JAD Design Services LLC

JAD Design Services LLC Architect, Design, Drafting and Modeling

Drafting services and 3D rendered images of proposed const Architectural Illustration & Visualization

What architects actually do vs. what people think we do are often two very different things.“I just need the drawings.” ...
05/20/2026

What architects actually do vs. what people think we do are often two very different things.

“I just need the drawings.”
“I just need a stamp for the City.”
“Why do drawings cost so much?”

Meanwhile, architecture is actually a constant balancing act between design, code, zoning, life safety, accessibility, consultants, construction realities, permitting, client goals, budgets, jurisdictional interpretation, and protecting the health, safety, and welfare of the public in everything we do.

The drawings are just the language we use to communicate all of that.

Most of the real work happens in the parts nobody sees:
redlines, coordination, specifications, field problem solving, code interpretation, construction administration, and navigating the endless layers between an idea and a real building.

And honestly, I think our profession has done a pretty poor job explaining this to the public for a long time.

Architecture is not just luxury.
It’s not just aesthetics.
And it’s definitely not just “making plans.”

Good architecture quietly affects everyday life in ways most people never think about until they finally experience a space that truly works for them.

So here’s a small glimpse into the side of architecture that rarely makes it onto Instagram.

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Working on some conceptual studies lately for a multigenerational wellness estate in Hawai‘i. 🌺Less “mega mansion.” More...
05/13/2026

Working on some conceptual studies lately for a multigenerational wellness estate in Hawai‘i. 🌺

Less “mega mansion.” More retreat.

This design exploration has been centered around a pretty simple idea: what if a home was intentionally designed to help people decompress as they moved through it?

Layered lighting. Quiet retreat spaces. Indoor/outdoor transitions. Spaces that feel calming instead of demanding.

One of the most meaningful parts of this concept has been exploring how accessibility, varying neuro needs, and comfort across different ages and states of health can be seamlessly integrated into the architecture from the very beginning, without feeling clinical or separated from the design experience itself.

The guest residences especially became an opportunity to showcase Hawai‘i through wellness, connection to the land, slower living, and environments designed to genuinely support the people experiencing them.

Still very much a work in progress, but honestly one of the more exciting conceptual directions I’ve explored in a long time.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about lighting, not just as an architectural feature, but as something that directly im...
05/11/2026

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about lighting, not just as an architectural feature, but as something that directly impacts how we physically and emotionally experience a space.

As a caregiver living alongside brain injury and neurological change, I’ve become incredibly aware of how exhausting some environments can be. Harsh lighting, glare, overstimulation, nowhere for your nervous system to settle. Most people don’t consciously realize why a space feels stressful… they just know they don’t want to stay there.

At the same time, the spaces that feel calm, welcoming, and restorative almost always share one thing in common: thoughtful lighting designed around human experience.

That’s why conversations around wellness and neuroinclusive design matter so much to me. Not as trends or buzzwords, but as an opportunity to design spaces that genuinely support more people.

Good design should do more than look beautiful. It should help people feel better.

That’s a perspective I’m bringing more intentionally into the work I’m building through JAD Design Services.

I’ve become much more aware lately of how many spaces are visually impressive but quietly exhausting to exist in.As a ca...
05/08/2026

I’ve become much more aware lately of how many spaces are visually impressive but quietly exhausting to exist in.

As a caregiver for Ed after his brain tumor diagnosis, I’ve seen firsthand how much environments can impact energy, focus, conversation, and overall comfort. Sometimes it isn’t the crowd or the activity itself. Sometimes it’s the constant background noise, harsh acoustics, or the feeling that a space never allows your nervous system to fully settle.

And honestly, I think a lot more people are experiencing sensory fatigue than we realize.

The older I get, the more I think good design is often the stuff people never consciously notice at all. The spaces that feel calm. Comfortable. Easy to exist within. 🩶

May Day… and in Hawaiʻi, Lei Day. 🌺In many places, today is a simple celebration of spring. Flowers, baskets, the shift ...
05/01/2026

May Day… and in Hawaiʻi, Lei Day. 🌺

In many places, today is a simple celebration of spring. Flowers, baskets, the shift in seasons. But in Hawaiʻi, it carries a deeper meaning.

Lei Day isn’t just about something beautiful to wear. Each flower has significance. Each lei tells a story. It can represent love, respect, celebration, remembrance. It’s a form of communication, a way of expressing something that isn’t always said out loud.

Having had the privilege of living on the islands, that perspective has stayed with me. There’s a deep respect for the ʻāina, for the environment, and for the communities that are rooted there. It’s something you feel, and something you learn over time if you’re willing to slow down and pay attention.

As outsiders, that’s our responsibility. To be respectful. To be considerate. To listen and understand the meaning behind what we’re seeing and experiencing, rather than just passing through it.

And it truly is a privilege when those with generational ties to place choose to share that knowledge. That’s not something we’re entitled to. It’s something we’re invited into.

So today feels like a good reminder to pause for a moment. To listen. To hear. To learn.

As an architect, that mindset is at the core of how I approach my work. Every project, every client, every place carries its own history, its own heritage. My role isn’t to impose something new onto it, but to understand it and help shape something that reflects the people who will live in it.

Not just designing buildings, but honoring the stories they hold.

