Short answer: Piper Cole Architects is based in Kirkland, and I design new custom homes in Redmond, Washington for a fixed fee, about $10,000 to $200,000 depending on the project budget and location. The first feasibility check is free and takes about a day. In Redmond a cap on total floor area, not lot size, sets how big a $2,000,000 to $6,000,000 house can be, so I test that first.

This page is for an owner planning a new house in Redmond, Washington (not Redmond, Oregon), usually a teardown and rebuild, often near Lake Sammamish. Piper Cole designs and administers construction for you and does not build. The rules come from the Redmond Zoning Code as printed in the city’s ordinances, city permit documents and schedules, and state sources, read on 20 October 2026. Confirm with the city. For an existing house, see my Redmond remodel page.

What Redmond lets a new house be

Most Redmond house lots are zoned Neighborhood Residential (NR); my Redmond zoning guide explains the zone and how to find yours. The numbers that govern a custom house are in Tables 21.08.200.B, 21.08.200.C and 21.08.300.A as amended by Ordinance 3261 (June 2, 2026); Ordinance 3269 (September 15, 2026) does not amend 21.08 or 21.16.

Source: Ordinance 3261 exhibits on redmond.gov. The city’s residential packet (09/2026) also requires a new house plan to show building orientation, transition area and primary and secondary features.

The 4,500 square foot cap, worked on a lot

Take a 15,000 square foot interior lot in NR. Lot coverage would allow 7,500 square feet of footprint (15,000 x 0.50), counting roofed porches, roofed patios and decks over 30 inches high (RZC 21.16.500.A.2), and impervious surface of 10,500 (x 0.70). The floor area cap stops all structures together at 4,500. An owner brings me 3,300 square feet of living space, a 700 square foot garage and a 900 square foot finished basement: 4,900 (3,300 + 700 + 900), 400 over the cap.

RZC 21.16.200.E counts the area inside the finished face of the exterior walls, garages and below grade floors included. It leaves out vent and elevator shafts, stairwells, courts, second story atriums, lobbies, unroofed areas, roofed areas open on two or more sides, and accessory structures under 200 square feet. The levers are the program, an open sided terrace and the unit count.

Against the budget. At $400 to $900 per square foot, 4,500 square feet is $1,800,000 to $4,050,000 of construction (4,500 x $400 and x $900). At $900, a $6,000,000 budget would buy 6,667 square feet ($6,000,000 divided by $900), far over the cap. On one unit, the part of a budget above about $4,050,000 will not buy more floor area at these planning rates. It goes into structure, finishes, site work and the lake frontage, or into a second unit. The owner decisions I put first are the program against the cap, 35 feet or 20 at the lake, and whether a second unit is in the plan.

A second unit. RZC 21.78.130 defines an accessory dwelling unit as a dwelling unit, and RZC 21.16.300.B.2 counts ADUs in NR density. I read a house plus an ADU as two units and a 6,000 square foot cap, but I have not found the city saying so in writing, so it is a question for the city, not a plan.

A teardown: demolition, the old house and the city’s charges

What the old house keeps. An older house can exceed today’s cap or sit inside today’s setbacks; the code calls a lawful structure that no longer conforms legal nonconforming. RZC 21.04.5000.H lets a damaged nonconforming structure be restored to its footprint after fire, earthquake or other accidental destruction. A teardown by choice is not that, and I read no clause that carries the old footprint over it, so I draw the new house inside today’s envelope. Rights to nonconforming parking are lost if the primary structure is demolished (RZC 21.04.5000.G.2). If you keep walls instead, see when a remodel counts as a new house and remodel or tear down.

The demolition permit. The city’s demolition packet (10/2025) says a structure over 200 square feet needs its own permit, and all demolition permits on the parcel must be finaled before the building permit can issue. It asks for a salvage and deconstruction assessment, an asbestos abatement report and a notice to the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, and rodent abatement must begin 15 days before demolition. Trees need a separate permit, and a new house after demolition must replace a concrete side sewer (residential packet). See my demolition permit guide.

Sources: Redmond Affordable Housing Payment-In-Lieu Schedule for the Neighborhood Residential Zone (effective June 28, 2025); Redmond Impact Fees Schedule (effective January 1, 2026; next update January 1, 2027). The 2,400 sq ft house is my example.

