Get matched with top architects/engineers in Lowell, MA

"Richard is a wonderful person to work with. Great communication and very easy going. He knows his stuff! He was able to accomodate the design needed for additions in my 1949 Cape Cod style home, as well as redesign on the interior. He lived more than an hour away, but was willing to travel out to my home for measurements! This was a huge plus. He was able to coordinate the printing of blueprints, so I could pay for them and have them sent to my home, since he lived a distance away. I would highly recommend him to anyone, in need of an architect, for a project, on an older home. He was such a pleasure to work with!"

"Our project consisted of the conversion of two bedrooms and a spare room into a Primary Suite, with Bedroom, Bathroom, walk-in closet and separate laundry. From the moment we started to the finish, we were continually in awe of the coordination with and by Ryan, the pleasure of working with his top tier crew and subs, and the finished product. As the start date approached, Ryan made the decision to start two weeks early, in consideration of finishing prior to Thanksgiving. He dealt easily with unique questions from the local Historical Committee, and finished the project exactly on schedule. Our house is over 100 years old, and we were interested in maintaining the charm, while providing all the modern amenities. The result is outstanding, and due in large part to the inputs from Ryan and his team. Our tile and shower install by Lance is perfect. Original doorknobs were retrofitted onto every new door. Where doorways into adjacent rooms were removed – you can’t tell they were ever there. Josh from Charbot Electric showed us some options, and the resulting lighting and electric solutions adapted perfectly. New plumbing was run using existing chase-ways through the house that resulted in significantly less contingency and really clean work. We watched in admiration as Dale cut out a section of wall with one hand and sucked up any dust with a vacuum in his other hand. And the wall repair later is invisible. We happily converted heat from hybrid baseboard and radiator steam to just baseboard. And it was finished off in grand form with wallpaper by Tim, and matched to the house new or refinished hardwood floors by Drago. We enjoyed our interaction with every person assigned to our project, and had zero negative interactions over three months. Cost mattered to us. We met with several builders, several of whom told us it was too complicated to make any commitments. Ryan, after some thought and a fresh design, presented a fair and reasonable proposal to a complex job with several unknowns. Contingencies were controlled. We certainly exceeded the amenity allowance in order to maintain the charm and meet our vision, but overall, we got an awesome return on our investment and every decision was our own. We anticipate another major project in two years. We will not call anyone but Ryan Norman and his team of consummate professionals."

"Our house was a 1955 ranch-style house with 3 bedrooms, one bath, kitchen, and living/dining room that we moved into in 1995. We had been looking to add a second bathroom and had originally worked with an architect from NH to do a modest front and rear bump out to give us more room to fit in a second bathroom. This architect had to withdraw from the job and recommended David Kinsella of TBC. David initially made some modest changes to the plan that made sense. After somefurther discussion, in which my wife and I raised the possibility of a larger scale project to modernize the style of the house, David developed a plan that essentially rebuilt the house except for our previously remodeled kitchen and original foundation. This new plan converted our house into modern design with a more open floor plan, completely new roof line, loft space, re-finished basement (and the second bathroom). David was able to fit this into an only slightly expanded footprint in order to comply with town regulations. Throughout the process, David kept our budget in mind and would typically present different price options for us to choose from to allow us to come up with a reasonable comprise between price with style. In addition TBC worked with the town to make sure our design stayed within our zoning and conservation restrictions.
After deciding to go ahead with the project, we interviewed several contractors and decided that TBC brought us the best value for our money and would also allow David to oversee the project as needed. We started the project in June 2011 and completed the project in May 2012. The project did take several months longer than expected, but did stay on budget. The major problem that occurred that delayed the project was that in the summer of 2011, the original subcontracted framers were being sent to other jobs by their boss even though TBC was told they would be coming to our job. Hence, instead of working full time on our job, they were working less than half time. Eventually TBC had to fire them and find a new contractor to step in. At the time we felt that TBC should have replaced them sooner, but perhaps this was difficult due to contractual obligations. (We also found this first group of framers were slobs who did not have much regard for the fact that we were still living in the house.) By the end of summer 2011, the house was not completely framed and roofed and number of rain storms (including hurricane Irene) slowed down progress further. In mid-October we were still living in the part of the house and we agreed at this point that we would move out to allow for a more efficient work flow. From this point construction generally proceeded ahead, except for a few delays do to weather and scheduling conflicts that arose for other subcontractors, no doubt due to the significant delay caused by the no-show framers.
In the end the house is beautiful and works for us better than we could have imagined. While the house has not expanded much in
terms of square feet, the open floor plan and high ceiling/roof line combined with increased natural lighting gives a much more expansive feeling inside. From the curb, the house has modern angular green metal roof with cedar siding and one has to look hard to find any resemblance to the original house.
At the completion of of the project, TBC was very responsive to completing punch-list items and other minor issues that have arisen over the past year. While my wife and I certainly had stressful times during the renovation (and certainly did a lot of second guessing our decision to renovate rather than move), we always felt that David had a personal interest in getting the job done correctly and making sure that we were happy in the end. In that regard, David was very accessible by email or phone before, during, and after the work. In summary, David Kinsella provided the creativity to design a renovation plan that was truly transforming for our house and TBC was then able to see the plan through to successful completion."

"Brad is very understanding and he is friendly. He is very good when architect and engineer comes."

"Bob contacted us very quickly and arrived when he said he would. Gave an honest assessment of what we thought were foundation issues. As one reviewer stated " fair price for piece of mind." I will use his services for any issues or projects I have in the future and would highly recommend him to those needing an engineer."

"The engineer I worked with was knowledgeable and helpful. He went above and beyond staying in contact with me, and getting the plans drawn in a speedy manor."

"He knows engineering. I would recommend him."

"Great. Joe, who is the owner of Classical Homes, is knowledgeable and competent and a pleasure to do business with. He has excellent sub-contractors who know what they are doing and are pleasant to have in your home.. He provides reliable cost estimates , and is careful to let you know about the additional cost of any changes in plans as the work progresses. He's easily contacted, and returns phone calls in a timely way. I'm happy to have the opportunity to recommend his company."

"We ended needing a lot more work, so they didn't actually do the work and we got refunded. And then we needed to get a quote from them for insurance purposes and there wasn't really any follow up. Our insurance company wanted to talk to them and negotiate and then we didn't hear anything after that. I don't have any complaints it's just that they wouldn't do any small repairs cause they said that the roof needed a lot more."

"They showed up on time. Where extremely neat and had great imagination for design. Highly recommended."