by Carie McMichael
One of Southern Indiana’s most prolific custom design-build firms is solidifying their local presence with the establishment of a new office in Indianapolis. As long-serving artisans throughout the state, Loren Wood Builders Design-Build hopes to increase access to their team as part of their continued mission of client-focused service.
At the helm is Loren Wood, who started his own firm in 2010 after leaving a career as a math teacher–eventually joining forces with his uncle and cousin and their custom build firm. His uncle has since retired, but his cousin now serves as the firm’s CFO. Beyond these two, the company has expanded dramatically over the years to include a comprehensive team of industry experts, from the management team, down through the field crew.
The firm’s comprehensive range of services is executed by a team of seasoned tradespeople, including architects, designers, carpenters, electricians, painters, site and project managers, as well as a supportive administrative staff and a network of industry partners. Wood’s team prides themselves on their vital role in realizing a homeowner’s vision for their space. The team supervises every step of their process from design to doorstep.
“We have the most robust design-build team in the region,” says Wood. “There is not another team that has such a comprehensive group of individuals that all share the vision, values, and capability of executing really high-level work and delivering challenging, highly detailed projects. That’s where our company stands out.”
LWB’s process begins with a comprehensive pre-design consultation and feasibility study, including a 3-D-scanned analysis of the client’s space. Following multiple stages of design and development, a cost-estimation is conducted and approved. Then construction can begin. LWB remains engaged with clients after completion of any project to ensure all of their needs and goals have been met.
Throughout this process, Wood and his team help set realistic expectations for clients alongside clear goals to exceed those expectations for a highly successful project— a principle that has become one of the firm’s core values. This approach allows the team to strike an important balance between delivering innovative design and serving the practical needs of the client.
“I think there’s always an inherent tension between the budget, the design drivers, the clients practical, logistical, programmatic needs, and a designer’s desire to deliver a really architecturally significant project,” says Wood. “And for us, that process of helping align the project goals with the client’s budget and the reality of the site and home constraints really starts from that first client visit.”
Wood hopes the new Indianapolis office will improve ease-of-access to his team for his clients and industry partners. “As our team has grown and our projects have become more geographically diverse, setting up a satellite office in a location where we’re already doing considerable work and anticipate future growth made a lot of sense.” Clients can expect to see the same gold standard of client-focused attention to detail at the Indianapolis office, as well as the same fortified teamwork and devotion to superior construction and renovation.
Both the firm’s residential and commercial work can be viewed across southern Indiana. Notable commercial projects include The Elm restaurant, the Lotus Education and Arts Foundation Firehouse, Oliver Winery’s renovated contemporary tasting room, Hoosier Heights Climbing Gym Church renovation in Bloomington, and Osteria Rago, along with countless other commercial and residential projects. You can learn more about their firm and their process at lorenwoodbuilders.com
get in touch
825 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite C
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204
900 S Walnut Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47401
