Bakersfield

Designing for the valley climate

The southern San Joaquin Valley runs hot in summer, and that one fact shapes a great deal of good design here — orientation that keeps the worst sun off living spaces, shading and deep overhangs, insulation, and glazing placed with the heat in mind. Treated as a design question from the start rather than a mechanical fix at the end, it makes a home quieter to live in and cheaper to run.

Flat lots, room to add

Bakersfield's generous, largely flat lots make home additions and accessory dwelling units straightforward moves compared with a tight hillside parcel in LA. The City of Bakersfield runs its own building process for projects inside the city, while unincorporated parts of Kern County fall to the county — a distinction worth settling before design begins.

The full scope, under one process

Kevin Cohen Design is a design-build practice: architecture, interior and exterior design, and general construction coordinated together rather than split across separate contracts. That covers ADUs, home additions, whole-home remodels, kitchen and bath remodels, permit drawings and plan-check, and general construction — with a single point of accountability from the first sketch to the final inspection.

Working remotely, with visits as the project needs them

Most of the work — design, drawings, and coordination — is handled remotely, which is what lets the practice serve a region this large without thinning the attention any one project receives. On-site visits are scheduled when a project genuinely calls for them: reading the site at the start, checking key moments during construction, and resolving the things that are better seen in person. For many homeowners this is a practical way to work with an architect whose approach fits, regardless of where the lot sits.

Rules, zoning, and permit requirements differ from one jurisdiction to the next and change over time. Nothing here is a substitute for confirming the specifics for your exact address with the local building department early in the project — which is where every engagement starts, so the design is aimed at the right requirements from the first drawing.