flyer Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I wanted to see if anyone on this forum has personally worked with Su Nguyen and MDGI/StudioMet for a residential Design and Build. I would like to know about your experiences, both pros and cons, and your overall satisfaction, etc.Also, if you have any recommendation for other architects with a leaning toward modern/contemporary please share. We are contemplating building a home on a fairly modest budget (for a custom home).Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbarz Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 I wanted to see if anyone on this forum has personally worked with Su Nguyen and MDGI/StudioMet for a residential Design and Build. I would like to know about your experiences, both pros and cons, and your overall satisfaction, etc.Also, if you have any recommendation for other architects with a leaning toward modern/contemporary please share. We are contemplating building a home on a fairly modest budget (for a custom home).Thanks.I am not familiar with Su Nguyen, but I have been looking for an Architect to design a modern home for me too.I like Allen Bianchi's work. What is your idea of a fairly modest budget for a custom home? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoef Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 I wanted to see if anyone on this forum has personally worked with Su Nguyen and MDGI/StudioMet for a residential Design and Build. I would like to know about your experiences, both pros and cons, and your overall satisfaction, etc.Also, if you have any recommendation for other architects with a leaning toward modern/contemporary please share. We are contemplating building a home on a fairly modest budget (for a custom home).Thanks.Hi,We really like their work and the quality is outstanding (steel + concrete). Allen Bianchi makes cardboard houses compared to them. We talked with MDGI about a potential project but the price is quite steep (~$200 / sqft) so we let it go (for now). But they were very courtious and open about the project, plan, budget, possibilities etc... I would be curious to learn from others on the board that did go forward with a MDGI house. I am hoping that the price will come down due to the down turn.... Would go with them hands down for $150 / sqft.We also like MC2 and we also talked to them ($150 - $180 / sqft) http://mc2architects.com/index.htm. And lastly Intexture ($200 / sqft) http://www.intexure.com/What is your budget? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenH Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Try Collaborative Designworks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyer Posted December 19, 2008 Author Share Posted December 19, 2008 Hi,We really like their work and the quality is outstanding (steel + concrete). Allen Bianchi makes cardboard houses compared to them. We talked with MDGI about a potential project but the price is quite steep (~$200 / sqft) so we let it go (for now). But they were very courtious and open about the project, plan, budget, possibilities etc... I would be curious to learn from others on the board that did go forward with a MDGI house. I am hoping that the price will come down due to the down turn.... Would go with them hands down for $150 / sqft.We also like MC2 and we also talked to them ($150 - $180 / sqft) http://mc2architects.com/index.htm. And lastly Intexture ($200 / sqft) http://www.intexure.com/What is your budget?We are looking at a budget of $140-$150 s.f. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalai Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 Do you have a lot already?I hired MDGi to design my house. They were great to work with and have very unique design that really suit my taste...exposed steel, concrete, and wood, but I had it built by someone else. I think they are moving towards designing and building more expensive houses with higher end finishes, but I know from experience that the house can be built for a lot less than they estimate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas911 Posted January 13, 2009 Share Posted January 13, 2009 I tried to use them but they are going high brow. Nothing wrong with that. I found them when they first started out and where a small hungry firm, but wasn't ready to build. When I was ready, they were too expensive for my budget. They seem to be busy so they aren't going to lower their fees for now. But I do love their work and am glad there are firms out there that are pushing the envelope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archinspired Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 i had the privledge to meet su personally through a friend, and i would recommend him without a doubt. after speaking with hiim he has a true passion for what he does and it shows in his personality, work, and fast advancement! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingj Posted April 20, 2010 Share Posted April 20, 2010 Do you have a lot already?I hired MDGi to design my house. They were great to work with and have very unique design that really suit my taste...exposed steel, concrete, and wood, but I had it built by someone else. I think they are moving towards designing and building more expensive houses with higher end finishes, but I know from experience that the house can be built for a lot less than they estimate.For those of you that have used either StudioMET, MC2, intexture, etc but have not used them to build, do you have any recommendations of good builders that execute this style of design?Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toefu Posted April 21, 2010 Share Posted April 21, 2010 We just finished drawing up the plans to our home with MDGI. Looking to get the loan now, hopefully we'll knock down the home soon. So far so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonic0boom Posted April 22, 2010 Share Posted April 22, 2010 My wife and I recently volunteered as docents for the Heights home tour and were at the McIntyre house. I really liked the house -- modern and very livable. The owner was also the architect, so I grabbed some cards on the way out.McIntyire + Robinowitz Architects713.520.9336And the builder was Kerry Galvin Homes, Inc at 713.683.9642Mr McIntyre was there and I overheard a number of conversations he had with visitors and believe i heard him say that $150-200 sq/ft is what he typically works with.On a side note, what do these firms typically charge to design a house. Let's say we are building a 3,000 sq/ft house at $150 sq/ft .... so that's 450K + how much for the design aspect? Or does that avg sq/ft cost typically roll in the design costs, too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toefu Posted April 27, 2010 Share Posted April 27, 2010 in general, most of the architects we spoke with quoted 150-200 per sqft, but honestly, it's impossible for them to truly gauge it. Most of it depends on the quality of home you are looking to build. Numerous factors heavily influence the cost of the home. Frame material - Steel, cement, woodexternal material - brick, stucco, concrete, metal, hardy plankWindow sizes and thicknessceiling heightsflooring - tile,wood, cementall these factors can sway your home cost from 130/sqft to 200+/sqft. The architect will almost always ask atleast 150 as he probably doesn't want to design a modern home w/o any freedom of design (he'd have to use all the cheapest materials).i'm pretty sure architect fees vary dramatically, but i'd expect 15k->40k for that fee alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingj Posted April 28, 2010 Share Posted April 28, 2010 We just finished drawing up the plans to our home with MDGI. Looking to get the loan now, hopefully we'll knock down the home soon. So far so good.Congrats - are you using MDGI to build or someone else? did you consider other builders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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