4 Steps to Start Your Commercial Development Journey

Building Smarter from the Start

straightforward steps to turning your idea into a successful project.

Blog / 4 Steps to Start Your Commercial Development Journey

Starting your first commercial development project is exciting—but it can also feel overwhelming. Between detention requirements, site challenges, and the dozens of decisions that come early in the process, it’s easy to worry about making costly mistakes.

That’s where we come in. At Moment Architects, we specialize in guiding first-time developers through the complexity of commercial development. Think of us as your project quarterback: we help you navigate unfamiliar territory, assemble the right team, and turn your vision into a clear plan for success.

To make the process simple, we’ve broken it down into four steps. These are the same steps every developer takes when they begin working with us:

Step 1: Discovery call. let’s talk about your vision.

Every project begins with a discovery call.  During this call we want to get to know you, and we want to give you a chance to get to know us.  We want to hear your story; why you do what you do, and why you’re pursuing your next project.  By aligning ourselves with your vision, we ensure that our efforts as your architects are positively impacting your project in the most meaningful way.

The discovery call also serves as our chance to determine whether we are a good fit for your project.  We are a boutique architecture firm, and as a result, there are certain project types and project scales that don’t fall into our wheelhouse.  If we feel you will be better served by another team, we will be happy to say so, and we will be glad to recommend other architects who specialize in your project type.

Step 2: Design consultation. Guiding your success.

Following the discovery call, if we feel we can serve you well, we will schedule an in-person design consultation to further explore the project with you.   During this meeting we will dive into the project in greater detail and begin discussing any potential opportunities and challenges we see.  We will also begin providing guidance on the steps needed to bring your project to fruition, including the necessary engineers and consultants, project timelines, potential budgets, and permitting requirements.  You’ll walk away with greater clarity, and we will have the information we need to create a customized proposal.

Step 3: Proposal Review Meeting. Clarity before commitment.

Following the design consultation, we prepare a detailed proposal tailored specifically for your project’s scope of work.  This proposal will include our basic architectural services, which typically involve pre-design services such as feasibility studies and architectural programming, and extend into schematic design, design development, construction documentation, bidding and negotiation, and construction administration.  Our proposal will also include services to be provided by any necessary engineers and consultants. 

We’ll meet with you virtually to review the scope of work, the services being offered, and the fees associated with those services. This step ensures transparency, alignment, and peace of mind—so you can move forward knowing exactly what to expect. 

Step 4: Hands-On Design. Your partner, every step of the way.

Whether we are providing you with a simple feasibility study, or full-on architecture and engineering services, you can count on us to be your advocate and design partner.  When we work with commercial developers we understand our role within the bigger picture, and our aim is to do our small part well so that your time can be spent managing everything else.  We will keep you updated on our progress, propose solutions to any hurdles encountered, and ensure that your vision remains the focus from concept to reality.

Want to start your first project with confidence?

Click the button below to complete our contact form today, and let’s begin shaping your development into a success story!

Residential Design Trends in 2024

2024 Design Trends

Architecture and Interior Design Trends to Pay attention to in 2024.

Blog / Residential Design Trends in 2024

It’s a new year, and with it come new trends in interior design and architecture.  One thing you’ll notice if you spend any time following architectural trends, or design trends in general, is that change is the only constant.  What is in vogue today is outdated within a few years.  Keeping up with the current trends is a full-time job, and the endless inspiration images available on the internet can feel like an ocean to homeowners looking to build a custom home or remodel their existing home.  Fortunately, homeowners don’t have to sift through the mountains of Pinterest boards themselves, because keeping up with the latest trends is part of an architect’s job description.  Not only is it our job, but it’s what we love to do. 

In this article we’ll focus on two of our favorite architectural trends that are leading us into the year 2024: “splashes of color” and “thermally modified wood siding”.  We’ll break these design trends down and give a couple examples of how we’re incorporating them into our current projects.

