Lawrence Woodcraft AIA

Communication was excellent.  We did not go with this provider because his price was over our budget for our project.

I have worked with Lawrence Woodcraft, AIA in the past and decided to use this company again for the past couple of years. He is very timely, reasonable with price and works very diligently. He is very generous with applying original files to other professionals, and very open and available for contact when you need him.

I met with Lawrence to discuss remodeling a house we had just purchased.  I discussed my ideas with Lawrence as we walked around the house.  This was our first remodel using an architect.  Because Lawrence has such vast experience, he made suggestions that I had never thought of.  He was looking at the house not only for my current use but also from the resale perspective.  I have to confess I am a very difficult person to work with.  I change my mind often but this didn't seem to faze Lawrence.  The contractor I hired also offered ideas and suggestions.  I am from the east coast and would email Lawrence that I was coming in to town.  He was very agreeable to meet with me and the contractor whenever we pleased-even weekends.  There were many changes to the original plans as the project kept expanding.  Lawrence took it all in stride.  He would email the plans to me, make any changes I wanted and present them to the city for approval.  Lawrence knows how to work  through the city approval process.  In general, remodels are stressful.  Lawrence assured me throughout the process that everything will be fine and the house will pass inspection.  Even the contractor said he was a good guy to work with.  I've never used an architect before so I'm not sure about the price but I'm sure it's comparable to others.

They were absolutely wonderful. I liked them very much.

I guess my job was too small for him to be attentive to it. It took too long and in the end I had to change the design upon demolition.

It went very well. My wants were heard and then fulfilled by Lawrence and his team.

Lawrence met with my wife and I, providing us with a number of examples of his work.  Our house is a 1931 Spanish style, and we were looking to add a family room/guest room with a bathroom and mudroom.  In order to keep the flow of the house and not have to walk through another room to get to the new room, we decided with Lawrence to take out some existing closets and use that as a hallway to the new area, and then add the closet space back in the new construction.  Lawrence and his team came up with some concepts, then when those were approved, completed the plans and took them to the city for sign-off.  This was extremely rapid, and we had approved plans the same day.  As I was not at the permit office in Van Nuys, Lawrence graciously wrote a check for the permit out of his own account (which I reimbursed him for of course).  I think that this is an example of the honest, trusting manner in which he conducts business.  Another example from the construction period of his commitment to his projects is when there was a slight issue with the plan that the city inspector was requiring a fix on.  Lawrence was at the city building office the very next day with a plan revision that allowed us to move forward without delay.  
         Now, with constuction completed, we are using the new room and enjoying it very much.  Lawrence gave us a wonderfully planned, bright, useful addition, that is perfectly matched to the style of the existing house.
        Lawrence and his team, including Astra, were always available to discuss various conceptual issues and to provide useful suggestions for making our project a success.

Lawrence came highly recommended and he designed a house for my family in West Los Angeles.  We are extremely happy with his work, creativity, responsiveness and his ability to understand and meet our time requirements.  Our plans started out as an extensive remodel of a 3,300 square feet, single story home.  After Lawrence had mostly completed an initial set of drawings, my wife and I changed our vision for the home and asked Lawrence to design basically a completely different, bigger house.  Lawrence and Astra Woodcraft, both architects, were very understanding and gave me an amazing set of new plans within a short period of time. My comments and questions throughout the process were always and promptly answered.  I felt I had the benefit of bounding ideas off of two architects since Lawrence and Astra work together. I was also impressed with how quickly Lawrence and Astra were able to obtain my building permit from the City of Los Angeles.  As a result of quality work and their ability to navigate the Department of Building and Safety, I received my building permit in only 32 days!!! I also highly recommend them.

Working with Lawrence was great. He was professional and very accommodating to our unique situation. We're still working through the construction issues to get the addition up to code, and he's been great about adjusting the plans as necessary as we go along. We would definitely work with him again.

Initial round of conceptual design was a bit off the mark, not fully taking in what we thought we had communicated. Second round of design submissions was much more on target. Having done some initial schematic plans, looking for some key elevations and valuations before committing to construction drawings.

I had a good interaction with them. The guy was good. Everything went well. I did not have any problem at all. My wife was not that comfortable with him, but not for any particular reason.

He was able to work with our timeline, which was very tight, and his design ideas were good. We didn?t get any other quotes but his price seemed good.

We did not end up doing the project. He was very nice and professional. He gave us a lot of ideas and gave us a very reasonable bid. He provided us with references. It was a positive experience.

I contacted Lawrence to design and draft an office addition, bathroom conversion and kitchen remodel for my home. He arrived promptly for our first meeting and had many useful suggestions and recommendations. The designs were drafted up in short order, and the permitting process was quite speedy. During the construction, Lawrence was accessable and responsive, helping out with supplemental plans and ideas to keep the work on track. He worked easily with my contractor, which was a relief for me. I am pleased with the whole process, and I'm glad that I hired Lawrence. My overall impression is that he's an experienced professional, and on top of his game. I would gladly recommend him.