Addition to brick house... where to start?

[Julie Hill]

Hi all,  I am in the process of buying a brick bungalow in Arvada.  It's very small with no basement but eventually we would love to add a bedroom and bathroom onto the back.  Right now I'm just wondering where to start this process... is step #1 hiring an architect to design? If so, any recs (I'm assuming it should be someone local that knows all the permitting etc with the city?)