Q&A: What type of projects does your firm do?

Our firm specializes in both commercial and residential projects. GARC has a solid reputation for delivering successful outcomes in both project types. Our design process is user-centered and research-oriented, allowing us to understand the unique needs of each project and collaborate closely with our clients to bring their vision to life. Our commercial projects are diverse and encompass a wide …

We’ve Moved in 2022

We are excited to announce that GARC has moved into our long-term home at 112 Granby St. Suite 400 in downtown Norfolk since September 2022. This was determined after a lengthy search for a new office location that could meet our current and future needs and we look forward to starting a new chapter in this space!

HRACRE Design Awards

GARC won two HRACRE design awards this year! Got Fish? for Best Recreation/Entertainment/Hospitality Project Merit Award and Get Well Soon for Best Interior Excellence Award. We want to thank our clients for the opportunities of working on these wonderful projects. We are looking forward to continue serving our community and working with local business owners.

Q&A: What are the high ROI items?

In the last Q&A, we talked about how to find balance between the investment of a home renovation and the return in both monetary value and in the value to the quality of life. If we are only evaluating Return On Investment (ROI) in a monetary sense, what are some high ROI items to consider? One source you can look …

Q&A: Can I recoup the investment on my renovation project?

Unlike flipping a house, which is evaluated purely by investment and return, renovating a home can not be judged solely by how much the property value increases. For example, in Remodeling Magazine’s “Cost vs. Value Report 2020”, the average ROI on a minor kitchen remodel in Virginia Beach is 58.6% (81.1% for the national average), and on a major kitchen …

Q&A: Should I renovate or rebuild?

We usually get this question when a client really likes the location of the house, but not happy with the actual building itself. The costs of a major renovation might be closer to building a new house from scratch. In that case, should you renovate or rebuild? The answer is that “it depends”. There are many factors at play. The …

Q&A: How do I phase my project?

The direct answer is yes, if doing a major renovation project, we can most certainly split the project into phases.  When creating the plans for each phase, we will work together with you to figure out what the most pressing needs are and have those needs as the main goal(s) to accomplish. By knowing the big picture, we can set …

How to Check the Zoning Requirements for Your Project

In our previous article post, we discussed the Three Things to Check Before Buying and Renovating a House in the Hampton Roads area. To make a long story short, those three things are: Zoning, Floodplain Ordinance and the Chesapeake Bay Protection Area. As suggested in that article, there are multiple ways to find the information, including calling the zoning staff of your …

Connecting Dots

Our clients from Get Well Soon sent us this piece writing about their business. Thanks for the shout out to our design!  “The duo relied on Norfolk-based architects, GARC Design, to help create all of the interior drawings and renderings of the space. “It was a really fun and easy process,” adds Ahmad. “They were easily able to take our …

Merry Christmas & Happy New Decade!

2019 has been a fruitful year for GARC. We have been fortunate to work with both returning and new clients throughout 2019. This year we accomplished around 20 Vision Workshops & Feasibility Studies. We have two commercial projects completed, several commercial and residential projects currently under construction. See below for more details! We’ve created multiple blog articles this year, initiated …

Q&A: What are the Three Things to Check Before Buying a House?

We recently held another successful Vision Workshop for a single family house in the Oceanfront of Virginia Beach. The house is a lovely mid-century modern home on a corner lot that our client purchased not long ago. After studying the zoning setback requirements, they showed that the actual area able to build on was much smaller than our client thought …

Q&A: How to Jumpstart My Commercial Project?

Are you looking to start your own business and need an inspiring space?  Perhaps you have two spaces in mind but not sure which one will align better with your business plan? Maybe you want to renovate your current space to attract more customers? Are you struggling with how to fully optimize the space available? You may already have a …

Happy Fall!

Our summer was jam packed with exciting projects. Check out some of the recent projects that we have been working on in the Hampton Roads area since our last report. We are so excited for Patrick and Maria at the Ruff House Stay and Play! Their project, encompassing over 12,000SF, was completed this past August. Now there’s an awesome new dog daycare …

Kitchen Is The New Center – Part 2

After World War II, Art & Arts magazine commissioned many major architects of the day to design and build homes.  The popular/acclaimed “Case Study House Program” ran intermittently between 1945 to 1966 and “sought to respond to post-war building boom with prototype modern homes that could be both easily replicated and really affordable to the average American.” The program had …

Creating A Prototype For A Simple Food Restaurant

Opened this past October, our most recent restaurant project, Honoka Teriyaki Express, is located at the intersection of Indian River and Kempsville road.  As Honoka Teriyaki Express is the first one of this teriyaki chain restaurant, it is considered a prototype design that balances function, budget, and aesthetic; facilitating the creation of a new brand of restaurant.  The visual concept …

Kitchen Is The New Center – Part 1

Over 90 percent of residential projects that come our way include the kitchen. The project can involve opening up the kitchen to living area, enlarging it to allow for a multi-function space, or even building an outdoor kitchen to create indoor-outdoor relationship. One survey notes that the average American family spends five times more hours at home in the kitchen …