What the studio draws
Innowave Studio works for real estate developers, in three product lines.
| Product line | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Preliminary site plans, the core | Detailed, real first drafts of a project, deliberately without the engineering layer |
| 3D renderings | Exterior, aerial and flyover renderings tied to the site plan |
| Commercial interiors and conversions | Interior visualization and renders, including stand-alone render jobs, and conversions (office or retail to restaurant, and similar) |
A preliminary site plan includes the site disposition and layout, buildings, rooms and floor plans, amenities, internal roads, drive aisles, parking, pads, sites and units, and yield counts. The sheet organizes them with a site data table: acreage, zoning, density against the cap, setbacks, parking required against provided, and unit mix.
The plan does not include sewer and water pipe design, electrical or utility engineering, or grading and drainage engineering. The studio holds no stamp. That engineering is done by the client's engineer of record, who builds the sealed set on the preliminary plan together with the architect of record.
How developers use the plan
The preliminary plan is the first reliable draft of a project. Developers use it:
- with the many cities and counties that accept an unsealed plan at the concept or pre-application stage;
- with a lender;
- with a general contractor, to price the work;
- to decide on a site and raise capital;
- with the engineer and architect of record, who build the sealed set on it.
Where a jurisdiction requires a sealed plan, the preliminary plan is what the engineer of record builds on. Each step from the first brief to that handoff is set out on the process page, and the line between a preliminary and a final site plan marks where the studio's drawing ends and the sealed set begins.
Asset classes
The studio plans all major commercial asset classes, with a specialty in RV parks and RV resorts. It also plans glamping and outdoor resorts, campgrounds, marinas, car washes, gas stations and c-stores, truck stops, RV and boat storage, self storage, hotels, multifamily, affordable housing, single-family and townhome subdivisions, industrial, warehouse, flex and outdoor storage yards, office, retail, restaurants and QSR, mixed-use and senior living.
Past work
Past projects the studio has drawn include:
- a site plan in Northern California with glamping units and RV parking;
- a boutique resort in a forest in New York State, where the studio designed the overall layout and aesthetic of a resort with two contemporary 3D-printed cabins, a sauna and a hot tub;
- a restored historical building converted into an event venue for weddings, concerts and work parties, with a redesigned site plan and a layout that keeps the building's original industrial character;
- an RV and ATV park in Maricopa County, Arizona: a site plan with accommodations for large and extra-large vehicles and dedicated facilities for horse owners, near a major highway, nature trails and a city.
The case studies on this site are a different thing. Each one is a model project in a real jurisdiction, used to show how that county's or city's rules shape a site plan, such as the RV park model in Polk County, Florida and the gas station and c-store model in Gwinnett County, Georgia.
Principal
The studio's principal is Viola Sauer, BDes. She is the author of the studio's research pages: the case studies, the state and metro pages, such as Colorado and metro Atlanta, and the guides, such as how many RV sites fit on an acre. On those pages every figure is traced to a cited document, and the sources are numbered.
Affiliation and address
Innowave Studio is affiliated with MMCG Invest, LLC, and uses the group's business address: 27 Maiden Ln, Suite 625, San Francisco, CA 94108. To start a project, send the brief through the contact page. The FAQ answers the questions developers ask first.