CACAO is an architecture practice based in Washington DC. We offer full-service design for new homes and additions, commercial interiors, as well as quick services for smaller remodeling projects. Professionally-licensed in DC, MD, VA, WV.
* PROCESS - As a deliberately small and nimble firm, we deliver beautiful, professional design on par with firms many times our size. As our client, you can expect a very high level of service. We work hard to synthesize client decision-making, selections, budgeting, environmental best practices, code compliance, and engineering coordination into a single, coherent workflow. It is our goal to reimagine architectural services to be more transparent and clear than ever before.
* COLLABORATION - Our best projects come from the imagination of our clients as much as ours. We’re known as great listeners, and we see that skill as the primary talent of an architect. We also love to collaborate with builders, realtors, engineers, and other designers. The future of construction is collaborative design-build, and we want our clients to reap the benefits from it.
* WORK FROM HOME - We work from home, just like you. As architects steeped in residential design at all scales, from complex multi-block urban master plans down to tiny backyard ADU’s, we understand the space and budgeting demands of the modern home as well as anyone. These demands present incredibly exciting opportunities for reimagination. Come test fresh ideas with us - we're confident we can make them happen.
* NATURE IS OUR GUIDE – We believe that buildings should cohabitate with nature, and that human communion with the natural environment should be a primary design goal. Like the cacao tree, our designs must be solidly rooted to location, sensitive to seasons and climate, efficient with resources, self-sustaining, and contributors to health, security, and well-being.
* COMPLIANCE - We help our clients respond to a changing climate - and the related, fast-evolving regulatory environment by integrating best practices in our workflow, built-in expert consultation, and a commitment to globally-agreed sustainable benchmarks. We are experts at both property-use (zoning) and building design (code).
* HISTORY - We are passionate about the role of architecture in the unfolding history of our society. We know and love so many (if not all) of the traditional building typologies in our region. We have most likely worked on a house just like yours. Yet our fascination with historic architecture is not limiting - we love breathing fresh life into old structures.
