Arch Studio, Inc. - San Jose, California

Justin R.

Robin and the whole Arch Studio team have been amazing to work with. As a general contractor it is very refreshing to be able to work with a team that not only has the ability to prepare a full set of architectural and structural drawings but also knocks the product selection out of the park as well. If you are a client looking for a full service design team, I would highly recommend Robin and team. Their system lays the ground work for an efficient and detailed project which then helps set the rest of the project up for sucess.

Susan B.

If I could give more stars, I would. Robin has given us a home that we are so proud of. Robin did an amazing job and working with her was a wonderful experience. We presented Robin with our ideas and she took those plans and basically ran with it and had ideas that we never would have imagined. We added 850+ feet to our complete remodel and she added that square footage seamlessly. Her ideas for the porch and entry way are stunning, she completely changed the footprint of the kitchen which created an amazing, spacious gathering place. Robin designed an incredibly functional laundry room with a walk in pantry that is a dream. We have been back in our house a little over a year and we still talk about our house almost daily. Talking about how much we love this or that. Very, very often people walk by the house and they stop and point at certain things. Many times you see people hop out of their car to take pictures. We are truly so proud of our home and we absolutely would not have it without Robin. Her creativity, professionalism and work ethic is worth ten stars. I've attached a before (just as the demolition began) and after to give you an idea of what Robin can do.

Vijay R.

My wife and I worked with Robin and her team at Arch Studio to do architect AND design our full house remodel in Saratoga. We couldn't have been happier with the whole experience. We just moved into our new house and are thrilled with how it turned out. Robin has an impeccable sense for the latest trends and what works/what doesn't. She and her team were extremely patient with us and helped us think through the various architecture and design options at each step. They really spent the time to understand our taste, worked very hard to architect and design a house that not only looks great and fits well into our neighborhood but is very practical as well. I'm always amazed by Robin's attention to the minute details and deep knowledge of the building codes in the various cities. We have no hesitation in recommending Robin and her team.

John L.

We hired Arch Studio on our recent house remodel. Robin was a pleasure to work with from beginning to end. She redesigned our house as a modern style craftsman style home and we loved how she was able to hit every item on our wish list by maximizing our living square footage with no wasted space. Hiring a contractor was one of our biggest stress, but Robin helped out with a great referral and they work very well together to bring our vision to life. While this entire project was tiring and stressful, we were happy that we had Robin throughout.

Edward Y.

I have had the unique experience of being a client and an on-going colleague. As a client, Arch Studio came up with a great floor plan for a proposed two story modern craftsman style home. The entire process was explained well to us and executed very professionally. Robin listened to us and delivered on our expectations. As an on-going colleague ( structural engineer) we have worked on many projects that range in various scope and budget. I can proudly say that there have been many satisfied clients and we always strive to be as professional as possible no matter how challenging the construction process can be some times. Working with Robin and her team at Arch Studio has been a great collaboration and we look forward to many successful years ahead.

Michael K.

My rating is based on our overall results. First, our permitted architectural plans did not match our permitted structural plans, which set us back several months; no contractor would bid using plans that did not correlate. Second, we followed the advice of Arch Studios, Inc. (Robin McCarthy) and hired one of her highly recommended contractors that she had been “using for years” and we were told by Robin had great reviews, FMP Construction (Frank Pugliese). I relied on Robin’s recommendation before hiring FMP which was an error.

Our first of many construction issues was a large ceiling bulge (brand new ceiling) extending across most our new improvements, including a newly tiled shower where the tile was cut to fit under the bulge. I sent pictures and texted Robin. Robin set up a call with me to discuss the issue, but Robin proceeded to blow off the meeting she scheduled. Robin never reached out to me about the ceiling bulge, so I concluded I no longer had an architect representing me. Robin’s contract specified 2 site visits during construction; she made none. When I communicated a 3rd issue (there were many others I didn’t bother communicating after the first meeting blow off), Robin finally offered to come out, but since almost all the improvements were complete, I declined her belated offer. It was too late to fix anything significant and I wanted her recommended contractor out of my home. When FMP was finished, I requested that Robin come out to review her recommended contractor’s finish work. Robin used the term “so close” to describe our finished project and told my wife and I that our improvements were beautiful. I disagree with her assessment. You can see a sample of our “so close” photos which provide insight to what we went through and what we were left with. I am left to assume that our improvements reflect what Robin expects for all her clients.

We cancelled the balance of our planned and permitted improvements due to our complete dissatisfaction and our difference of opinion with Robin and her recommended contractor as to the quality of our finished improvements. Empathy for your client’s bad experience would have helped. It took me personally 7 months, 3 trips to the County, and additional plan and permit fees to get a final with no assistance from Robin. I have learned to live with what we got, but I despise looking at our improvements every day. I would never consider using Arch Studios, Inc. again. We expected Robin to help us in the event of issues (particularly when we followed her professional advice and hired one of her guys), but we were ignored. For a master bedroom and bath remodel, I could not imagine a worse experience.

Ying-Min L.

We are a high-end residential home developer and have worked with Arch Studio, Inc. for many successful projects in the past several years. Robin's team provided top-notched architecture and interior design for its clients. They are very professional and responsible. Robin's team is a great partner for our business.

Daphne W.

Robin is the BEST architect anyone can hire! She did a phenomenal job on our house remodel, we've been happy and enjoying our remodeled new house every single day since its completion in Nov. 2016.

We found Robin through Houzz - her project/portfolio pictures made quite an impression on us, as we felt her design style was exactly what we were looking for. After interviewing her and several other candidates, we knew she was the one. She had a calm, pleasant and down to earth attitude that really resonated with us. On a personal level, she's just a really pleasant to talk to. Professionally, she listens VERY WELL. More on this later. When we spoke with her, she displayed enormous amount of knowledge, not only on space planning and architecture, but also knowledgeable of the area we live in and the potential design considerations and permitting process (among others) associated with it. As we talked, she gave us some tips and ideas to think about which we hadn't considered previously.

Once we signed with her, she went to work with our complete gut and expansion project. I mentioned she listened VERY WELL. After getting our requirements - I compiled a Must Have, Good to have, and Don't Like list - she came up with the first revision of the plan. Let me just say I was mentally prepared to have a few iterations (having that expectation from other people's experience). BUT no! We only needed to tweak very minor details on her first draft plan! To this date I'm still super impressed of how well she incorporated everything we wanted, and excluded everything we didn't want, in the first go! It really saved us a ton of time and hassle. Also her plan has cool little design details that are pleasant surprises, and have worked out really well once actually built.

In the middle of the project, we actually decided to expand the scope and revise our plan - we wanted to add an additional room! Robin again did a fantastic job making the addition seamless and functional.

One thing I'd like to mention is, our contractor who we selected on our own and had not worked with Robin before, was equally impressed with her work. He was amazed at how accurate all her measurements were, all the window, electrical, and small details were all impeccably drawn. It saved him a lot of time with such a clear and well drawn plan.

I can't recommend Robin enough to anybody looking for a meticulous professional architect who geniunely tries and cares, to help you with an otherwise stressful experience.