.
The Manhattan-based company, Phelan recalls, handled all manner of details — from exploring with Holzer what materials might be best suited to Aspen's weather extremes to making sure the property's electrical system was ready for the piece's power requirements.
While the work "was Holzer's vision, clearly," Phelan says, such installations, "can take a whole team of people to engineer and monitor to make sure it's perfect for the artist and the expectations of the client."
Stonefox's work for Phelan wasn't limited to high-end art installations, though. As a full-service firm, the company "will do everything down to having your house toothbrush-ready if you want," she says.
Christopher Stone (standing) and David Fox form design-build firm StoneFox, which completed this art-filled UWS apartment.Photo: Stonefox Architects; Matthu Placek
For instance, the same year they commissioned the Holzer piece, the Phelans decided to do a little "freshening" of their New York City apartment on the Upper East Side. After a discussion of the general direction the couple wanted to take things, the company — led by principals Christopher Stone and David Fox — went out and selected everything needed to update the place, including barware, blankets and picture frames. "I said, 'Do it. I'm sure I'm going to love everything,' " Phelan says. "And I did."
DIY is fine, but there's something to be said for leaving home improvement to the experts. And design-build firms like Stonefox do just that — bringing every aspect of renovating and decorating under one roof.
"We [cover] the full life cycle — architecture, renovation, furnishing," says Chip Brian, founder of interior design outfit Neue Atelier and construction firm Design Development NYC, through which he offers comprehensive design-build services. In fact, Brian says, many clients bring him in before they even buy an apartment, for his thoughts on a potential space and its cost.
Client Harriet Gordon estimates that Brian looked at around five apartments with her before she settled on her three-bedroom Upper West Side co-op. His advice wasn't the only determining factor in her decision, she says, "but it was one of the important factors."
Another Brian customer, Anne Dubbs, brought him in shortly after she and her husband purchased their Upper West Side classic six, tasking him with a complete renovation of the apartment, which, she says, "hadn't been touched in 50 years."
Brian's companies dealt with everything from wrangling the building's co-op board to installing the air conditioning so that it would conform with the unit's electricity usage limits, Dubbs says. Equally important, she adds, was the attention paid to smaller parts of the job.
"For instance, doorknobs and whether they're lacquered and how they're installed and how it all goes together," she says. "The placement of ceiling lights and fixtures. Chip knows what needs to be there."
Brian founded the firms in 1997 after his own disastrous renovation. A financial executive at the time, he had hired a contractor to redo his home while away on a business trip. Upon returning, he found his home in shambles.
"The place was like a bomb had gone off," he says. To avoid similar unpleasantness on his own jobs, Brian provides clients with weekly reports with pictures of the work. In fact, Gordon says a camera was installed during the renovation so she could watch from her computer.
Brian says this is standard for his companies. "That way [clients] can see, the lights went on at 9, the workers are working, they are in uniform," he says.
Also essential is providing clients with an understanding of the money involved. In Brian's case, costs usually run between $350 and $925 per square foot — depending on the quality of the finishes.
Managing client expectations is key, adds Ben Bischoff, a founding partner of Red Hook, Brooklyn-based design-build practice Made. Many clients, he says, may be unaware of a project's full scope and scale.
A Park Ave. kitchen project from Aerial Design and Build. Co-founder Rupila Sethi keeps tabs on costs.
Adds Rupila Sethi, co-founder, with Julie Kelley, of Aerial Design and Build, "we get people — investment bankers, lawyers — who have the resources, but absolutely no clue what it costs."
While design-build might sound like a premium service, Brian says that his prices are "competitive" with more traditional contractors.
Bischoff likewise says that Made's project management fees — which include a percentage against architecture and design costs along with a percentage against subcontractor and vendor costs for construction management services — are "typical and consistent" with the fees charged by most architects and contractors.
In fact, because the job is coordinated by a single entity, budgets are often "much more in check when you're working with a design-build firm," says Sethi.
That doesn't mean design-build clients have to take a hands-off approach. Indeed, while these firms can take the hassle out of a redesign or renovation, close customer involvement is still key to getting the best possible result, notes Bischoff.
"We want our clients to be very involved; we ask as lot of them in the process," he says. "There's a lot of review of the decisions made on paper prior to construction — making sure that things are exactly as they want them, from the height of a faucet or shower to the way the lighting controls work."
Made even makes full-scale mock-ups before construction begins, Bischoff says, "so [clients] understand what they are going to live with."
Noa Santos founded Homepolish, which devised the entire design scheme for this SoHo loft.Photo: Chellise Michael Photography
"We love clients that want to bring their voice into a project and don't just give us carte blanche," says Noa Santos, founder of design firm Homepolish, which charges clients a flat fee of either $100 or $130 per hour for its services (depending on whether they hire a junior or senior designer).
For instance, Marissa Vosper, owner of lingerie company Negative Underwear and one of Homepolish's early clients, notes that while she "had a pretty strong point of view in terms of the pieces" she was interested in, Santos was key to turning her SoHo loft into "a cohesive unit rather than just a collection of furniture."
One of her favorite of Santos' touches, Vosper says, was the divider he devised for her entryway out of a bookshelf filled entirely with white books purchased from Books by the Foot. "It's such a genius concept because books are a lovely way to create design," she says.
And then there are those who opt for a more straightforward approach.Brian recalls a client with an apartment that cost around $15 million who was looking to spend another $1 to $2 million in renovations.
"So I gave him the estimate, and then I asked him, what about the interior design?" Brian says. "And he said, 'It's OK, I have that covered. I have it all right here.' Then he drops a Restoration Hardware catalog on the desk and is like, 'I have every room already picked out.' "
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