Introducing Integrated Design Studio

Quick Take: We started a sister company: Integrated Design Studio, a Pittsburgh architecture and interior design practice built to sit right next to the build. It exists to close the gap we run into on nearly every project — the distance between what a homeowner can picture and a set of drawings a crew can actually build from. Four disciplines: architectural design, interior design, design-build integration, and visualization. Fixed-fee and tiered, scoped up front so you know the number before you commit. Same family as ICR (both under Integrated Enterprise Group), same standard, aimed at the part of the work that happens before a single wall moves.

Here's the problem we kept watching. A homeowner has a clear feeling about what they want — brighter, more open, a kitchen that finally works — but a feeling isn't a plan. Somewhere between that feeling and a finished room sits a pile of decisions: layout, sightlines, where the light falls, which wall carries the load, how the tile meets the floor, whether the island is 40 inches or 44. Skip that thinking and you find out during construction, when changing your mind is expensive. Do it well up front and the build goes faster, cleaner, and closer to what you actually pictured.

That thinking is design, and it deserves to be its own discipline rather than something squeezed in between demo and drywall. So we made it one.

What Integrated Design Studio does

IDS is organized around four disciplines:

• Architectural design — the drawings and the structural thinking behind a renovation, addition, or reconfiguration: how the space is laid out, what it takes to open it up, what the permit set needs.
• Interior design — the finish-level decisions that make a room feel like the picture in your head: materials, palette, lighting, fixtures, and how they all read together.
• Design-build integration — the part that only works when design and construction share a roof. Drawings made by people who know what a crew can actually build, priced against real construction costs, handed off without a translation layer in between.
• Visualization — renderings that let you see the room before it's framed, so the decisions get made on screen instead of on site.

The studio's own line is that "premium is a discipline, not a price tier," and the pricing follows from that: fixed-fee and tiered, from template-based selections through fully tailored design with renderings and construction documents, scoped at a discovery conversation so you know what you're spending before you sign on. No open-ended design hours.

Why a contractor started a design studio

Because we kept seeing what happens without one. When design is an afterthought, the drawings don't match the budget, the finishes get chosen under deadline pressure mid-build, and the homeowner ends up making $8,000 decisions standing in a dusty room with a crew waiting. When the design is done first and done right, the opposite happens: the scope is clear, the number is real, the change orders shrink, and the finished space actually resembles what was promised.

ICR has always done a version of this in-house — our Upper St. Clair whole-home project ran because the design was thought through before the first wall came down, which is why the family came back to us for a second phase two years later. Integrated Design Studio makes that a proper front door rather than a step folded into the build. It also means the design can stand on its own: you can work with IDS on drawings and a plan even if the build is further off, or being handled elsewhere.

How it fits with ICR

ICR and IDS are sister firms under the same parent, Integrated Enterprise Group — the same people, the same standard, the design side and the build side built to hand off to each other cleanly. For an ICR renovation, that means the design and the construction can speak the same language from day one: drawings priced against what the build will actually cost, and a plan the crew can execute without reinterpreting it. You can still hire either one on its own. But together they're the whole arc of a project — from the first sketch to the final walk-through — under one roof.

Take a look at the studio at Integrated Design Studio. If you're weighing a renovation and the design is the part you haven't cracked yet, that's exactly the gap it was built to fill — and you can always start a build conversation with us directly at ICR.

Common questions

What is Integrated Design Studio?

It's a Pittsburgh architecture and interior design studio and ICR's sister firm, built to handle the design side of a renovation before the build begins. It works across four disciplines — architectural design, interior design, design-build integration, and visualization — with fixed-fee, tiered pricing scoped up front.

How is Integrated Design Studio related to ICR?

They're sister companies under the same parent, Integrated Enterprise Group — the same people and the same standard, with the design side and the build side built to work together. IDS handles design and drawings; ICR handles construction. You can hire either on its own, or use them together for the full arc of a project.

Do I have to build with ICR to work with Integrated Design Studio?

No. IDS can take on design and drawings as a standalone engagement, whether your build is further off or being handled by someone else. The two firms are built to hand off cleanly to each other, but the design work stands on its own.

What does Integrated Design Studio charge?

Pricing is fixed-fee and tiered — from template-based selections through fully tailored design with renderings and construction documents — and it's scoped at a discovery conversation so you know the number before you commit, rather than billing open-ended design hours. The studio's framing is that "premium is a discipline, not a price tier."

Why would a renovation start with design instead of a contractor?

Because the decisions made before construction are the ones that determine whether the finished space matches what you pictured — and whether the budget holds. Designing first means the scope is clear, the price is real, and the expensive mid-build changes largely go away. It's the difference between choosing finishes on a screen and choosing them under deadline pressure in a dusty room.