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February 2-4, 2027 | Las Vegas, NV

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Andrew Mikhael

Andrew Mikhael

OwnerAndrew Mikhael Architect

An Architect Who Values Clarity
as Much as Creativity

I work with homeowners who care deeply about how they live — people who are willing to invest in a home that feels personal, thoughtful, and enduring.

My approach to architecture is grounded in listening first. Before lines are drawn, I take time to understand how my clients live, what they value, and where they feel uncertain. From there, I help translate vision into architecture through a process that balances creativity with practicality and foresight.

Over the years, I’ve seen how easily custom projects can become overwhelming — rising costs, permitting challenges, and unclear decision-making can erode even the best intentions. My role is to help prevent that. By guiding decisions early and remaining closely involved throughout the process, I help clients move forward with confidence rather than guesswork.

I believe great architecture is not only about how a home looks, but how it supports daily life, adapts over time, and feels to the people who live in it. When the process is well guided, the result is not just a beautiful home — but a rewarding experience creating it.

Why the Kitchen Gets Redesigned at Permit

A kitchen remodel gets approved in design. It gets redesigned at permit. It happens on projects across the country, and it costs clients money they we

…

A kitchen remodel gets approved in design. It gets redesigned at permit. It happens on projects across the country, and it costs clients money they weren't planning to spend, delays projects by weeks or months, and quietly damages the relationships b

…

A kitchen remodel gets approved in design. It gets redesigned at permit. It happens on projects across the country, and it costs clients money they weren't planning to spend, delays projects by weeks or months, and quietly damages the relationships between designers, contractors, and architects.

The reason it keeps happening isn't bad design. It's a sequencing problem. The kitchen gets designed before anyone asked the structural questions. Before

…

A kitchen remodel gets approved in design. It gets redesigned at permit. It happens on projects across the country, and it costs clients money they weren't planning to spend, delays projects by weeks or months, and quietly damages the relationships between designers, contractors, and architects.

The reason it keeps happening isn't bad design. It's a sequencing problem. The kitchen gets designed before anyone asked the structural questions. Before anyone confirmed what's in the wall. Before anyone looked at what the permit jurisdiction actually requires for egress, ventilation, or mechanical clearances in a remodel scenario. The design work was beautiful and the design work was premature.

This session is for designers who are tired of watching their best work get value-engineered or field-modified after permit. It's also for anyone who has ever been in a client meeting where the contractor delivered the redesign news and the designer had to explain why the plan changed.

We're going to work through real project examples. You'll see exactly where the design went wrong and what one early conversation with a licensed architect would have changed.

Then we're going to put you in the seat. You'll get a project brief: site type, scope, jurisdiction, client priorities. Small groups. Fifteen minutes. Your task is to identify the questions you should have asked before the first cabinet layout went to the client. Not after SD. Before.

The groups that get it right won't necessarily know the structural answers. They'll know which answers they didn't have and who to call before the design opened.

That's the skill. Knowing where your scope ends and where the risk begins. Not so you stop designing. So your designs survive.

What attendees will leave with:

  • A diagnostic framework for identifying permit-risk conditions before design opens
  • A short checklist of pre-design questions that belong in every kitchen and bath project brief
  • A clearer understanding of when to loop in an architect and how to frame that conversation with clients so it doesn't undermine their confidence in you
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WorkshopSession Type
Andrew Mikhael
Andrew MikhaelOwner, Andrew Mikhael Architect
Capacity Unlimited:No
Learning Objectives:Identify the project conditions that create permit-risk before design opens — structural unknowns, jurisdiction complexity, remodel scope involving walls or mechanical systems. Recognize the sequencing failure that turns beautiful design work into field modifications and change orders. Apply a pre-design diagnostic habit to any kitchen or bath project before the first layout goes to the client. Determine when and how to bring an architect into the process early — and how to frame that conversation with clients without undermining confidence in the design.
On-Demand:No
Option for On-Demand:No
Quick Description:A kitchen remodel gets approved in design. It gets redesigned at permit. This isn't bad design — it's a sequencing problem. In this session, we work through real project examples to identify exactly where the process breaks down, then put attendees in the seat with a live project brief to find the questions that should have been asked before design opened. The skill isn't knowing the structural answers. It's knowing who to call before you start drawing.