by Ankrom Moisan01frAMework by Ankrom Moisan
Start from a buildingthat already works.
frAMework takes risk, time, and cost out of multifamily housing. You start from a base building whose systems and construction details are already resolved and vetted, add only what your site and deal require, and see every piece of scope priced before design starts. Most of the consultant team comes with the base building, already on board and working from the same details. Civil and landscape are the only site-specific disciplines, and we bring preferred consultants for those too, so you aren't assembling a team before you know the deal works.
Architecture and interiors from one team, drawing on four decades of affordable, market-rate, and senior housing.
02Why it matters
Time is the reasonmost deals stall.
Every month of design and permitting carries land payments, loan interest, insurance, and taxes before a single unit leases. Custom scoping adds weeks before design even starts, and every detail drawn for the first time adds schedule risk on top. For a first-time developer or an affordable deal inside funder cost limits, those months can be where the project dies.
Half the design time.
A frAMework project starts from a resolved base building, so design takes about half as long as a custom project. Your building reaches renters months before a traditional project could.
Months back on your carry.
Every month cut from design is a month less of interest and holding cost before rent starts. Repeated, proven details are easier for contractors to price, and every add-on is priced before design starts.
Fewer unknowns reach your pro forma.
The base building's systems and details are resolved and vetted before your project starts. A shorter design phase also means less exposure to cost escalation and rate changes before you lock a construction price.
| Topic | Custom scoping | frAMework |
|---|---|---|
| Where design starts | A blank page, solved again for each project | A resolved base building with tested units, cores, and details |
| Design schedule | Full duration, every project | About half |
| When rent starts | After a full custom design cycle | Months sooner |
| When you see the fee | After scope is negotiated | In the first conversation |
| How changes are priced | Case by case, as they come up | Pre-priced add-ons, one line each |
| Construction details | Drawn new for each project | Vetted details, reused on every module |
| Schedule risk | Found during design and construction | Taken out up front by a resolved base |
| Interiors | Selected late, often by a separate team | Finish packages designed with the units |
03The base building
One base building.Every project starts here.
The base fee assumes this building: three gabled houses on one bar, the most cost-effective type we know for suburban and secondary markets. Its systems and details are resolved before you start. When your project differs, the difference becomes an add-on with its own price.
- Units
- +/- 200
- Height
- 5 stories
- Construction
- Wood frame
- Foundation
- Slab-on-grade
- Parking
- Surface
- Entitlement
- By-right
- Delivery
- Design-bid-build
Dimensions follow volumetric modular constraints, so off-site construction stays open to you if it helps your schedule. It isn't required.
04Site layouts
One building.Many sites.
The same vetted bar fits a single lot, a corner, or a full block. Bars join in 80' modules into runs, Ls, Ts, Us, and courtyards, so the site plan changes while the building, its details, and its pricing stay the same.
Layouts shown at one scale, five stories. Site fit, yield, and parking are confirmed for your site in the feasibility conversation.
05Roof options
Three roofs.One building.
Every roof option sits on the same floors, cores, and construction details. Changing the roof changes the look of the building, not its risk. Each option is drawn and detailed once and carries its own price.
06Build your scope
Add onlywhat your site needs.
Check the conditions that apply to your site and deal. The drawing updates, and your scope sheet lists each add-on as its own line. In a frAMework proposal, each line carries a price set before design starts, so cost and schedule hold as the project moves forward.
07Who it's for
Built forthin margins.
Developers who need cost certainty early
Emerging developers taking on their first ground-up project, affordable housing sponsors working inside funder limits, and market-rate teams building outside the urban core.
Standardizing the repeatable parts of a building lowers risk and cost, and leaves design time for what makes your project yours, like the site and the ground floor.
Four decades of housing, organized into a system
Ankrom Moisan has designed multifamily housing for more than 40 years. frAMework turns that work into a catalog of systems and details we already know how to document, price, and build.
Architects and interior designers work from the same kit, so finishes are chosen with the unit plans instead of after them.
08How it starts
Four stepsto a priced scope.
Feasibility conversation
Bring a site, a unit target, and a budget. We compare your project to the base building.
Configure
We pick the add-ons together. Each one is already scoped and priced.
Proposal
The base fee, plus one line per add-on. Inclusions, exclusions, and upgrade paths are written down before you sign.
Design from the kit
Your project starts in our templates, component library, and vetted details instead of an empty model, which saves design time and coordination.
09Questions
What developersask first.
How does frAMework reduce risk?
The base building's units, cores, structure, envelope, and construction details are resolved and vetted before your project starts. You see the scope and the fee up front, and anything beyond the base is a defined, priced add-on, so fewer unknowns reach your pro forma, the permit desk, or the field.
Where do the schedule savings come from?
From the front end. Feasibility tests a known building on your site, design time goes to your site and add-ons instead of the whole building, and documents start from coordinated templates. In construction, crews repeat the same details module after module.
How does it lower cost?
Repeated, proven details are easier for contractors to price and draw fewer questions in the field. Standard unit plans and finish packages keep choices clear, and every add-on carries a price before design starts.
Will every frAMework building look the same?
No. Façade families, colorways, and the arrangement of standard units on each floor give each site its own building. If you want more than that, expanded façade design is an add-on.
Do we have to build modular?
No. The dimensions follow volumetric modular constraints, so off-site construction is available if it helps your schedule. The same documents work for a conventional site-built wood frame.
Our site slopes and we need a podium. Does frAMework still apply?
Yes. Sloped sites, podiums, structured parking, and a mass timber variant are each defined add-ons to the base building, priced separately so you can see what each one costs.
Can we use it for affordable housing?
Yes. Affordable and market-rate housing are the first markets frAMework was built for. Standard unit plans and finish packages help keep a project inside funder cost limits.
How do we start?
With a feasibility conversation. Bring a site, a unit target, and a budget, and we'll show where it matches the base building and which add-ons it needs.
10Contact
Test your projectagainst the base.
Tell us about the site and the deal. We'll show you where it matches the base and which add-ons it needs.