When my cousin in Calgary called and asked me if I knew an architect to design his new house, I immediately started digging through my business cards to find Mark's. He had previously done design work for two of my friends who did renos / additions, but I decided to ask if he'd be interested in a new build. He didn't waste time, asked for surveys, photos of houses and designs my cousin likes, and quoted his price. What both my cousin and I were surprised to find out was that Mark is a classically trained architect from Italy! He did his design work by hand and translated to AutoCAD after. The design was forwarded to the engineers and the city approved the design with minimal changes.
Mark made perfect use of the "allowable" building area and the design worked beautifully! He also did site visits and ensured everything was in order! Highly recommended!