Hello hyehouse, we are a design/pro so of course not the opinion you may be looking for, but I thought to give you some pointers and things to consider (also by me commenting, your question will pop up for more people, and hopefully a homeowner will weight in as well).

A design/build company is always helpful since the designer would be more familiar with the construction process which is helpful in working with a realistic budget as well as having the design meet all city codes and requirements. Too often we see designers who do beautiful work, however it turns our a lot more costly to the client, or cannot be done at all.

It is also important to choose pros who will communicate well with each other as well as you, as this is of utmost important for a less stressful and more pleasurable experience for you. We find it helps a lot to have pros who have worked well together in the past.

Please feel free to give us a call if you have any questions or if there is anything we can assist you with. Of course if you decide to go with a design build or are looking for a general contractor, we will be happy to meet with you.

A 2.7M project like that will have an 18 month waiting list to get started. Probably at least 6 months to even start the design work.

In the mean time, you might also want to explore the rules and regulations governing your particular postage stamp. Because a teardown will likely be cheaper in the end if it’s allowed. It’s much cheaper to not to have to deal with the old structure and all of the constrained retrofitting required.

thanks for your response Sophie, but it's not a teardown project at all. And certainly no professionals I have spoken to have said there was an 18 month waitlist or 6 months to start a design. And estimates I've gotten were nowhere near the 2.7 M you came up with. but thanks for your input anyway...

My friend in Los Angeles did this and in many areas of Los Angeles are being renovated in this manner because the land is so valuable and the houses built were extremely modest relative to their value now. Obviously this kind of tear down and extensive renovation only makes economic sense in places like the West Side of desirable part of the Valley.

Anyone driving down any street can see the hordes of dumpsters :-)

Based on what my friends have done, you hire an architect to draw up the plans based on your providing what you want to achieve. To the extent they need a structural engineer, they would then hire the structural engineer as part of the process. I don't know anyone who used a design build firm.

The trades in Los Angeles are incredibly busy - you need to hire the architect and have the actual plans drawn up with exact specifications - and have them permitted. This provides the basis for getting actual bids from GC - generally the architect or architectural firm will have recommendations and leads but in the meantime you network among friends and colleagues trying to get your own personal recommendations as well.