R. H. Carter Architects Inc.

Mission
Statement

R.H. Carter Architects Inc. provides full architectural, design and management services across Canada.

The firm is an industry leading brand design and implementation specialist and brings three decades of specialized automotive national retail design experience to their clients along with their use of state of the art architectural design software and database management systems. The practice excels at developing real on-site design solutions while preserving corporate brand and design standards.

The firm’s nine licensed architects along with 31 project and program managers, technologists, CAD operators and IT staff share a commitment to design excellence and a commitment to providing the highest level of customer service.

Our
Philosophy

R.H. Carter has evolved since 1985 with a slow and steady growth as we responded to the needs of our our clients who continue to honour us with their repeat business. We are fortunate to have based our business philosophy on two tenets:

A commitment to design excellence and providing the highest level of customer service.

We are an architectural practice first and foremost with 9 licensed architects on staff who bring with them the range of skills necessary to develop schematic design solutions on site through to project management and the supervision of construction projects. We are a bilingual firm. We practice in both official languages and are able to obtain licensing in all 10 Provinces and in all 50 of the United States.

Our strength and our passion is the development and roll out of national automotive retail programs and the diligent management and preservation of individual corporate brands across Canada. We have expanded our role in this regard to include for the development of databases and database management for the respective national programs that are under our jurisdiction in response to our clients needs.

Understand the corporate brand.
- Attend informational/educational sessions to understand the unique Brand promise and intended market.
- Work together with the client and assist with the interpretation and development of the program for the Canadian (or other) market.
Communicate the brand message
- Consult with client to translate unique value proposition into a Brand experience, i.e. Experience Design-- the practice of designing environments with a focus on the quality of the user experience.
Visit with brand franchisee
- Meet with Brand franchisee in order to best understand how to implement the brand elements into the local condition and market (whether it is a renovation or new build project).
- Collaborate with local consultants to ensure success of each project.
Create design criteria documents to present and rollout the brand message
- Create a Design Criteria Document (DCD), i.e. the information package for the individual franchisee. The DCD contains the schematic design and material finishes for either the proposed renovation or new build project.
Develop designs specific to market requirements
- Establish metrics, such as projected sales volumes, product pipeline and area of responsibility – all critical to ensure the facility is “right-sized” for its market.
Corporate design sign-off
- Corporate partner and franchisee agree to proposed scope of project and preliminary budget.
Implementation
- Select local consultants (in partnership with franchisee) to transition the DCD from the Schematic Design stage into the Construction Document stage.
Architecture
- Option 1: As architects of record, R. H. Carter Architects oversees the creation of the Construction Documents through to construction.
- Option 2: As program architect, R. H. Carter Architects reviews the final Construction Documents.
Construction
- Franchisee commences construction.
- In both Option 1 & 2, R. H. Carter performs reviews during construction and issues a final compliant review document.
Grand opening