Studio Three Architects
About
Our Firm
Studio Three Architects (S3 Architects PLLC) is a full-service architectural firm located in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. Brian Hollars and Kelli Jordan, both licensed architects, are the firm's principals. S3 is a NC HUB-certified female-owned business and an SBA-certified small business.
Our focus is on innovative, cost-effective and buildable design solutions. These projects include new construction, adaptive reuse and renovation projects that serve our clients' needs and budgets. We understand what existing sites and building elements lend themselves to new uses and are adept at finding creative ways to transform them into great spaces.
Studio Three Architects is a small collection of talented individuals who live in and care about their community. We are very aware of how the environment, both natural and humanly-made create a sense of place. We understand what makes spaces comfortable to people, useful and authentic. We understand materials, their origins, their durability, maintainability and environmental impact. We understand cost effectiveness, budgets and logical phasing of work. All of these factors go into every project we design.
Our Team
(of two)
Brian Hollars
Owner + Architect
With more than 25 years in the design and construction industry, Brian brings to the team an understanding of how to put buildings together. His passion for design and problem solving allow him to provide leadership to the whole team. Architectural licenses held in North Carolina and Indiana.
Kelli Jordan
Owner + Architect
Kelli has practiced architecture for more than 30 years and enjoys designing comfortable, inspiring spaces for people . Her skills include creative design, thoughtful detailing, and team-based construction coordination.
Architectural licenses held in North Carolina and Indiana.
Projects
Education
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Our work with education clients.
Ivy Tech Community College
Henry County Campus
The first two phases of this project allowed Ivy Tech to consolidate all of the course offerings into a single campus. After much searching for a location, a former auto dealership that had been purchased by Henry County was converted into a classroom building and then an addition of a medical education was added to the south. Studio Three added a third phase which included a medical sciences lab.
Ivy Tech Community College
Culinary School
Originally built in 1876, the Patterson Building had been home to a myriad of businesses over its 125 year history. In 2009 we were began work on the completion of past renovation to make way for Ivy Tech Community College to occupy the structure. The project was broken into two parts, a culinary school and upper floor education space.
The culinary school occupies the storefront along Walnut Street and allows the activity of the cooking classroom to be on display for the whole community. 8 commercial ranges are situated in the front classroom area while the instructor has full view of each stove from the rear of the space. A full kitchen is located behind the instructor and and small classroom serves both as a dining and educational space.
Cape Fear Community College
Veterans' Lounge
The goal of this project was to add a Veterans' Lounge within an existing second floor lobby area. S3 designed it to utilize as many existing materials and systems as possible while providing a useful, secure area for veteran students. Natural daylight fills the space and offers views into the atrium below.
Cape Fear Community College
Student Lounge
This project provided a place for students to grab a snack, sit down, and plug in. Located within an existing lounge area, new finishes and built-in bar top give students better accommodations than before the renovation.
Re-Purposed & Saved Buildings
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Saving and re-purposing buildings is a key component of urban renewal and we have helped to bring many buildings back to life.
Lofts at Leeson's
Studio Three designed the adaptive reuse/rehabilitation of this 1934 Art Deco department store into affordable senior apartments. Each of the 23 apartments is unique and were designed to optimize the original windows, terrazzo floors, and concrete columns. Much of the first floor remained open as it was originally and residents use it as their lobby. The upper floors have common areas for residents including a computer center and exercise room.
The original Leeson's Department Store was listed as a contributing building to Elwood's downtown historic district which made the rehabilitation eligible for historic tax credits. S3 also served as the historic consultant to document the building's history, file necessary applications, and design the renovation to comply with Secretary of Interior standards.
Sinclair Service Station to Apartment
A former 1920's Sinclair service station sat vacant until a local developer purchased it and used funding from a facade grant program to restore the exterior and convert it into an apartment. Studio Three designed the renovation in two packages. The exterior restoration project included repairing the original glazed tile, new windows, doors, the replacement of deteriorated overhead doors and exterior lighting. The interior architectural work converted the office are into bedrooms, a bathroom and kitchen. One of the service bays became the living room while the other became a garage. The two overhead doors were replaced, one with a storefront designed to match the garage door.
20th Century Flats
Attempts to save this 4 unit apartment building had been ongoing for more than 20 years when the opportunity to utilize Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding led a local developer to take on the challenge of restoring this unique structure. Built as a 4 unit walk-up building in 1900, the building had sat vacant, fire damaged, and near collapse. The restoration brought all four apartments back to near original condition with contemporary upgrades and some new features. The project has spurred additional restoration in the neighborhood and continues to be fully rented.
Food & Beverage
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Working with upstart brewers and restaurant owners.
Guardian Brewing Company
Occupying 7,000 sf of a 90,000 sf makers building, Guardian is a 30 barrel brewhouse. The guys bought the new brew system and we designed the space around the large fermentation tanks. The space includes a drive-in keg cooler, small kitchen, large bar and seating area with performance stage.
Paul's OKI
Soon to be opening on Oak Island, Paul's Oak Island reached out to us for help with building code clarifications and dealing with local officials. This 4,700 sports bar will feature a variety of interior spaces with a ocean theme.
