Process and investment
How it works, what it costs, and how we get paid.
Most firms in this category will not put any of this in writing. We would rather you know before the first call whether we are a fit.
The process below is real and we follow it. But the way it actually feels is closer to a workout partner helping you build a great room in your house than a vendor running a project. That started on the first job, which was done with friends, and it has not changed.
Consult
We look at the space, the building's rules and how you train. For amenity projects, at the unit mix and the leasing pitch. You get a straight answer about whether the room can do what you want.
Design
Layout, flooring, lighting, mirrors, storage, circulation and ventilation. A specification and a plan you can hand to an architect, a GC or a board.
Curate
Equipment specified against the constraint and the training, priced through our trade accounts. You see the pricing.
Build
Delivery, installation and coordination with the GC, the building and the freight schedule. Managed end to end so you are not the one calling the elevator operator.
Handover
The part nobody else does. We program the space and coach the first sessions in it, so the room gets used instead of admired. Ongoing service optional.
Money
How we get paid
The design and curation fee is 35% of the total equipment and flooring cost. Freight is passed through at cost, with no markup on it. Installation is quoted separately, project by project. Travel outside New York and the Hamptons is billed at cost.
The design fee credits in full against the build. If you go ahead, it is not an extra cost sitting on top of the project.
It is non-refundable once work starts, and nothing is ordered until you have approved the full budget in writing. Both of those are said up front rather than explained afterwards.
Before that
What is free, and what is not
The first conversation is free and worth having. We will look at the space, tell you what is possible and what is not, and put your own thinking on paper.
Specific equipment, vendors, layouts and zone specs come after the design fee. That is the work, and we do not give it away in a sales call.
We generally do not take design projects under $50,000 all in. If you are below that we will say so early rather than let you spend time on it.
Questions
The ones we get every time.
Do you work outside New York?
Yes. We have built in New York, the Hamptons, Nantucket, Washington DC, North Carolina and California. Design and specification do not depend on where the room is, and equipment is ordered and staged the same way wherever it ships. What changes out of town is the install, which runs through local trades we coordinate and inspect. Cisco travels for the site survey and the handover when a project calls for it. Travel outside New York and the Hamptons is billed at cost.
Will this pass my co-op or condo board?
It is the first thing we design around. Floor load, sound transmission, work-hour windows and the alteration agreement all get resolved before equipment is ordered, and we produce the documentation the board asks for.
My ceiling is low. Is it worth doing?
Usually yes, and it changes what gets specified rather than whether.
Do you sell the equipment?
No. We specify it and we manage the ordering, delivery and replacement so you do not have to. Our fee is 35% of the equipment and flooring cost and freight passes through at cost. We are paid for the design, not for steering you toward one brand over another.
Do you train people too?
Yes. Cisco has coached one-on-one since 2004 and still trains clients in New York City and virtually. It is also why the design work looks the way it does. More on training.
Still a fit?
Tell us the space and the budget range. We will tell you within a day.
Request a consultation