Services

DCS Design’s philosophy is very simple: Design great buildings that fulfill the needs of the end user, are responsive to the project’s context, meet the financial and aesthetic desires of our clients, and respect and nurture the environment and the planet. This philosophy has informed every project we have undertaken be it medical, residential, office or hospitality. We believe it is our duty to work collaboratively with the entire development team to produce buildings that meet all these objectives. The design vocabulary of our architecture deliberately ranges from classical to truly ground breaking because we believe each building should be a unique response to requirements of that client and that site. What unites them all is an absolute commitment to efficient, buildable and creative design.

The workplace is no longer a 9 to 5 destination, and a residence is not only a place to live out the hours in-between. As a merging of work and home-life continues to create a new workforce and workplace, interior architecture is determining these new hybrid-environments. Whether employees are collaborating in a large, multi-purpose staff lunchroom, connecting with co-workers over nitro cold brew in a small corner pantry, or working heads-down in an office, the point of exemplary interior architecture is understanding where a person needs to be to best perform their work. Likewise, designing desirable and meaningful living spaces for today’s residents means capturing some of those community work and connection spaces and translating them for home.

Trends come and go, but what remains constant is the need to find value, fulfillment, and pleasure in one’s work and home settings—and much of this comes from the built-environments we occupy. The spaces we are most proud of are not necessarily the ones recognized by awards, but those our clients tell us we’ve listened and created a space unique to them. And when people love their workplace, their work reflects it.

The master plan synthesizes the comprehensive view of a community’s needs for today and in the future. It is the framework for relationships of buildings, streets and uses to include shapes, views and circulation—everything affecting peoples’ relationships to work, home, schools, transportation, shopping and entertainment, energy and waste—and climate change. How will the community sustainably accommodate growth? How will quality-of-life be enriched?

Master planning services can include the following:

Capacity Analysis Studies 

DCS Design is uniquely equipped to accurately assess the development potential and best uses of a given site. It begins with zoning and site evaluation in the context of the project goals. It may include initial concept with design schemes to illustrate potential building uses and influencing factors.

Design Guidelines 

The development of design guidelines for large scale projects is an increasingly common requirement in many jurisdictions. In creating design guidelines for projects, DCS Design crafted documents that provided the developer with flexibility to respond to changing market and architectural trends.

Urban Design

In addition to DCS Design’s site-specific architectural and master planning work, the firm also has the capability of broader range studies aimed at the creation of long term development/redevelopment of new or existing cities. Examples include the award winning Hopewell Virginia Downtown Master Plan, RansonGreen, a zero carbon city planned for Ranson, West Virginia, George Washington Village, a 1,500 acre new community in Stafford County, Virginia and the work that the company undertook as part of Tysons Corner planning effort which defined the urban street grid for much of the area.

DCS Design is proud to be at the forefront of designing to minimize impact to the environment and improve quality of life from our inception. From the earth-sheltered schools we designed in the 1970s, to the high-performance net-zero carbon footprint projects we are creating today, we have always provided our clients with innovative solutions to achieve improved performance metrics in energy savings, water efficiency, CO₂ emissions reduction, improved indoor environmental quality, and stewardship of resources with sensitivity to their impacts.

We design buildings and interiors to qualify for various green building systems including LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), EarthCraft, NGBS (National Green Building Standard), and Green Globes. We constantly seek out innovative technologies and best practices to help preserve our planet.

Branding is more than a logo and a tag line, it’s the personality, voice, and message of your company. Branding is how others see you, and if you don’t create and shape this perception, others will.

DCS Elevation will help you define what makes your company unique, then work with you to craft branding elements to build a strong brand identity that tells your distinct story. Whether it’s re-examining your over-all corporate brand, branding your portfolio or individual properties, or incorporating crucial identity elements into your new space design, we can help create your distinct message.

To find out more and see some of our branding work go to dcselevation.com.

The decision for adaptive reuse of a building that no longer performs as desired is often seen as a sustainable strategy that avoids the wasteful demolition of a building just to build a new one. And sometimes, as with historically significant buildings, you have no choice but to renovate.

Improving flow, expanding space, updating amenities and bringing to code—DCS Design teams are always happy when improving and modernizing established buildings. Renovations and building repositioning are opportunities to boost a building’s presence and increases the revenue the building can command.

Building repositioning and adaptive reuse often includes:

Building Envelope/Systems Evaluations

Before repositioning, repurposing or renovating a building, a thorough evaluation of the building’s existing conditions is performed. In these studies, DCS Design evaluates building systems in terms of age, efficiency, expected life cycle and other factors. We also examine the building envelope for quality of glazing, insulation, shading and general condition. The study’s results, along with recommended actions are summarized and ranked according to effectiveness and cost.

Long-range Strategic Planning

DCS Design assists clients in projecting growth and/or change over an extended period of years. The data gathered and analyzed during the planning and programming phases presents clients and their real estate partners with a snapshot of how their company/organization will look in projected years. DCS Design compares and analyzes client data against established benchmarks and trends. This in-depth analysis becomes the road map to helping determine relocation verses in-place renovation decision-making. This data also provides the framework for space planning/test-fitting from which building options will be analyzed and selected.

