We offer a wide range of architectural services from custom residential design to drafting and permitting all the way through building management and interiors. We're happy to take a look at any and all project types, big and small, to help aid in the building process here in the San Juan Islands and beyond.
Essential Design Services
Not every project requires a full architectural services package. Our Essential Design Services provide a streamlined, cost-effective option for clients who need professional guidance, high-quality construction drawings, and permitting support - without the complexity or expense of full-service design.
This approach includes focused design input, clear and buildable construction documents, and permitting assistance when required. The process is efficient, collaborative, and tailored to your project's scale and budget, ensuring you receive thoughtful design input and reliable documentation to move confidently into construction.
Includes: Design input, Construction Drawings needed for permitting, Permitting (optional)
Premium Design Services
Our premium service delivers a deeply considered, fully developed architectural solution. Through careful site studies and close collaboration, we craft buildings that respond precisely to their environment and the way our clients live.
This service includes site analysis, conceptual and detailed drawings, 3D computer modeling, photorealistic renderings, complete construction documents and detailing, permitting submission and coordination, project management, and optional interior design services.
This path is ideal for clients seeking a refined, highly personalized design and a seamless experience from concept through construction.
Includes: Site analysis, Concept Design, Schematic Design, Visualization, Construction Drawings, Permitting, Project Management, Interiors (optional)
How We Work
Our process is collaborative, transparent, and tailored to each project. We balance creativity with constructability, ensuring every design is both inspiring and practical. Whether delivering a fully custom creative experience or streamlined design support, our goal remains the same: to create beautiful, functional spaces that enrich everyday life.
Every client and every project is different. We are constantly evolving and adapting but making sure we are dedicated and passionately involved in every project we take on.
Conceptual Design
3D Computer Modelling
Line Drawings and Site Plans
Graphics and Artwork
Photo Documentation
Video and photo rendering
Construction Documents
Permit Applications and Management
Interior Design
Project Management
Our focus is on developing strong personal relationships with clients and providing a comprehensive service from schematic design through the home's construction. Our process is that of investigation and experimentation. The building grows and changes and evolves all the way through its design and construction. The process starts with a series of early site and client meetings to establish the needs of the client and how that fits with what the site is offering. Then, a design is born and developed with sketches, computer modelling, and renderings developing into the construction drawings. It ends in frequent site visits and project management to make sure the building finalizes as intended.
In the San Juan Islands, Mantel has worked the last 3 years designing, establishing local industry connections and developing an understanding of local trades, climate, and materials. We're new but we're hungry. Our network is expanding as is our physical presence. We want to push the envelope to rational limits and create powerful, impactful, and responsible buildings to enhance the lives of our clients. Our goal is to provide the physical anchor between our clients and the land, by translating the needs of both into efficient and beautiful spaces. Mantel is based but not limited to Friday Harbor, WA; please do not hesitate to reach out.
man/(t)l
By literal definition; a beam, stone, or arch serving as a lintel to support the masonry above a fireplace. Symbolically, the mantel represents the dualism of structure and heart. It is a familiar place of the home where we draw attention and display our most sacred items- those chosen to reflect who we are as people.
Through an evolution in personality, observation, abstraction, and application comes our ability to design. The design is born in culture and context, that of a specific time and place. In a modern world relying heavily on imagery, we seek to preserve the integrity of place and experiential space. Nothing we create will match the beauty of what exists naturally- so our buildings focus on drawing attention to all those ethereal moments. We intend not simply to create, but to translate the world around us into thoughtful, efficient, and beautiful spaces.
We constantly question how we live and challenge what we need versus what we want. Complacency is our downfall. By custom tailoring solutions through a deep understanding of our clients we can form a home that responsibly provides spaces that facilitate the needs of our clients lives. Every design decision has subsequent set of implications- and we don't take that lightly.
A constant challenge and a primary driving force is how we connect the artistic vision with that of pragmatic problem solving. With a background blended of construction and design, our intention is to mitigate a communication lapse that exists across the construction world. We seek to alleviate the disconnect between creation and construction, designer and builder, and design in comprehension to beautifully create while reducing the waste of time, energy, and resources.
The context in which we design is of critical importance. Cultural and site specific observations drive the planning, aesthetics, performance, and materiality of our designs. Our work is a direct reflection of the land and environment in which we build. We look to create buildings that become a part of the landscape and live as symbiotically as possible with the existing fabric of which we build. We believe it is our duty to enhance, not compete with places in we which we choose to inhabit.