Extreme Panel SIPs Home Design

If Extreme Panel sent you here, you probably know exactly how you want your home built. What's next is everything that makes a SIP build successful: an architect who knows exactly how to design a SIP home, a home design that fits your style and budget, and a clear process for the design and build of your home.

We’re here to help make that happen. We’ve developed a complete design and pre-construction process for SIP builds, bringing together architects, designers, builders, and suppliers to plan out every detail of your custom home. Our talented will help you get the maximum benefits of a SIP build, with a build-ready set of plans that fit your taste and budget.

Here's a story we hear far too often. A family spends months with a designer creating their dream home. The plans are beautiful. Then the bids come back, and the number is so far beyond their budget that everything stops. Months of redesign follow, or the joy gets value-engineered out room by room, or the plans go in a drawer and never come back out.

Nobody did anything wrong. Designing a beautiful home and pricing a build are two different skill sets. Architects and designers excel at creating the vision while we focus on understanding what it takes to build that vision. With 18 years of experience building on the Palouse, we understand both sides of the process.

Building With SIP Panels

Building with structural insulated panels adds a few decisions that need to happen earlier than they would on a stick-built home:

  • Windows and doors have to be chosen to match your panels' performance. SIP walls insulate dramatically better than standard framing, so the wrong window and door package becomes the weak point in an otherwise high-performance home.

  • Your HVAC system needs a fresh air return. All that insulation makes a SIP home extremely airtight and energy efficient, which is exactly the point, but it means the mechanical system needs a dedicated way to bring fresh air in, rather than relying on the small leaks a typical home breathes through.

  • Your electrical and plumbing layout has to be locked in before the panels are built. Extreme Panel manufactures your walls and roof with the wiring and plumbing chases already cut in to match your final plans. Moving an outlet or a water line after the panels are ordered is no longer a simple change.

These are exactly the kind of details that give you the maximum benefits of a SIP build, and our design team makes sure all of the details are covered. When we bring our construction knowledge to the design process early:

  • The design grows within your budget instead of breaking it later.

  • You avoid expensive change orders mid build for issues that could have been avoided.

  • Material selections are chosen to fit your budget and taste from the start.

  • The plans you fall in love with are plans that actually get built.

We bring together the expertise of architects, designers, builders, and suppliers to make sure your SIP home build is set up for success.

We partner with Code & Craft Architecture and Lakeside Architecture to lead architectural design for your project. Our in-house design department and construction team work alongside them to bring construction knowledge and accurate build pricing to the design process.

How it works

Before design begins, we start with a conversation to learn about you and your plans. We'll talk through your goals, the build site, budget target, and priorities for your SIP build to make sure this process is right for you.

From there, we plan your build through three design phases. Each one ends with a clear decision point where you approve the direction before anything advances. We share projected build costs at the end of each phase, so construction plans stay aligned with your budget throughout design.

Phase 1: Concept Design & Feasibility

Phase 1 answers the question: What home design is right for me? You’ll work with our GM and an architect to create preliminary home designs that fit your taste, stay within your budget, and work well with the build site for your home.

What you'll receive:

  • A site analysis and preliminary zoning/code review

  • Concept options (typically two to three) with floor plans, elevations, and exterior 3D views

  • A preliminary site plan and early material direction

  • A preliminary structural and SIP strategy reviewed with Extreme Panel

  • A preliminary project schedule

  • An early construction cost range for the selected concept, with value-engineering guidance if the concept and budget need to move closer together.

Phase 1 is complete when you've approved a preferred concept that is reasonably aligned with your target investment.

Phase 2: Design Development & Cost Validation

Phase 2 refines your preliminary plan to give you greater certainty on the build cost and final aesthetics of the home. We review material selections, systems like HVAC, plumbing, and electrical, complete structural engineering, and coordinate with Extreme Panel on panel layouts.

What you'll receive:

  • Refined site plan, floor plans and exterior elevations

  • Roof plan, building sections and reflected ceiling plans where applicable

  • Coordinated 3D model and renderings

  • Exterior material development and interior-design direction

  • Preliminary cabinetry, fixture, finish and lighting direction

  • Structural engineering and Extreme Panel coordination

  • Preliminary panel-layout review

  • Mechanical, electrical, civil or other consultant coordination as required

  • Constructability and trade-partner input

  • Updated construction-cost review, scope assumptions and value-engineering decisions

  • Updated preliminary schedule and long-lead awareness

Phase 2 is complete when you approve the revised design and projected build cost. If we’re not on target for either, we’ll review your priorities and value engineer to make sure you’re getting the best possible home for you that fits within your budget.

Phase 3: Construction Documents & Builder Handoff

During phase 3, we finalize decisions and prepare all of the documents your builder needs before construction. Your home design is translated into a full package of construction documents, so Extreme Panel can start the manufacturing process and your builder can start planning out the construction schedule.

What you'll receive:

  • Permit-ready construction documents (site and foundation plans, floor plans, roof plan, elevations, sections, details, and schedules)

  • Interior elevations and selection documentation for the final home design.

  • Coordinated structural engineering and consultant documents.

  • Extreme Panel's final panelization requirements, ready to order.

  • An organized handoff of the complete construction package to your selected builder. We include material sourcing information and estimates on select elements of the build.

We include up to 8 hours of permitting coordination in our package, so we’ll be in touch with your local municipality for initial permits.

Phase 3 is complete when your builder has a coordinated package ready to price and build from, and Extreme Panel has what it needs to panelize your home.