⸻

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I spent a few quiet minutes sketching in the Ministry of Magic area at Epic Universe.What immediately stood out to me wa...
03/08/2026

I spent a few quiet minutes sketching in the Ministry of Magic area at Epic Universe.

What immediately stood out to me was the sense of order and monumentality in the architecture. Strong vertical lines, repeating rhythms in the façades, and the kind of grand scale that makes the space feel official and powerful.

Sketching slows everything down. Instead of just walking through, you start to notice the relationships between elements. The proportions of the windows, the symmetry in the street walls, the way the architecture frames the view toward the Ministry.

It’s fascinating how different this environment feels from other areas of the park. Where Darkmoor leans into chaos and unease, the Ministry world feels structured, formal, and controlled.

Both approaches are incredibly intentional. They show how architecture alone can shift the emotional tone of an entire place.

Taking a few minutes to draw it made me appreciate the level of thought behind every façade.

📍 Wizarding World – Ministry of Magic, Epic Universe






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I took a few minutes to sit down in Darkmoor and sketch.This village in the Dark Universe land at Epic Universe is wonde...
03/08/2026

I took a few minutes to sit down in Darkmoor and sketch.

This village in the Dark Universe land at Epic Universe is wonderfully unsettling in the best possible way. The buildings lean, twist, and stack in ways that feel just a little wrong, like the whole place has grown over time rather than being carefully planned.

As an architect, sketching forces me to slow down and really study what the designers are doing. The proportions, the crooked rooflines, the textures in the walls, the way the streets frame views toward Frankenstein Manor. Every piece is working together to create that uneasy atmosphere.

Darkmoor doesn’t feel polished or orderly. It feels scraggly, haunted, and alive, which is exactly the point. Even the plants and landscape are part of the story, creeping and twisting around the architecture.

It’s a great reminder that design isn’t always about perfection. Sometimes the most powerful environments are the ones that feel a little unpredictable.

Sketching it for a few minutes made me appreciate just how intentionally chaotic this place really is.

📍 Darkmoor – Dark Universe, Epic Universe






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Staying at ’s Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort this week was such a fascinating design experience.By day, I was immer...
02/28/2026

Staying at ’s Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort this week was such a fascinating design experience.

By day, I was immersed in the cutting edge of architecture and construction. New systems. New technologies. Conversations about where we are heading next as a profession.

By night, I walked back into a hotel that is intentionally looking backward.

And I genuinely loved that tension.

Cabana Bay does not just hint at mid-century. It commits. The courtyard planning feels rooted in roadside motel culture where the pool is the center of gravity and movement is intuitive. The breezeways are not decorative. They shape how you experience the place.

Then you step into the lobby and that 60-foot palm enclosure rises through the space. It is bold. It feels architectural, not ornamental. It instantly made me think about the Miami resort era and the confidence you see in places like the Fontainebleau Miami Beach and Eden Roc Miami Beach. Leisure as spectacle. Hospitality as atmosphere.

There is even a bit of Jet Age spirit that pulls me back to the TWA Flight Center. Saarinen might be my favorite architect if I were forced to choose. That era believed travel was glamorous. It believed the future was bright.

What makes Cabana Bay work is that it feels believable. Not like a parody. Not like a costume. It feels like a resort that could have existed.

Spending my days focused on where architecture is going, and my nights inside a carefully crafted look back at where it has been, was an extreme contrast in the best possible way.


After a full barrage of information over the past three days, I finally had a moment to come up for air and ask myself w...
02/20/2026

After a full barrage of information over the past three days, I finally had a moment to come up for air and ask myself what actually stuck.

Beyond the trends and the shiny new ideas, the big takeaway for me was this: design is shifting. It is less about square footage, labels, and checklists, and more about how spaces actually make people feel and move through the world.

So much of what I kept hearing circled back to the same things. How arrival and first impressions shape your sense of belonging. How warmth, memory moments, and a little bit of nature woven into spaces can change how a place lands emotionally. How flexibility matters because life does not stay neatly in one lane. How “wellness” is really about ease, comfort, and giving people places to decompress, connect, and just exist.

Stepping back, it made me think about how much architecture and design quietly influence our nervous systems every day, whether we notice it or not. The places we move through are doing a lot more work on us than we tend to give them credit for.

Anyway, just some post conference processing. My brain is still full, but in a good way.

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I went to Epic Universe with one very specific mission:Find the railings.A few years ago, I worked on railing design tie...
02/19/2026

I went to Epic Universe with one very specific mission:

Find the railings.

A few years ago, I worked on railing design tied to this project. Just a tiny piece of a massive universe. So while everyone else was looking up at portals and rides, I was scanning guardrails and transitions like the nerd I am.

Walking the park, nothing immediately stood out. I figured maybe the design evolved. Maybe it didn’t make it. That’s how projects like this go.

But then I stopped into the Epic preview center at CityWalk.

And on the scale model… I saw one area I definitely recognized. And another that looked very, very familiar.

Could it be?
Did I just find them?
Were they actually built?

There’s something surreal about being a small part of something this big. You don’t always know what makes it to opening day. But if even a few of those railings out there started as lines on my screen, that’s a pretty cool feeling.

Now I just need to go back and look closer.









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