Areas We Serve · Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills architecture, through the city's own review.
Custom homes, rebuilds and renovations in a city that reviews the design before it issues a permit, and where who drew it changes how long that takes.

Local perspective
In Beverly Hills the review track is part of the programme.
Beverly Hills runs its own planning department and its own design review, and new single-family work does not reach a building permit without going through it. The city reviews two ways. A staff-level track is available where the project is designed by a licensed California architect and the design follows the city's own Single Family Style Guide. Everything else goes to the Architectural and Design Review Commission, which adds a hearing cycle of several weeks to the programme before construction can start.
That distinction is worth knowing before a design begins, because it is decided by who draws the project and how the design is resolved, not by how good the scheme is. Architectural services here are performed in association with Michael B. Maclaren, AIA, a licensed California architect, and the drawings are prepared to answer the city's review rather than to argue with it.
Relevant experience
Three useful ways to begin in Beverly Hills.
The right scope follows the property and ambition. These paths show the most relevant starting points.
How we work
One studio, connected from early study through the finished place.
Apel Design can begin with a site, an existing building, a feasibility question or a clear creative ambition. The team brings together architectural design, planning and entitlement experience, interiors, consultant coordination, preconstruction and field knowledge according to the needs of the project.
Architecture is performed in association with Michael B. Maclaren, AIA. Licensed construction is provided by Creative New Dimensions Inc, CA General Building Contractor, Class B, CSLB #1056632, in conjunction with Apel Design for Design-Build.
Questions
Building in Beverly Hills.
Does a new house in Beverly Hills need design review?
Yes. New single-family work goes through the city's R-1 design review before a building permit is issued. The review looks at massing, materials, landscape and how the house sits with its neighbours, not only at whether it meets the code.
What decides whether it goes to a commission hearing?
The city offers a staff-level track where the project is designed by a licensed California architect and follows its Single Family Style Guide. Projects outside that go to the Architectural and Design Review Commission, which adds a hearing cycle of several weeks. It is worth settling which track applies before the design is fixed.
Who performs the architecture?
Architectural services are performed in association with Michael B. Maclaren, AIA, a licensed California architect.
Do you build as well as design?
Licensed construction is provided by Creative New Dimensions Inc, CA General Building Contractor, Class B, CSLB #1056632, in conjunction with Apel Design for Design-Build.