About

About

For over a decade, O’Brien Design Consulting, Inc. has been involved in residential and commercial architectural design, with a strong emphasis on custom residential projects, serving clients in the Mid-atlantic region.

Paying Close Attention to the Client

Architect Robert A. O’Brien, AIA feels that successful design is the result of paying close attention to the client, synthesizing their concerns and needs into a unique and ordered solution. This solution should be one that not only satisfies the project criteria, but surpasses the clients’ expectations, finding a design response that takes their vision to a higher level. It is not enough to respond strictly to a checklist of issues. The design program should take into account the clients themselves—their lifestyles, personalities and individual tastes. Having an understanding of the client will result in a more informed design process, and will be much more likely to result in a successful project. “You found a way to incorporate features that we didn’t even know we had room for,” says one recent residential addition client.

A Good Design

A good design also responds well to its site, be it an addition or from-the-ground-up new construction. The design should be responsive to climate, orientation, and other geographical features imposed by the site. The structure should also blend harmoniously with its built surroundings. It need not be a carbon copy of its neighbor per se, but should complement the existing vernacular in a way that achieves order and strikes an aesthetic balance, regardless of architectural style. Design excellence is achieved when a solution successfully responds to all these varied challenges, unifying them functionally and aesthetically, in a manner that transcends the ordinary.