David R. Smith Design Inc.

David was instrumental in the redesign of my East York bungalow. David worked tirelessly to design exactly what I wanted. His insight and knowledge of design and construction made the early stages of the project seamless. He was readily available for meetings and always quick to respond to questions. He took care of every step of the process and communicated with my contractor every step of the way. He even hand delivered my permits! Working with David took a significant amount of stress out of the project.

My wife and I hired David to design our home and take care of the permit process for us. After working with David previously on a custom home that he designed, we knew his professionalism and expertise and were not disappointed when it came to our home.

He patiently worked with us step by step through the design and permit process, and has been a great asset throughout construction thus far. He always answers the phone anytime that questions arise on site which helps to make the construction process streamlined.

We would definitely recommend David to anyone who is looking to renovate or build their home.

Cannot recommend David highly enough. He was a true partner as we envisioned potential changes to our house and made sure we were clear on what we wanted and why. He took our ideas and enhanced them and offered up solutions to challenges that we didn’t think could be solved. He’s meticulous about his designs and ensures practicality in any proposal. We unfortunately had a neighbor opposed to our renovation and David’s preparation for our Committee of Approval hearing was nothing short of stellar. After sitting on the Committee link waiting for over 5 hours for our hearing, I can say that he was the only architect who was complimented by the Committee for the quality of the package he prepared for their consideration. His rebuttal of the points raised by our dissenting neighbors was complete and air tight and he did it with great diplomacy and tact. After he spoke to address the neighbor’s concerns it felt like a mic drop moment and the Committee had no further questions, went straight to a vote and the plans were approved. He is incredibly responsive, answers all the questions we have and is always willing to offer help on adjusting ideas and solving the seemingly impossible. He’s a master at his craft who is committed to clean lines and architectural soundness and beauty. Cannot recommend him enough. Don’t hesitate to engage him on your next project!!!

David had politely declined working with us on a previous project because of his workload (a sign of his professionalism) but we were able to engage him to work on our recent home re-build.

For over a year, from Aug 2020 to Nov 2021, David guided us through the design and submission process carefully, patiently, and thoughtfully. He happily entertained our revisions, our questions, and the 1000 other things that happen while we planned our new home.

David brought an empathetic attitude, a steady guiding hand, and ultimately a wonderful design for a family home that we are excited to build and enjoy. We could not be happier with our experience with David and can only hope that we get a chance to work with him on our future projects.

David was kind and courteous to work with. He provided information in prompt manner as he guided us through the permit process. It was a pleasure working with him in seeing our dreamhome home as a reality.

We approached David through a recommendation, and after our first meeting with him and reviewing prior projects, we were set on working with him.

Our renovation included an addition to the rear of our home, and a redesign of the existing floors and spaces. Never having done this before, we were completely new to the entire renovation process (design, drawings, permits, etc.). David patiently walked us through the entire process, and answered any questions we had along the way.

David has a great design sense and ample experience, he really helped us go in the right direction with our planning. He knows all of the city's bylaws and building codes which really took the weight off our shoulders. After our plans were complete, he took care of dealing with the City of Toronto and permit acquisition. David continued to be involved with our General Contractor by answering questions, and being available whenever required.

We can absolutely say that we could not be more happy with the service that David provided us, and we will be recommending him to anyone that ever needs his services.

We first met David when were planning a 3rd floor addition to an old east end row house. David came highly recommended by several neighbours. He understands the "quirks" of old homes in this area extremely well and was a superb collaborator (and guide!) through the design and permitting process. We also engaged David to help us plan a more significant--basement underpinning and general gut--project in an equally old home. David has numerous strengths, but what really stood out to me was his flexibility, patience (with all our questions) and excellent project management. We have already recommended David to others and will continue to do so.

I’m so happy we found David to help us design our home renovation. We had an initial idea of the changes we wanted to make to our home, but David brought ideas that we would have never envisioned. David designs with his client in mind. He really understood the utility of our home, challenged us to design to maximize value, and added great design elements we never considered. He is so responsive. We never felt like we were asking too many questions. He walked us through the process. The 3D visuals he provides are so helpful to envision the end result. Overall we really enjoyed working with David.

I switched to using David after terminating an unsatisfactory engagement with another architect. My experience with him was brilliant from the beginning. He is a great communicator and always responsive to client questions and concerns. He is thoughtful designer and, despite being so talented, remains open minded and will consider alternative suggestions without ego. The 3D-visualisations he prepares make it really easy to envisage what the end product will look like and this makes decision making easy.

Bottom line - David really cares about his clients and getting to the right spot for them. I cannot recommend him highly enough.

David has been exceptional and patient while we planned, designed and finalized the drawings for our renovation. David was able to conceive a feasible approach to our project and provided a wealth of knowledge when it came to building with a balance of budget and ROI in mind. He was able to translate feedback well and at the end of it all prepared and delivered a permit package that made our GC say, "wow!"
I would definitely recommend David.