Services offered by ETCDC
The majority of assistance provided by the Community Design Center (ETCDC) is architectural and engineering services to nonprofit groups that serve the community at large. Sometimes we provide our service to public entities where we provide our resources to enhance the public realm.
Early design support from the ETCDC leads to better projects. Unfortunately, funding for preliminary design services is hard to find. The Design Center fills this gap by providing architectural and engineering services to nonprofits early in the development process.
We help by providing assistance for…
- Anticipating project costs
- Evaluating existing building conditions
- Identifying health, safety, and accessibility code issues
- Establishing building repair priorities
- Understanding space needs of the client and transforming those needs into a building design
- Exploring design options
- Containing project costs through design
- Graphically illustrate how the project will look when construction or renovation is complete
We do provide other services on a smaller scale, including landscape design, and fiscal management services for groups without an Internal Revenue Service non-profit determination letter.
Products provided through the Design Center are limited to conceptual design only and cannot be used for construction or permitting purposes.
How we do it
The Design Center awards grants of services on an ongoing basis.
Qualified nonprofit groups receive pro-bono architectural and engineering services to fill their current need based on a mutually agreeable scope of services. After the organization has been qualified by the Design Center, the Design Center recruits volunteers from the appropriate design professions to provide these pro-bono services.
Staff, along with the volunteer professional advisor, and a student intern will meet with the client for a programming session. This is when the client and staff discuss in depth the needs of the client and possible resolutions.
After the programming session the student intern will do a code and best practices research, and, create multiple design solution scenarios for review by the volunteer professional.
Solutions are presented to the client for discussion and comment, then revised and completed for use by the client in raising awareness and financial support for the project.
Products provided through the Design Center are limited to conceptual design only, and cannot be used for construction or permitting purposes.