Here's a scenario we hear constantly: A homeowner decides they want a roof deck. They hire an architect to design it. The architect produces drawings. Then they need a structural engineer—another contract, another timeline. Then a general contractor to build it. Then a landscaper for the plants. Maybe an electrician and plumber who specialize in outdoor work.
Five vendors, minimum. Five schedules to coordinate. Five invoices. Five different people who don't necessarily talk to each other. And when something goes wrong? Good luck figuring out who's responsible.
We built Chicago Roof Deck & Garden to eliminate that chaos.
The Problem with Fragmented Projects
Traditional project delivery—where you assemble your own team of specialists—creates predictable problems:
- Communication gaps: What the architect designs may not account for what the contractor can build efficiently or what the landscaper needs for healthy plants
- Cost surprises: Each vendor estimates their piece without seeing the full picture. Totals rarely match expectations
- Timeline conflicts: One vendor's delay cascades to everyone else. The plumber can't work until the framing is done, but the framing crew got pulled to another job
- Accountability holes: When something doesn't work, it's always "the other guy's problem"
- Design compromises: Beautiful designs get value-engineered away when the builder sees the budget
This isn't anyone being difficult. It's just what happens when you're managing multiple independent relationships on a complex project.
What Full-Service Design-Build Means
At Chicago Roof Deck, we handle everything. One company, one contract, one team responsible for your project from first conversation to final walkthrough. That includes:
- Design: Our architects and landscape architects create the vision
- Engineering: Our structural engineers ensure it's buildable and permitted
- Permitting: Our team navigates Chicago's process—we've done it over 2,000 times
- Construction: Our 60-person crew builds what we design
- Landscaping: Our landscape team handles plants, irrigation, and green elements
- Finishing: Lighting, audio, furniture—we coordinate everything
From steel studs to the final details, one team handles it all.
Why This Changes Everything
Design and Build Inform Each Other
When designers and builders work for the same company, they talk constantly. Our architects know what our fabrication shop can produce. Our builders understand what makes a design work on an actual rooftop. Ideas flow both directions.
The result: designs that look stunning and build efficiently. No expensive surprises when construction starts because we already know what's involved.
Real Budgets, Real Numbers
When we give you a number, it's the number. We know our costs because we control our costs. No finger-pointing about whose estimate was wrong. No change orders for things we should have anticipated.
Homeowners tell us this is one of the biggest reliefs—knowing what they're actually going to spend before they commit.
Schedule Control
Our crews work on our projects. When we say we'll be there Tuesday, we're there Tuesday. When Phase A needs to finish before Phase B starts, we sequence our own people accordingly.
Delays still happen—weather affects rooftop work, materials sometimes arrive late—but we're solving problems with our own team rather than chasing subcontractors who have other priorities.
Single Point of Contact
You shouldn't need a project management degree to get a roof deck. When you work with us, you have one person to call. Questions, concerns, changes—one conversation, and it gets handled.
We coordinate internally. That's our job, not yours.
Accountability That Matters
When everything comes from one company, there's nowhere to hide. If the railing doesn't align with the decking, we fix it—it's all our work. If a plant dies within the warranty period, we replace it—we selected and installed it.
This accountability makes us better. We design knowing we'll build. We build knowing we stand behind it.
What Our Team Looks Like
Integrated design-build only works if you actually have the capabilities in-house. Here's what we've built over 15 years:
- Architects and landscape architects on staff
- Structural engineers who specialize in rooftop construction
- A certified building inspector who knows Chicago code inside out
- A fabrication shop where we custom-build steel elements
- 60+ skilled craftsmen—carpenters, steel workers, masons, landscapers
- Project managers who coordinate everything
This didn't happen overnight. We built this team over 2,000 projects because we kept seeing what worked and what didn't.
Is Design-Build Right for Every Project?
Honestly? For rooftop projects, almost always yes. The complexity of building on a roof—structural requirements, waterproofing concerns, access challenges, permit requirements—makes coordination critical.
Some homeowners come to us with architect drawings already in hand. We can work with existing plans. But more often, they wish they'd talked to us first. Designs created without construction input frequently need significant modification when reality meets the rooftop.
The Experience Difference
Beyond the practical benefits, there's something else we hear from clients: the process was actually enjoyable. They got to focus on design decisions and watch their vision come to life. They didn't spend their time managing contractors or refereeing disputes.
That's what we want. Building a rooftop should be exciting, not exhausting. You're creating your favorite room—the one without walls, with the city spreading out below. The experience should match the result.
Starting the Conversation
If you're considering a rooftop project, we should talk. Not a sales pitch—a real conversation about what you're imagining, what your building can support, what's realistic for your budget.
We've transformed over 2,000 rooftops across Chicago. Residential towers and neighborhood three-flats. Elaborate outdoor kitchens and simple sunset decks. Every project starts the same way: understanding what you want and showing you how to get there.
Soup to nuts. From concept to completion. One team that handles everything.
That's the Chicago Roof Deck way. Let's make something happen.