ATX Architects

Mickey and his team at ATX Architects are top-notch. I have no hesitation about recommending them. He met with us in person to discuss plans to add a two-story addition onto our house. We discussed objectives and he showed us his portfolio. He quoted us a price on-the-spot and then allowed us time to think about it. He was easy to talk to and seemed to intuitively grasp what we were going for. This, combined with his transparency around price, terms, and his cool portfolio are why we hired him. This turned out to be a really smart idea on our part. Mickey and team over-performed in terms of design and work. He sent us a bunch of initial iterations - a few "big" variants, then several had small variations on the theme. We actually had a tough time narrowing and Mickey said, "tell me what you like or don't about the ones you're deciding between." Boom: he came back with the perfect plan. Mickey provided referrals and expert guidance throughout. He's thorough and very to-the-point - qualities I appreciate. His pricing was fair and his work top-notch (when shopping for a contractor, they all commented on how thorough and sensible the plans were). If we have need for an architect in the future, ATXA will be the first (and only - if available) team I contact.

We found ATX Architects through the suggestion of the builder we planned to hire. After seeing that their designs were in line with what we were looking for, we booked an initial consultation with Mickey. We had been sitting on a really old home that we wanted to remodel, but economically it was only feasible to rebuild. In that first meeting with Mickey, it was clear that he was well-versed in the idiosyncrasies of demo and rebuild in Austin and had first-hand knowledge of the hurdles we would encounter. We had the pleasure in dealing with everything under the sun – permitting, utility easements, new setbacks, ADA requirements, the “tent” ordinance, critical root zones, sidewalk requirements, The Historical Landmark Commission, and I’m sure there are others I forgot. It was all pretty seamless because Mickey handled it. There were no surprises during design, permitting, or building. I would do him a disservice if I didn’t mention that he waited hours at a nighttime Historical Landmark Commission meeting to represent us for our decision to demo our original home. He really went to bat for us and we are eternally grateful for that. Anyway, we hired Mickey to draw up some schemes based on our style, our needs and wants, and our budget. Even though most new construction in our neighborhood is more modern, we lean a little more traditional, and he designed accordingly out of the gate. There was a reasonable fee for the initial package, then he bills hourly after that. Compared to a design/build firm we got a quote from initially, ATX Architects’ pricing was far more than reasonable. Once contracted, Mickey quickly created several preliminary designs (including floorplans and exterior elevations). There was A LOT of back and forth as we tweaked and honed the design. Mickey was not only patient with all of our requests, but was also able to foresee and avert downstream ramifications of seemingly minor modifications. In the brainstorming, he made some suggestions that were out of the box – and priceless! Mickey was impartial as a designer, and implemented based on exactly what we wanted. Only when our ideas just flat wouldn’t work, or we got too lofty with the build budget, would he gracefully steer us toward reality. In the end we were given fully developed virtual models that really helped with final decisions. We highly recommend ATX Architects to anyone looking for a designer for their build. Working with Mickey was enjoyable and easy. We are more than thrilled with the outcome of our dream home!