Michael Jordan, who knows a thing or two about such matters, is said to have observed that “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” It’s a sentiment that might resonate with Madison Taylor, founder and principal at Madison Taylor Design, an integrated design firm that provides clients with architectural design, landscape architecture, interior design, and interior decorating services, all under one roof.
This approach feels logical, so it’s surprising that it’s uncommon in the landscape of home and cottage design services. Madison and her team of 40-plus professionals have been fine-tuning the model now for over eight years and will soon be opening a new location in Calgary from which they can service clients in Alberta and British Columbia. “We’ve worked through the process so many times now,” says Madison, “and we deliver what we promise, which is service that is personal, organized, and straightforward.”
“The philosophy behind integrated design is very simple,” Madison explains. “It takes the expertise of many people to bring a masterpiece home or cottage from the idea stage to fruition, and those people—even though they may each be very talented—can easily collide when they’re driven by different ideas, different schedules, and different motivations. What we do with integrated design is coalesce all those people together in one company so that we have constant communication between all the moving parts, and our clients get one fluid design and deal only with us from start to finish.” - Madison Taylor, Founder and Principal
At the beginning of each project, the team takes time to understand the site itself and what parameters might be put on the design because of by-laws and regulations around things like setbacks from waterways, maximum lot coverage, and height restrictions. “This is actually a huge part of our job,” says Dean Thompson, an architectural designer at Madison Taylor with a background as a timber framer and carpenter. “But because we take a proactive approach on this, we know before we start on the design if we have any red-tape stuff to deal with. That way, when we start drawing, there’s no concern that we won’t get approval.”
While this technical, bureaucratic aspect of design isn’t very glamorous, it’s essential to tend to it if you don’t want to risk being sent, quite literally, back to the drawing board.
And it’s one example of a company standard at Madison Taylor Design, which is to proactively project manage in the most efficient way in order to get clients from A to Z without wasting either their money or their time.
After that, when they do get to the fun part, the architects and designers like to get back to the basics of good architecture and design, which includes giving measured thought to the unique properties of the site, including aspects like topography and sunlight exposure at different times of the year. The collaborative nature of integrated design, though, means each team member’s perspective expands thanks to the input of other members.
“Often an architect’s interest kind of ends with the construction of the home or cottage,” says Dean, “but because we have voices at the table who are thinking long-term about their role later in the process—whether that’s landscape design or interior decoration—we tend to look at the project holistically right from the start, which pays off all the way through the process.”
So, what is the aesthetic of a Madison Taylor Design project? While they’re careful to steer away from trends, a guiding principle behind their work means each home or cottage is inevitably as unique as the clients themselves. “The well-designed home has meaning that is curated to the people who live there,” says Madison. “When our clients move into their new home or cottage, we want them to feel it’s the place they were always meant to be.” This can only be achieved through real communication, and by giving conversations time and attention instead of rushing through them. “Good design pays homage to the human experience,” says Madison, “and we try to make the design process do that as well.”
That said, just as every musician imbues their own voice into playing a piece of music, every designer leaves a light signature on the spaces they work in. “If there is a common thread in the homes we work in,” says Melissa Franklin, an interior designer and the original employee at Madison Taylor Design, “it’s that we find unique and interesting ways to blend in textures and natural materials.” The objective is for each element to be balanced against all others so that it contributes to an overall effect without overpowering the space. “If you strike this balance,” says Melissa, “you not only have a more intriguing environment, but you avoid pigeonholing your space into a recognizable era, the way all-wood or all-white looks have become emblematic of specific periods.”
Madison Taylor Design tends to find their clients mostly through referrals, which Madison recognizes as the highest possible compliment from past clients. It’s not a luxury the company takes for granted. They meet regularly to revisit their fundamental commitment to “do good work, be good people, be honest and transparent, and demonstrate integrity in what we do,” says Madison, conceding that such meetings, while a good practice, probably aren’t strictly necessary because staff members are “genuinely down-to-earth, respectful people.”
But it’s all part of the collaborative, integrated method that distinguishes Madison Taylor Design in its field. With the input and professionalism of all team members, they
aim to make the process of designing, building, decorating, and landscaping a home an overwhelmingly positive experience. “We want to design a house, for it to be beautiful, and for the planning and construction to be efficient,” says Madison, “but we also want our clients to have a great time along the way—to know that we see them, we hear them, and our collective goal is to help them achieve the vision they have for their life and lifestyle in the years to come.”
