The studio

Design that listens before it speaks.

A Raleigh design and build studio run by one person you will actually talk to. Custom homes, renovations and outdoor living, drawn to the tolerance of the job and rendered before a permit is pulled.

Founded: August 2025, Raleigh, NC
Ownership: Veteran owned
Design award: Chief Architect 2025
Work: Custom home, renovations, outdoor living

The founder

Six years: Air Force, flight control
Eight years: Pharmaceutical metrology
2025: McGill & Co., Raleigh

I started McGill & Co. because I believe a home should do more than look good. It should work beautifully for the people living in it. Every project begins the same way: by listening. I want to understand how you actually live, what draws you in, and what “home” really means to you before a single line gets drawn.

Before McGill & Co., I spent six years in the Air Force as an avionics and flight-control systems technician. Eight years followed in pharmaceutical metrology, currently at Novo Nordisk. Both jobs reward the same thing: getting the numbers right the first time. McGill & Co. is the third version of that discipline, applied to the homes people actually live in.

But I’ll be honest. My ambition goes further than any one project. I think the homes we build today can be smarter and more self-sufficient than we’ve settled for. Homes that generate their own power. Collect and purify their own water. Run on efficient, intelligent systems that quietly make daily life easier. Homes that can even grow food for the families inside them.

That’s what I’m building toward, one project at a time.

Request a design call

Dylan McGillFounder and lead designer

In his words

Five things Dylan says on the first call, whether or not the project goes ahead.

We do not follow templates. Every project starts from how the family actually uses the space, not from a floor plan we already drew.
A house is a hundred small decisions a day for the people who live in it. Good design makes most of those decisions disappear.
The goal isn’t a home that looks expensive. It’s a home that feels inevitable, like it couldn’t have been any other way.
The Air Force gave me three values before design ever did. Integrity first, service before self, excellence in all we do. They still decide how I run every project.
A home should quietly do its job. Power itself, manage itself, make daily life easier without asking for attention.

How a project runs

Seven steps, start to finish.

The first meeting, the renderings, the selections, the build phase updates and the final walkthrough, all seen from the same portal. You do not chase for updates.

Intake form.
You fill out a short web form. Project type, address, rough budget, rough timeline, and two or three reference photos. Takes about seven minutes. We usually reply within one business day with a time to meet.
First design meeting.
Thirty minutes, in person or video. We walk through the site or the floor plan together, ask the questions a drafter needs answered, and send you a written scope and fixed fee within two business days.
Schematic design and renderings.
We draft schematic floor plans and elevations, then render the exterior and key interior spaces in photoreal 3D. You see the house from the street and inside the kitchen before a permit is pulled.
Selections and approvals.
Inside the portal you review and approve finishes, fixtures, and line items. Every selection ties back to a drawing and a line on the proposal. Approve, comment, or request an alternate. The portal tracks every version.
Construction drawings and permit.
Once schematic is locked, we produce the construction set: floor plans, elevations, sections, details, and schedules. Partner structural, civil, and energy stamps are coordinated. We hand the set to the permit office.
Build phase with weekly photo updates.
When the build begins, the portal becomes the job site in your pocket. Weekly photo updates, milestone billing, change orders with real scope language, and a daily log from the crew. You do not chase for updates.
Final walkthrough.
Before the last invoice, we walk the finished house or addition together. Punch list is logged inside the portal, each item tracked to closed. Warranty information and as-built drawings stay in the portal after close.