The Lifecycle of Architectural Trends

One thing that I find most fascinating about trends, and not just architectural trends, but trends in general, is their reciprocal nature.  What is trendy today will be outdated in ten years, but wait 30 years and it will be the latest trend again.  Remember that horrible wallpaper your mom had in the hall bathroom when you were a kid?  Somebody probably looked at that bathroom later and asked, “Who would ever put something like this on their walls?”  Well, I’m here to tell you that horrible wallpaper is back.  Wallpaper with loopy floral patterns, full of colors, with birds and woodland creatures to boot.

It’s because of the reciprocal nature of trends that I keep telling my wife we shouldn’t replace the awful wood cabinets in our kitchen.  They’re 25 years old, a little dingy, and they have an unsightly orange hue to them.  BUT!!! (My six-year-old would snicker right now and say “Daddy said ‘butt’.” if I were reading this out loud to her.)  But, our cabinets are solid oak, in great shape, and 25 years old!  Do you know what that means?  It means if we wait 5 years, they’ll be 30 years old, and things that were popular 30 years ago are popular again today.  So, in 5 years everyone will be wanting dingy old cabinets with unsightly orange hues in their kitchens, and if we spend $60K remodeling our kitchen today, in 5 years we’ll wish we had the very cabinets we demolished.

My wife, who is admittedly a far better designer than me, doesn’t think my theory on our kitchen cabinets holds water, and maybe she’s right, but my theory on trends in general is a proven fact.  Maybe with a few caveats, though.  You see, the way trends work is that old styles are revitalized with a new twist.  What was stylish 30 years ago needs new life to become stylish again today.  That awful wallpaper in your mother’s hall bathroom would still be awful today; but a contemporary twist on your mother’s awful wallpaper is “fire”, as the kids are saying.  Or maybe it’s “fyre”?  Or perhaps it’s “phire” ... kind of like “phat” ... only different...  I’ve only ever heard the word spoken out loud, but the squiggly red line beneath “fyre” and “phire” tells me that either it’s “fire”, or Microsoft Word is not up to date on the latest lingo. 

Splashes of Color

We are emerging from the era of greys, whites, and blacks, and entering a brave new world.  A world of adventure, fraught with danger, peril, and color.  Green is the new grey, pink is the new black, and white is the new white.  Only... black is still in, too... so maybe pink is the new beige?  But my sister said that beige is back, too, so perhaps pink is the new grey, and green is the new white, which would make white the new black and black the new burgundy.  I’m Ron Burgundy?  Somebody smarter than I could probably keep it all straight. 

I picture beige as some vagabond hue wandering the realm of color in drag, trying to find a place to call its home, drifting from color family to color family, jingling its drab tin cup and begging for a quarter to buy a cup of coffee, not knowing that inflation hit since the last time beige was popular, and coffee now costs $4.79 an ounce and has mushrooms in it.  What does this have to do with color trends?  Nothing, really, unless you consider it a metaphor for the pitfalls of always trying to be on the cutting edge with trends.  I say you should be your own person, pave your own roads, and brew your own mushroom coffee, because something that was never in style to begin with never runs the risk of falling out of style.  But I digress. This is why nobody in my office lets me design anything anymore.

Regardless of what color is the new what, and what beige has been doing with itself lately, color is back.  It’s back in clothing, it’s back in bedsheets (‘Who invited that kid?’), and it’s back in houses.  But when it comes to using color in architectural design, the key is to keep it simple.  One hue per room is all it takes.  Balance that pink with some whites, balance the green with some grey, and you’ve got yourself a bathroom that screams “Who forgot to flush the toilet!?”.  Sorry, that’s not what your colorful bathroom would scream.  That’s what I scream when I walk into any bathroom in my house.  At any time.  Seriously. It’s a problem.  But that’s probably because our house doesn’t have any colorful bathrooms.  If it did, they’d be screaming “Hey everyone, come see how good I look!”

Below is an example of a way Moment Architects is currently using color in a full home remodel project in The Woodlands, Texas.  We call it the “Barbie Bathroom”, and we love it.  This home is done in collaboration with Sneller Custom Homes and Remodeling, who may or may not appreciate being mentioned in a blog of such questionable merit as this.

