About

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I'm Sarah Rohbin, the owner of UON Design. While my career in construction and design started in 2008, my passion for architecture and optimizing a space to meet its users' needs goes back long before that. My parents joke about how, as soon as I was strong enough to move my bedroom furniture, I would spend hours pushing dressers and bed frames around at night instead of going to sleep, and my preferred reading material was frequently house plan books. That passion remains with me today, where one of my greatest joys is curating custom spaces for my Clients' specific needs.

Background

After studying civil and environmental engineering in college, I took a job in New York City at a construction firm estimating projects ranging from 8 acre site redevelopments to luxury residential towers including 56 Leonard St by Herzog & de Meuron, VIA 57th St by Bjarke Ingles, and 8 Spruce St by Frank Gehry. From there I moved into project management on the Viceroy Hotel (now Le Méridien) and remediation of coastal sites affected by Hurricane Sandy. It was a great education on how a well oiled industry firm worked, but while the exposure to these incredible projects was truly mesmerizing, I started looking for an opportunity to exercise more creative license - a trend that would eventually bring me back to my home turf in the Baltimore / DC area.

Five years later I found that opportunity at a new start up called WeWork building trendy office spaces for small businesses to lease. With them I traveled the east coast managing projects from NYC to DC and Chicago and worked closely with our in house design team to source and actualize invigorating workspaces. Until, that is, life intervened and took me across the country to Los Angeles. There I joined Aesop, a lifestyle and design focused skin care brand again working closely with an international team to open stores all over the West coast, Hawaii, and Miami, FL. User experience and the elevation of the retail environment are the backbone of Aesop's aesthetic and I learned to work with a distinct point of view to transform irregular but beautiful materials to stunning results.

Alas, I still yearned to make a bigger impact, which is how I landed at DBGC - a design build firm specializing in historically sensitive, high-end residential renovations. Many of our homes were architected by giants like Richard Neutra, John Lautner, Pierre Koenig, and Neil Johnston, which further solidified my love of beautiful design that is both functional and ergonomic. Most of these homes were originally built with a budget in mind so they have since become studies of ingenuity to achieve a great effect - a principal I now rely on in my own client centered designs.

Again life intervened and brought me back to my native Maryland to raise a family, giving me an opportunity to work directly with clients to incorporate everything I've gleaned along the way into approachable, livable spaces.

Services

Design

Sometimes a Client has a vision but isn't sure where to start or how to achieve the look. Other times Clients may be seeking a completed design with little input other than final approval. Both - and everything in between - are great! Even if you're not sure what amount of involvement you need, trust me you're in good company and I'll work with you to figure it out. My scope of work is flexible, but typically for design services it includes the following:

Field measurement, floor plan drafting, and creation of 3D model.
Initial design proposal with several iterations to incorporate your feedback.
Complete product selection "menu" for you to make selections from, again with iterations based on your feedback.
Creation of scope of work for your contractors but no solicitation or vetting of proposals thereof.
Me as a resource for any questions or sounding board for your relationship with the contractor or any work during the course of the project. I'm here to help no matter how much or little you choose to engage me!
Generally 2 site visits for field measurement and a site walk during the project. Due to Covid, for the safety of everyone involved, for the time being I'm trying to limit my indoor interactions, some of which can be replaced by virtual options.

Project Management

A level of engagement above pure design is project management. This option is great if you don't have time for - or frankly the interest in - interfacing with your contractor. Adding management services frequently includes:

I would serve as your contractor's primary contact for questions and clarifications.
One additional site visit. Again this is to limit indoor in person interface during Covid, but can be negotiated based on your exact needs.
Schedule management in coordination with the contractor.
Coordination of chosen products with field conditions and contractor during install.
Change order review and submission to you for approval. You will always hold the contract with the contractor and any subcontractors so you have full control of budget changes.
Creation and management of final punchlist and closeout work at the completion of the project.

Testimonials

Sarah’s resourcefulness and attention to detail made the difference for us between a renovation and a truly special, custom home. The majority of compliments we receive on our renovation are due to her contributions, including statement windows and creative solutions, that even our cabinet maker didn’t think of, to create a custom wall of cabinetry in our kitchen with a unique combination of features to suit our specific needs on an oddly shaped wall. On site, she helped us think through how we would use each area and aspect of our home, and saved us time and money by suggesting the most useful and efficient locations for switches, outlets, drawers, etc. She also provided a very useful communication link between us and our contractor and vendors. Her aesthetic is high end, but she is adaptable and easily worked within our budget.

Emily B.

We bought and renovated a house in the middle of a pandemic and I can honestly say that I would have lost my mind without Sarah's partnership throughout the project. First, she helped us design a space that is very functional for our family - a kitchen island that can seat all four of us, kitchen counters that can handle multi-tasking and handy drawers everywhere. The space is also beautiful. Sarah worked with us to make a rough vision come into focus. There are so many design choices to make when renovating a kitchen, and at every turn she helped us make good choices on look, function and price. Even though most of our kitchen is from Ikea, Sarah helped us add other elements -- a textured backsplash, awesome (mostly affordable) lighting throughout, custom upper cabinet fronts, bookcase shelving with metal mesh -- that made our kitchen feel unique. Another thing I really appreciated about Sarah is her ability to discern the quality of materials. She was able to advise us on which inexpensive products were perfectly fine and well built versus when we should consider spending a little more for long-term durability. Also, Sarah's background in engineering and construction was invaluable throughout our reno --- she was able to help us communicate more effectively with contractors and she gave us what felt like dozens of tutorials about things that fell outside of our contract with her -- roof construction, crawlspace encapsulation, basic plumbing - that all helped us make more informed decisions about our project. Finally, Sarah's joy for making beautiful, functional spaces is literally contagious. Working with her made the project so much more fun and creative than it would have otherwise been.

Sarah E.

Please inquire here for references - I'd be happy to connect you with Clients on request.

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