List of clients and sample contract
for architectural services
GALLERY OF JOBS OF SPECIAL
INTEREST BY ARCHITECT JON DIEGES
An accessory structure powered by a Edison grid connected
solar electric system that can run the electric meter backwards
Alternate Solar Installer:
A 1800 square foot addition to an existing 6000 square foot
house. The addition features an 8 foot high retaining wall with a
"tuck-under" footing 15 feet from an existing coast live oak, as
well as several earthquake-resisting structural steel pipe columns
encased within concrete prefabricated classic Tuscan columns.
The addition is capped off with a nine-sided clerestory turret.
THE MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS FOR
GETTING STARTED ON A JOB;
1) A complete boundary, topographic and as-built
survey of your property by a licensed land
surveyor;
2) An aerial photograph;
3) Photographs of any existing structure from all four
directions;
4) An Assessor's Parcel Map from the County (not off
the Internet--they are not to scale);
5) A copy of the owner's Tax Assessor Appraisal File,
especially the dimensioned diagram of the
existing structures upon which you are being
presently taxed;
6) A complete dimensioned "As-Built" drawing of
all existing structures or an extra copy (not an
original) of the previous plans for any existing
structures;
7) A copy of the zoning regulations and setbacks
and percentage of allowable lot coverage for
your property;
8) Some evidence that you understand current
construction and architectural costs and have the
financial capacity to cover them;
When the above items have been gathered
together than we can work up a contract for the
work you would like done (see the PDF pages above).
New public and employee restrooms for Bocalli's Italian Restaurant with a
new wheelchair ramp to a new unisex wheelchair accessible restroom.
A two-story addition for a family of six featuring spectacular views of
Ojai's "pink moment" from the parent's bedroom and bathroom tub
A 2500 square foot complete new house on a small lot in the East
End of Ojai. The only way to get the spectacular view to the west
and south was with a third story tower meditation room.
My most challenging hillside home until this past year. The owner wanted his house
up the hill rather than next to the street like everyone else on the nearly unbuildable
north-facing slope. He later added a half subterranean garage down near the street
An addition to an existing house with no view. We created an octagonal-shaped
tower/turret/clerestory to get the view of the western mountains and used a welded
steel spiral stair to reach it.
The most challenging hillside home/addition I have done (still under construction
April 2005). The foundation for the garage with a deck on top required deep piles
connected with grade beams. As soon as the addition foundation was nearly done
the owner requested an enclosed second story addition above the garage instead of
on the opposite side of the existing house as originally planned. The General
Contractor is Steve Lowry Construction.
This job used the complete range of my services: a brand new residence and
guest house on a septic system with a horse barn and a water well on site, as
well as extensive grading plans (less than 1000 cubic yards) to create a
driveway,building pad, drainage swales,and a turnaround for the fire truck.
Another single family residence powered by a solar electric system. This was a
retrofit job in the sense that the owner committed to solar power after the house was
designed, framed, and rough electrical work was commencing. He and his
electrician went all the way to Sacramento to take state-sponsored training sessions.
It features several heavy deep cycle batteries as back-up in the event of a power
failure in Edison's grid. Because it is a grid-intertied system in requires an expensive
relay/disconnect to prevent power being sent back into Edison's lines at any time
during a grid power failure.
A roof deck and cupola on top of an existing two-story residence; the engineering
design for this project was quite unusual since I had to trace all the loads down
through the existing framing to the existing footings and at the same time prove
that none of the existing footings and wood framing was being overloaded;
some single and double cantilevered beams were employed; the access stair
follows the slope of the roof; the whole project required extreme attention to
details of waterproofing since it had numerous points of potential leaks.
