moss Design is an award-winning Chicago architecture firm selected as one of the top 25 best architecture firms in Chicago. We specialize in sustainable design and net zero construction. Our project types are diverse by design, allowing us to find the best solutions for residential architecture, restaurant design, retail design, and urban design projects. Our project scope ranges from new residential design and construction, net zero home design, residential additions, interior renovations, LEED, modern vacation homes, breweries, wineries, and adaptive reuse.
Award Winning Studio
The design community has recognized Moss as a top Chicago-based architectural firm. Noteworthy recognitions include Rethinking the Future and dominating the field by Arch 20, the Best Residential Architects and Designers in Chicago, Best Architects in Chicago by Expertise, and recognition as the Best Restaurant Architects in Chicago.
Unique to the Chicago architecture firm profession, we have experience in all facets of property development. Functioning as architects, general contractors, furniture fabricators, and real estate developers, we adapt to the unique requirements of each project. A recent highlight includes the redevelopment of an abandoned corner bodega in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood, a project Featured in Curbed, Dwell Magazine, Dezeen, and ArchDaily. The revitalized space now houses apartments, an art/furniture gallery, a showroom, and our expanded architecture studio powered by solar panels. For more about the inception and design details, read here and here for a complete recap.
Architecture Firm Process
moss provides complete architecture firm services to assist our clients through the entire architecture and construction process. From site selection and acquisition to permitting and occupancy while taking great care of our client’s timelines, budgets, and aesthetic aspirations. We also offer a range of services beyond just being a Chicago architecture firm. This includes construction services as a Chicago-licensed general contractor, property development, real estate brokerage, and interior design. The following provides an in-depth overview of each phase in the architectural process.
Architectural Master Planning
To achieve genuine sustainability in design, careful consideration of all design elements is essential, commencing with Architectural Master Planning. This includes site design, water efficiency, materials and methods, energy and atmosphere, and indoor environmental quality. Understanding the impact of architecture on a micro-site, regional, and universal level is equally important. Any action performed on a site impacts everything downstream, which means we have a responsibility, even outside of our site.
Schematic Design
During the schematic design phase of the architectural process, moss investigates site characteristics while advising on LEED criteria. This approach ensures the design has proper solar orientation for lighting, heating/cooling, and natural ventilation to provide a sound passive design. Passive design strategies rely on natural and non-mechanical methods to condition the space cost-effectively. At the Carmen House, we relocated the family room towards the rear of the house to take advantage of the solar heat gain. We added a main bedroom suite with a private balcony and floor-to-ceiling windows to illuminate the space. To maximize natural light at the Cortez House, we constructed a cantilevered, modern Corten steel addition at the rear of the structure with a double-height bedroom, bathroom, and a private deck.
By exploring unique ways to reuse existing building stock for new uses, we have transformed several project building sites into beautiful structures that blend with their surroundings. An example of this approach is evident at Lawrence House, a former residential hotel that was abandoned for 50 years. We rehabbed the building, which includes 331 apartment units, and restored several historical details, including the lobby and the formerly boarded-up pool in the basement.
Here are examples of sketches and renderings presented in the schematic design phase. During this phase, we convert concepts into various design alternatives, establishing a connection between ideas and practical realization.
Design Development
Our architecture integrates sustainable materials without sacrificing design integrity in the spirit of reuse and upcycling. Throughout Design Development, we provide guidance on incorporating alternative and efficient energy sources. This includes solar panels and sourcing local, reclaimed, upcycled, and salvaged materials. For example, we retained many structural and decorative components at the Margie’s Candies Mixed Use building. This project transformed an abandoned bank into a mixed, multi-family space featuring residential and retail components.
Construction Documents and Permitting
moss prepares drawings that can be easily understood and precisely detailed for construction methods during the final architectural process stage. We support our clients throughout the permitting process by completing documentation and coordinating with the Chicago Architecture firm review process. This includes coordinating the application for approvals from the various municipal departments responsible for reviewing building plans, including Zoning and Building. We successfully navigated a Zoning change and obtained other discretionary approvals for our River St. Joe’s Brewery project. Our CoLaboratory adaptive reuse project also required special approval by the City of Chicago Architecture Standards and Tests.
Construction Administration
Moss has strong relationships with its contractor partners, enabling us to help connect our clients to a general contractor. Effective communication is at the heart of our client-centric methodology, and we remain actively engaged throughout the construction process. We prioritize transparency, using an online integrated project management system to ensure the built project aligns according to plan. This approach results in a smooth transition to occupancy.
Sustainable Architecture Design
Our architecture emphasizes the creative use of sustainable materials to seamlessly blend landscape with the built environment, creating an enriching experience for occupants and exerting a minimal impact on the surrounding landscape. Instead of supplanting or suppressing, we aim to create a mutually beneficial exchange between environment and edifice, where buildings do not dirty, pollute, or drain but clean, purify, and inspire. This approach allows us to create site-specific, energy-efficient, sustainable architecture.
We also provide architectural design with solid connectivity with nature while responding to client needs, desires, and vision of a comfortable, livable, and functional environment. We believe sustainable designs can be cost-effective, preserve history, and result in a more beautiful, conscientious, and enduring design. Our designs integrate natural light and air, connection to the landscape and green space, and the surrounding environment to create open, navigable spaces for present and posterity.
