LA Hillside Architect

Project Description I own a ~13,700 SF hillside lot in the Beverly Crest area of the City of Los Angeles (zone RE15, LADBS jurisdiction — not Beverly Hills). The existing house is a 1-story SFR of roughly 3,000 SF built in 1957. I want to redesign the project from scratch — a remodel and addition to the main house plus an attached second-story ADU — and take it all the way through construction documents and LADBS permit. I have a prior plan set from another firm that I'm not moving forward with, plus a stamped CP-7851 slope/RFA worksheet. I'll share both, along with a compliance review I had done. The prior set ran into a floor-area problem I want designed around properly this time rather than patched. Key Site Constraints (please address these in your proposal) Hillside lot — Baseline Hillside Ordinance, slope-band analysis, grading and haul quantities, retaining walls, soils/geotech coordination Tight RFA cap — stamped Max RFA ≈ 4,115 SF. Design must be driven by a clean, line-item RFA tabulation from day one (ADU 800 SF exemption, garage and stairwell exclusions) Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone — CBC Chapter 7A ignition-resistant construction, Class-A roofing, LAFD defensible space Hillside ADU eligibility — street classification / transit-proximity test if the ADU exceeds 800 SF Substandard lot — legal non-conforming (below the RE15 15,000 SF minimum) One of my main goals is to maximize usable ADU square footage within the RFA cap, so I want someone who thinks about floor-area allocation strategically, not just draws what fits. Scope / Deliverables Site and zoning feasibility memo with a line-item RFA tabulation and recommended massing strategy Schematic design (2–3 options) and design development Construction documents — architectural set suitable for LADBS submittal Grading/drainage coordination and consultant coordination (structural, soils/geotech, T24, survey) Permit expediting support: LADBS/LA City Planning submittal, response to plan-check corrections through permit issuance If you can only cover part of this, say so — I'm open to splitting scope. Requirements Demonstrated hillside experience in the City of LA — please name specific completed hillside projects and, if possible, permit or case numbers Working fluency with the Baseline Hillside Ordinance, LAMC 12.03 RFA rules, and current LA ADU regulations Experience with grading, slope-band analysis, retaining walls, and export/haul route permitting VHFHSZ / Chapter 7A experience Track record getting hillside projects through LADBS plan check, not just designed California license (architect or engineer) preferred, but I'll consider an experienced unlicensed designer with a strong LA hillside permit record who can arrange a stamp