Testimonials

Architect Clayton Nishikawa's award-winning architecture firm, Nishikawa Architects, Inc., and design-build firm, Architectural Design & Construction, Inc., marry unsurpassed architectural excellence with a flawlessly harmonious experience from start to finish.

ADC selected one of the best home builders in Hawaii “Nishikawa Architects has designed some amazing custom homes that truly express and complement the wonder and beauty of the islands. [At Home Builder Digest,] our ranking features a list of the most experienced and accomplished custom home builders in the Aloha State. These firms understand the islands and know how to build homes that complement their beloved surroundings. This list of the best 15 custom home builders in Hawaii includes local industry leaders, award winners, high-end luxury boutique companies, and the firms behind some of the highest-priced homes in the state.”

"It gives me great pleasure to write this letter of recommendation for Clayton Nishikawa, his company and his staff. In 2006, my husband and I purchased a 6 acre property above Wailuku Heights on Maui.  Coincidently, our realtor, Paul MacLaughlin from Sotheby’s International, was in the process of building his home. We asked Paul for his recommendation of an architectural firm.  Without hesitation, Paul recommended Nishikawa Architects.  From the first meeting we knew that we had found the right firm to design our final home on Maui.  They listened to our requirements and quickly understood our design choices.  The relationship grew from there... through the permitting process and the two years of site preparation....(a very difficult site).  They ushered us through meetings with neighbors that could have been unpleasant but they handled it with great style. The actual construction went without issues. They worked effectively with our contractor and interior designer.  We worked as a team throughout the 2 years of construction. Whenever we requested changes our request was met with “no problem, we'll take care of that”. The final product is a beautiful 10,000 square foot home which is masterfully located  on the 6-acre site to maximize the view from the 1,200 foot elevation. Like Paul, our realtor, I would not hesitate to recommend Nishikawa Architects to any of my friends. I also highly recommend them to any absentee owner, building on Maui, as we were.  Their level of communication was outstanding. I am proud to welcome guests into my home thanks to Nishikawa Architects, Clayton Nishikawa and his wonderful staff."

"I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Clayton Nishikawa, Morgan Gerdel, Tanner Morrin, and the staff at Nishikawa Architects for the excellent design and engineering services they provided for the interior build-out of our newly-acquired 2,800 square foot office building in the Maui Lani Village Center, Professional Row II. Clayton is a high school classmate of mine and I had heard of his excellent work, but never worked with him until this project.  This project was rather challenging because of the short construction schedule we were up against, but Clayton and Morgan were up to the challenge.  In a matter of two short months, drawings were completed and permit applications submitted.  Their architectural expertise, keen knowledge of Maui’s building codes, intimate familiarity with the County permit process, and invaluable goodwill with County department personnel allowed us to obtain our building permit earlier than anticipated, providing our contractor with the much-needed time to complete this project in what some considered to be “record time.” Equally important, Clayton and his staff have always treated me, my business partners and staff with the utmost respect and professionalism, and have always been genuinely pleasant, courteous, and ethical beyond reproach.

For all of these reasons, I hold Clayton, Morgan and their staff in the highest of regard and offer this letter of recommendation with great pleasure and without equivocation. "

"My wife and I have known Clayton Nishikawa for 17 years.  We first met Clayton in 1997 when interviewing architects to design our first home in Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii.  His enthusiasm and easy going attitude made us feel extremely comfortable, but we needed more than comfort.  We needed an amazing talent who listened to our needs and translated them into our dream home.  We looked at some of his previous work and became convinced of his talents as well.  We spent a year designing the home to make sure everything was exactly as we wanted it.  We didn't want a bunch of change orders.  The completed home was exactly as we imagined it only better with only one minor change from the plans.  We thought that was amazing.  Clayton took our floor plan and added the touches we hadn't even imagined could be incorporated into the home.  The results were spectacular.  In fact, the home was so beautiful that we had several unsolicited offers to buy the home. Two years later, we sold it.  It didn't take much for us to look to Clayton to design our new home in Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii.  Once again, Clayton performed his magic.  From design to construction administration, Clayton came through for us, even when representing us to the County of Maui for a variance because of a special design feature.Both of our homes were done long distance, meaning that we were not on Maui during construction.  We relied on Clayton to represent our interests with the contractors and subs.  He did an amazing job.  Clayton can be trusted to complete whatever it is you want him to do.  If we ever build another home, we want Clayton on our team."