The payment rate follows the year the city deems a complete application received, if the permit issues within one year, per the packet. A complete application by December 31, 2026, with the permit issued within a year, keeps $15 on the example, a saving of 2,100 x $15 = $31,500. Impact fees differ for a replacement. RMC 3.10.060.A.2 exempts replacing an existing house if no dwelling unit is added, the work creates no additional demand on fire, park, school or transportation systems, the use does not change and the old structure is demolished. RMC 3.10.130.A.4 credits the existing building when floor area or units are added. A claim for a credit or adjustment must be made no later than the building permit application, or it is waived (3.10.130.C); the exemption text states no deadline, so I would raise both at application. The city’s copy I read is current through July 2, 2024; I found the same text in Ordinance 3187 (November 19, 2024), and Ordinances 3217 and 3240 amend only the fee sections, 3.10.080 and 3.10.100. Whether a larger house adds demand is the city’s call, so ask in writing.

Lake Sammamish, the river and creek, trees and slopes

City versus County. The City of Redmond issues the building, demolition, tree and shoreline permits. King County enters through Public Health approval if the lot has a septic system or a well. Ecology approved the city’s shoreline amendment (Ordinance 3186) on April 28, 2026, effective 14 days later.

Sources: RZC 21.68.020 and Table 21.68.050 (Ordinance 2968, Exhibit A, hosted by Ecology); RZC 21.68.060 as amended by Ordinance 3186; Ecology approval letter and Attachment A, April 28, 2026. The exact line is fixed at permit time.

The shoreline table lists 30 feet for a house in the Shoreline Residential environment, 8 feet under the NR limit (38 minus 30), and a note under the table limits it to the part of a building inside shoreline jurisdiction, which 200 feet landward can make most of a lot. State law exempts a house for your own use up to 35 feet above average grade from the state shoreline permit (WAC 173-27-040(2)(g)), but Redmond’s table still requires a Letter of Shoreline Exemption, and no exemption excuses the local program (WAC 173-27-040(1)(b)). See my shoreline exemption guide.

Trees. The city’s tree page says all new development, single family included, keeps at least 35 percent of significant trees (6 inches across at 4.5 feet), with a Tree Preservation Plan and Arborist Report filed with the permit application. With 20 significant trees, 7 stay (20 x 0.35). A landmark tree, over 30 inches, needs an exception and three replacements. The tree code is being rewritten, with adoption expected in early 2027. See my tree guide.

Slopes and streams. The city’s critical areas chapter (RZC 21.64) covers streams, wetlands, habitat, flood areas and geologic hazards. Its permit table puts a building permit at Type I, administrative approval, and alteration of a geologic hazard area at Type III, a hearing examiner decision. I screen for these in the free check.

How the city reviews a new house, and what it publishes on time

You apply through the city’s online portal and each application gets a Project Coordinator. The city says a new home is reviewed by each department, and sprinklers are required. The packet adds a fire plan review over 3,600 square feet, possible frontage improvements and a geotechnical report where soils or slopes call for one. An application with no permit within 365 days expires. The city’s residential page and packet give no review time for a new house. The city’s Outcome Management Report for calendar 2025 shows:

Source: City of Redmond, Outcome Management Report, 1 January to 31 December 2025. The Residential row may include additions and remodels, the report does not say how days are counted, and it counts only permits completed in the year.

State law sets default maximum decision periods for project permits of 65 days, or 100 with public notice, or 170 with notice and a hearing, counted from a complete application with days stopped while you answer requests (RCW 36.70B.080); a city may modify them by ordinance. A consultant’s report to the city dated October 22, 2025 says Redmond has adopted the state periods. These are the state’s periods, not a Redmond promise, and I did not confirm which one applies to a new house. I promise no review time; I give you a window after I see your lot.

What it costs and what changes the schedule

Planning ranges, not quotes. Per square foot is construction only.

The free feasibility check comes first; an in-depth analysis is $1,500 over 2 to 3 weeks. City charges, a surveyor, engineers, an arborist and any geotechnical or shoreline specialist are separate; I will say which your lot needs. A builder contracts with you, and I administer construction for you.

What to ask any architect before you sign

1. What is the floor area cap on my lot, and how do you count the garage and basement?
2. What will the new house lose from the old footprint, and where does the code say so?
3. What will I owe the city on net new square feet, and who claims any impact fee exemption or credit before the permit application?
4. Does my lot touch Lake Sammamish, the Sammamish River, Bear Creek or a critical area, and what permits does that add?
5. Is the fee fixed, or a percentage of construction cost, and what scope does it cover?
6. Do you administer construction, and do you build? I administer and do not build.
7. When do I get a straight answer on whether the house fits? Mine is the free check, before any design fee.

How the work runs, in order

I have worked as an architect since 1996, I have been an AIA member since 1992 and an NCARB member since 1996, and I take on 20 to 30 projects a year. I have won three Masonry Excellence Awards, for commercial projects. The Carr residence was featured in Above The Lake and Lux magazines.

Questions