Densification Studies

Local governments are increasingly reevaluating their land use policies in order to increase revenue and encourage more environmentally responsible development patterns. Frequently, this involves increasing the density envelope or encouraging the introduction of mixed use development in formerly single use office or industrial parks. DCS Design can evaluate the potential of existing properties to receive additional development and can provide design studies showing how work can be done while allowing for the continued operation of the asset.

ADA Evaluations/Code Assessments

Adaptive reuse or repositioning of an existing building includes the requirement of bringing the asset up to existing codes. DCS Design is able to evaluate existing structures for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and other code standards that may have come into being since the building’s original construction. The evaluation serves to advise clients of the extent to which planned  improvements may trigger additional compliance requirements.

Between concept and when the last lease is signed, many things must happen. There are banks, planning commissions, environmental considerations, licensing and stakeholders of every ilk to be satisfied. And that’s before the first nail gets hammered. That’s why it’s such a priority for us to keep at the forefront of new practices and technologies. DCS Design does as much as possible in-house. It saves time and money. Most clients are pleased to learn we can quickly create the 3D modeling, renderings and documentation that stakeholders find so reassuring. It’s not even unheard of for requests for these services to come in for projects that aren’t our own.

Photo-realistic Computer Renderings

DCS Design’s staff uses a variety of software platforms to produce the photo-realistic renderings which have become so valuable for communicating with stakeholders and for marketing purposes.

Building Information Modeling (BIM)

DCS Design was an early adopter of this technology for the production of building documentation, and now produces most projects using Revit software. An active and on-going training program ensures that our staff remains current on the latest updates to this technology.

3D Modeling

This design and presentation tool is used early in the design process. The model becomes increasingly realistic as the project progresses. These 3D models enable the owner and the design team to fully understand the implications of design decisions.

Animations and Project Fly-Throughs

Animations and project fly-throughs at differing levels of detail provide context and proportional insights. Examples include Potomac Yard and Tysons Central.

Workplace Strategies and Analysis

The world-wide workforce is being affected by rapidly changing technology, work processes, sociological trends, and work culture. DCS Design can perform an in-depth workplace analysis to evaluate individual and group work processes and needs. The results of this analysis will become the roadmap for our client-focused design. Services offered included:
• Departmental and/or employee-designated information gathering meetings
• Employee survey development
• Survey facilitation
• Branding analysis
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Results interpretation
• Implementation of desired workplace strategy

Change Management

As the workplace evolves and companies encourage and embrace a more open, collaborative, and team-based culture, change management has become a more prevalent consideration and need. Whether moving from an office-intensive environment to a more open configuration … studying how individuals and groups work, and then responding with the appropriate environment … or incorporating a more flexible, mobile work model … making staff feel comfortable and secure in their new workplace is imperative. DCS Design assists clients to implement change management plans which includes the following services:
• An articulated vision for change. This includes a visioning session with designated staff and decision-makers.
• A written a summary of the goals discussed.
• A written summary of work processes surveys from staff conducted on-line or gathered through interviews.
• Evaluation of the company’s capacity for culture change.
• New workplace standard recommendations.
• Defining change leaders within the company/organization.
• A work plan for transition and implementation. This includes scheduling meetings with staff and pre-determined steps for staff involvement.
• Post Project: Written evaluation of implementation success.

Engineering and other consultant coordination

The experience, size, workload and responsiveness of a consulting firm are of paramount importance to the successful execution of a project. DCS Design maintains relationships with all major Engineering, Structural, General Contractor, and other consultant firms in the Washington, DC area. We tailor each project team to best meet the client’s individual needs.

Site Selection and Evaluation

Over the years, DCS Design has assisted a number of companies and developers with advancing their development programs and assisting in identifying and evaluating various properties to optimize location, size, configuration and other factors.

LEED Consulting

DCS Design has undertaken LEED consulting and documentation for our own projects for several years including the development of proprietary tracking tools. We now offer that expertise and experience to other architectural firms and developers. Our extensive LEED experience and practical knowledge of design and construction allows us to develop effective green building strategies at reduced costs.

Sustainable Building Certifications

While LEED is the most widely known evaluation system for sustainable design, other systems such as Earthcraft, Green Globes, NGBS (National Green Building Standard) and Energy Star could be more appropriate for a given project. At DCS Design, our experience with all of the above enables us to assist our clients to select the system most appropriate for their project, and, if necessary, work with governmental organizations to win approval for an alternative rating system.

Construction Administration

• Schedule monitoring.
• Shop drawing review to ensure the correct materials are being used and that they align with the agreed upon specifications.
• Monitoring pay requests to be sure the contractor is paid for work done and materials installed or stored onsite.
• Site visits are performed to see that issues are addressed and work quality is suitable.
• End of project administration includes that late stage phase of construction—substantial completion—where the building can be used or occupied.
• Final inspection to confirm no loose ends remain and that the project is truly complete.