Hiring an architect for a concrete contemporary home in Colorado or Mexico begins with one conversation. In MÉTODO, that conversation is direct — with Bernardo García, the architect who will lead the project. No intake coordinator. No junior associate who relays your questions upward. You speak with the person who will design your house.
What Makes Concrete the Right Choice for Your Project
Before evaluating firms, the first question to answer is whether concrete is actually the right material for your site and program. Concrete works best when:
- The site has significant temperature swings between day and night, where thermal mass provides measurable energy benefit
- The program includes large open volumes or heavy spans that concrete handles structurally
- The budget includes the additional formwork and structural engineering costs that concrete demands over wood frame
- The client wants a building that ages honestly rather than requiring cosmetic maintenance
If concrete is a style preference rather than a performance decision, we will say so. There are projects where wood frame with plaster or masonry achieves the same visual intent at lower cost and equivalent or better performance. We would rather build the right building than the fashionable one.
What MÉTODO Offers That Generic Firms Do Not
The distinction between MÉTODO and a larger residential practice is authorship. In most architectural firms above a certain size, the project principal appears at key milestones and delegates day-to-day design decisions to staff. The result is architecture by committee, reviewed and approved but not authored.
In MÉTODO, one architect leads every project from the first site observation through the final construction walk. The decisions about where the concrete mass wall meets the timber ceiling, how the section responds to the specific solar angle of your site, which formwork produces the right surface — these are made by the same person at every phase. The process before the style means the design logic is continuous and traceable.
This is only possible with four projects per year. We do not take more.
The Engagement Timeline
A typical engagement at MÉTODO follows this sequence:
Initial conversation (no fee): Site, program, budget, and timeline discussion. We determine together whether the project is a fit.
Programming and site analysis (fee applies): Site observations, program refinement, climate analysis, and preliminary section studies. This phase produces the matrix of options — a structured comparison of design variables — that the client reviews before schematic design begins.
Schematic design: Developed sections, floor plans, and material studies. Sufficient to validate the design direction and obtain a preliminary cost estimate from a general contractor.
Design development and construction documents: Full coordination with structural engineers, MEP consultants, and permit agencies. Documents that a contractor can price and build from.
Construction administration: Site visits at regular intervals, shop drawing review, RFI responses, and a final punch list. We do not hand documents to a contractor and disappear.
For a site in Colorado, the full timeline from first conversation to construction start typically runs 12 to 18 months depending on permit processing. For Mexico City, the DRO process adds complexity but not necessarily time if the network is in place from the start.
How to Start the Conversation
The simplest entry point: write to us with your site location, a rough program (number of bedrooms, primary uses, any specific spatial priorities), your construction budget range, and your expected timeline. You do not need a brief, drawings, or a finished vision. We work best with clients who have a site, a sense of what they want to live in, and openness to a design process that may challenge their initial assumptions.
We review every inquiry. We respond directly. If the project is right for MÉTODO, we schedule a call. If it is not — wrong site type, timeline mismatch, program outside our scope — we say so clearly and, where possible, suggest a better fit.
Colorado vs. Mexico: What Changes
Hiring MÉTODO for a Colorado project and hiring us for a Mexico project involve the same design process and different logistics:
In Colorado, we work with US-licensed structural engineers, navigate the IBC permit process in the applicable jurisdiction, and coordinate with general contractors experienced in structural concrete residential construction. Project management documentation follows US standards.
In Mexico, we work through the DRO system, coordinate with Mexico City engineers licensed under RCDF standards, and manage the permit process through the Seduvi or local municipal authority depending on site location. For coastal sites (Sayulita, Oaxaca coast, Yucatan), we maintain relationships with engineers and contractors in those specific markets.
The fee structure differs between markets to reflect the different professional obligations in each legal context.
Próximos pasos
The right moment to hire an architect for a concrete contemporary home is before you have resolved the design in your head. The earlier the architect is involved, the more the design can respond to the site rather than being imposed on it.
To begin a conversation about a project in Colorado or Mexico, conoce el método de MÉTODO and contact us directly with your site and program.