Company Goals

ALLEN DESIGNS is committed to producing quality work. The word "quality" is interpreted as preparing plans and details that are clear and concise. When submitting plans and engineering to an agency for review, the structural calculations are complete and thorough. Every structural member is referenced to the structural calculations and every structural connection is shown and is cross-referenced to the framing plans. Each set of plans is custom for the project and there are no "standard" details.

The benefit of this approach is two fold. First, by submitting complete and thorough plans and engineering to the building official or other reviewing agency, plan check and subsequent re-check time is minimized. By reducing cycle time, plans are ready for bid sooner. This is a critical time when an owner is often paying interest on a take-out or construction loan. Second, by preparing complete plans and engineering, bids are tighter and lower since the contractor does not have to account for as many ambiguities.

Since the plans and details that ALLEN DESIGNS produces are often a part of a complete set of architectural plans, attention is paid to graphic quality. While technically this is not necessary, it is natural that a set of plans that appear professional is better received than a set that is not. This is also true with misspelled words. Although the intent is still conveyed, simple errors such as misspelled words invite further scrutiny. We at ALLEN DESIGNS pay attention to graphic issues such as line weight, balance of "white space" and text justification to make the structural plans and details easier to read (and follow). We feel that the plans and details we produce complement the entire set of plans.

All of the plans and details that are produced at ALLEN DESIGNS are prepared in AutoCAD^tm. Bill Allen, the company's founder and principal, has been working in CAD since August 1987 and in AutoCAD^tm since December 1990. The last set of "hand drawn" plans was prepared in April 1992.

An important concept that this is used at ALLEN DESIGNS during the design process is that of "calc and fit". What this means is that all plans and details are drawn to scale and the details produced in CAD are also used to ensure that the engineering can actually be assembled in the field. Bill's extensive experience with projects under construction has helped him develop not only a rapport with contractors but also has assisted him in developing a process where he builds the project in his mind while he is preparing the structural engineering. This process not only allows a design to meet code criteria but also generates members and connections that are practical to fabricate and install.