Thermally Modified Wood Siding

As if color wasn’t exciting enough, I now draw your attention to another trend that’s sweeping the nation, literally.  Did you notice all the forest fires at the end of 2023?  But seriously, while thermally modified woods are not harvested from the wake of natural disasters, they do have natural benefits that would be disastrous to overlook.  Everybody likes the look of real wood on the exterior of their home, but maintaining a real wood façade, especially in humid climates, is a challenge. 

What is thermally modified wood?

I’m glad you asked.  Thermally modified wood is wood that has been modified, thermally.  Must I go on?  Blogging is a chore.  The process of creating thermally modified wood varies depending on the desired end result.  There is a type of thermally modified wood called Yakisugi, which is a technique originally developed in Japan, and involves truly charring the wood with fire, which leaves a layer of black soot on the wood, acting as a barrier to insects, fire, UV damage, and a host of other things you don’t want happening to your wood.  It gives the wood a very distinctive appearance, and while it may not be to everyone’s liking, black houses are trending right now, which I think lends itself well to the black charred wood look that the Yakisugi wood siding achieves.  To put it simply, Yakisugi wood is phire. 

Dad jokes for the win.  Not even my six-year-old laughed at that one.

But the charred Yakisugi wood is not the only option.  For those who prefer the look of natural wood tones, there are other methods of thermally modifying wood that retains the wood’s appearance.  Most of these processes involve baking the wood in a chamber, void of all oxygen, which changes the wood on a cellular level, giving it characteristics that naturally deter insects, provide dimensional stability that prevent the dreaded warping and bowing, make it resistant to rot, UV degradation, and fire.  There are many sources for this type of thermally modified wood, but the one I like most is a shop in Austin, Texas, called Delta Millworks.  Check out their website when you’re done reading this enthralling piece of literature.  Or you can check it out now, it’s whatever.

Below is an example of a way we’re incorporating the Yakisugi charred wood into the exterior of the same remodel project that boasts the Barbie Bathroom, with Sneller Custom Homes and Remodeling.  Two mentions in the same article, I won’t tell him if you don’t.  The areas on the exterior of this home that are black will be Yakisugi siding.

 The image below is another example of a project we’re proposing thermally modified wood siding on. This is the preliminary design for the new Hands of Justice Economic Empowerment Resource Center, which will be built in Conroe, Texas to serve survivors of human trafficking. The natural colored wood shown on the rendering is meant to illustrate wood that has been thermally modified, but not charred, while the black siding is meant to illustrate Yakisugi charred wood siding.

Conclusion

So, there you have it.  Two architectural trends to pay attention to: splashes of color, and thermally modified wood siding.  I could stop writing now, but according to my research, a conclusion is a necessary part of every blog.  A good conclusion should consist of reiterating the things you just talked about and plugging in a few solid keywords for search engine optimization purposes, like color, hue, architectural trends, interior design, wood cladding, custom homes, and so on.  Anybody who is still reading this is either bored at work or sitting on the toilet.  Hopefully said toilet is in a colorful bathroom, and if it’s not, now you know that it should be.  Get some green subway tile and go to town.  But don’t forget to flush, first.  I swear, I don’t even know how it’s possible, every single time I step into a bathroom at home...  It makes me wonder if our plumbing was installed incorrectly, and maybe when I flush one toilet, instead of taking it to the sewer it just reroutes the contents to one of the other toilets in the house, and maybe I’ve been unjustly chastising my children all along.  

If you are looking to build a custom home or remodel your existing home and you want an expert team to guide you through the design process, give Moment Architects a call.  We are blessed to have a team of exceptionally talented architects and designers who had nothing to do with this rant of a blog post, and they are far more talented and capable than I when it comes to making things look good.  I walked out of the house today wearing a grey sweater over a grey polo shirt, and I guess I didn’t look in the mirror until I got to the coffee shop I’m writing in now, because if I had looked in the mirror at home I would have noticed that grey on grey has a unique ability to suck the color straight out of a person’s face and make them look like they’re on the brink of death.  It’s exactly these kinds of mistakes that my team of designers can help you avoid.  Well, not exactly… We don’t help our clients get dressed, but we do help them choose colors and materials that go well together.  We also hope that nobody ever reads our blog.