Barley & Pfeiffer Architects

I found the team at B&P to be knowledgeable and the staff friendly. I have not shared the same experince.

Our (my wife and I) experience with B&P was different than some of the other reviews on this site. The design phase was a blast. The detailed specifications and drawings were high quality — I am not aware of a single error. Contractor selection was good as was cost estimating. On-​site inspections were important to us since we were not present for much of the construction. B&P inspections were the best I have seen for residential construction. Note, we received written reports supported by pictures.
Peter does have strongly held views, but I felt those views were well founded. Frankly, I greatly enjoyed the discussion over various aspects of the design and/​or specifications.
I was interested in specific energy saving ideas. A water cooled heat pump was one example. Peter organized a «hands on» demonstration with a A/​C design engineer. As a result, I was comfortable with every aspect of the design and specifications.
Lastly, my wife was not as enthusiastic about the design of the house. B&P did a great job of involving her in the design. Consequently, she enjoyed the process as much as I.
Mike R.

My wife and I totally disagree with the post by kh. Although kh may have had an issue with Barley & Pfeiffer, in his opinion, it is an anomaly. Our experience in 2007 was very positive. Both principles and their architects were very helpful and accurate. And we knew up-​front what to expect in fees, for which we believe we got our money’s worth plus some. «Green Building», like any technology, is ever-​changing and Peter Pfeiffer attempts to stay up-​to-​date. The Internet is full of new technologies and not all may be feasible or cost-​effective. We did our share of research too, but depended upon Peter to help us sort out the good from the bad. Our new home is as green as could be expected in 2008. Our utility bills are as reasonable as can be expected. So no complaints. The architects put together a set of specifications that we all agreed to. Our problem was getting the builder to adhere to all of those specs. Bottom line is that the «design» phase with Barley & Pfeiffer was an extremely positive experience, while the «build» phase was the most stressful.

Working with Barley & Pfeiffer was the most painful part of our year-​long, whole-​house renovation project! Typically people complain about their contractors — delays, mistakes, running over budget; with our project all those things occurred at the architect phase. Despite warnings, I was suckered in by Peter Pfeiffer’s charm and claims that their expense was well worth it because they had so much experience that in the end we would spend less money. Wrong! We paid top dollar for mediocre work — their measurements were wrong which meant things had to be re-​worked on site (again, thankfully my contractor was great and was able to fix all their errors!), there were oversights both structurally and cosmetically, and because we didn’t go with their «recommended package,» we ended up being nickled and dimed and paying for them to fix their own mistakes! The project was so bad that the architect in charge ended up being let go, but we still paid for their mistakes literally and figuratively. Peter Pfieffer claims to be an expert in all things «eco», but wasn’t familiar with a lot of the products I had researched, and I was told by more than one of his preferred vendors that his knowledge is outdated; he may have been at the forefront a decade ago, but he hasn’t kept up. Save yourself time, money, and heartache and look elsewhere for your architect!