Project Type
Custom Residential
Structural engineering for one-of-a-kind houses — hillside cantilevers, open-plan remodels, new ADUs, second-story additions, and everything in between. We work with the architect, the owner, and the contractor as one team.
What we do
Custom homes in Southern California tend to push structure. Hillside lots demand long downhill cantilevers on moment frames or braced frames. Indoor-outdoor living pushes glass walls to the corners, which means transfer beams, hidden drag struts, and disappearing posts. The climate invites flat roofs and deep overhangs that have to hold their lines in wind and seismic. Our job is to make the structure do all of this — and then get out of the way so the architecture can read cleanly.
We start in schematic design. Early in the process we help the architect test what the site will allow: cut-and-fill vs. caisson foundations, where lateral walls can land, how wide a span the owner is willing to pay for. That conversation is worth more than any line on a drawing. By the time design development begins, the structural language is already aligned with the architectural one.
In design development and construction documents we produce the plans, details, and calculations needed for plan check. We write our drawings for the specific contractor and crew who will build the job — plain notes, clean details, and connections they've seen before. Where a detail is unusual, we draw it at large scale and we flag it. During construction we take the RFI calls ourselves. No handoffs.
Typical scope
- Foundation design — spread footings, mat slabs, caissons, grade beams
- Lateral system — plywood shearwalls, steel moment frames, or braced frames
- Framing — wood, light-gauge steel, structural steel, glulam, and composite combinations
- Retaining walls, site walls, and pool structures
- Additions, remodels, and hillside expansions to existing houses
- ADUs (detached and attached), garage conversions, and second-story additions
- Structural review of architect's plans prior to permit submittal
- Construction administration, RFIs, and field adjustments
When to engage us
Bring us in at schematic. If you're already in design development we can still catch up — but the earlier we're in the conversation, the more we can save you in both construction cost and design friction.
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