Multi-Family Housing
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Our work in Multi-Family housing includes low income housing, market rate, and USDA renovations.
Repurposed gymnasium
Repurposed gymnasium
Music City Place Apartments
From an abandon YMCA to 50 senior housing units. The original YMCA building dates from 1908 and had an addition from 1955. Both portions received historic tax credits while retaining historic features both eras. Both buildings were leaking severely and had for years been damaged by vandals.
The project included complete rebuilding of roof and floor structures, adding a new floor structures in the pool, the gymnasium, and the racketball courts for more units, elevators, sprinkler system, all new systems, restoration of lobby spaces, new windows and doors, and restoration of the entry limestone.
Funding sources included Low Income Housing Tax Credit, HOME grant, Historic tax credits
Historic Greensburg Square
Starting from 4 independent structures, 40 senior apartments in a thriving downtown were delivered. One structure was a hotel dating from 1890’s that was struct by a tornado and left abandon along with a neighboring building that was originally built as a livery for the railroad. One of the other two structures was long vacant YMCA dating from 1923 and a neighboring 3 story apartment building dating from the 1900’s. This collection of separated structures all posed their own complications.
The final project has been very well received and returned 4 buildings that were slated for demolition back into serviceability. Funding sources included Low Income Housing Tax Credits, HOME Funds, an Historic Tax Credits.
Village @ Hillside
A combination of renovation and new construction spread out over several blocks of a mid-sized mid-west town. The largest of the renovated buildings was a 23 unit apartment building that had been vacant and occupied by squatters for several years. To improve accessibility the grade around the structure was lowered and improvements to site circulation and drainage. Multi-story porches were added to both sides of the structure and all of the brick was replaced.
Three other duplex buildings, 5 single family homes were renovated and 5 new bungalow single family houses were built on city owned parcels. A total 46 units were turned over at the end of the project and the variety of unit types has been helpful to meet a variety of housing needs. Funding sources included Low Income Housing Tax Credits and HOME Funds.
Abbott Apartments
Renovation and restoration of a two building development originally built in 1930. These quaint little units required substantial reworking in some areas to convert the units from efficiencies to 2 bedroom units.
These units were developed and are managed by non-profit from upstate New York as part a larger portfolio in the central Indiana area. Funding came from HOME Funds.
Liberty Lofts Apartments
Conversion of a 1929 church into 12 market rate apartments in a downtown setting. The transformation required replacing the sloped sanctuary floor with a level floor and adding a second floor from the balcony.
A mix of 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom allow us to maximize the number of units. The variety of floor plans has been an asset to the developer when leasing the units.
New addition, parking, and bioswale
New ramp to main entry
New casework, lights, plumbing, appliances, flooring
New addition, parking, and bioswale
Meadowbrook Apartments
Meadowbrook Apartments is a renovation and addition project completed in 2017 in Oldenburg, Indiana. The existing building was built as a USDA-Rural Development project in the mid-1980’s and designed to blend with the Bavarian architectural style of the town. It needed to be updated to meet current accessibility requirements and to increase resource efficiency. The project included the complete renovation of 24 existing apartments, a new parking lot, and an addition to the building. The addition was designed to complement the Tudor style and served to create a new building entryway, relocate the existing second floor office to the first floor, expand the common recreation room, and create a new accessible public restroom. Each apartment was renovated to replace the heating/cooling system, appliances, interior finishes, cabinets, sinks and faucets. The construction cost was $$1,082,000 and was funded through Federal Home Loan Bank of Indiana (FHLBI) and Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority (IHCDA) grants.
Brooklyn Arts District Townhouses
An existing structure in the Brooklyn Arts District in Wilmington, NC is owned by four separate owners. The original design intent was to be bold and unlike any other structure in the area (and purple). After a few years, the exterior materials began to fail. S3 was brought in to find a solution to the exterior envelope issues, but also to refresh the appearance of the building. Our solution was to replace all of the fiber cement siding with new using proper moisture control measures and to incorporate projections and color variations for a balanced exterior expression.
Along with the artistic side of this architectural solution, S3 used its understanding of building systems to clearly show the builder how the exterior systems were designed to deal with moisture. We like to call this project From Rogue to Respectable.
Design-Build
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We have completed several design-build projects that we're excited to add to our portfolio. Stay tuned for more!
Selma House Renovation
This home was originally built in 1910 and was located in a different place on the site. During its life, it was moved and added onto in the 1920's and took on the Craftsman style popular at the time. Brian and Kelli (S3) bought it "as-is" knowing the tremendous amount of work it needed. There was only one bathroom on the first floor and three bedrooms upstairs. Over the course of a year's worth of weekends, they renovated it to the point where they could move their family in, adding two more bathrooms and a master suite. They cut open the back roof and built a large dormer to add the master suite with a view across neighboring fields to the west. They reversed the stairway, replaced all of the plumbing and electrical systems, and replaced the roof. Renovation work continued over several years, but was finally completed in 2019.
Front - After Renovation
Front - After Renovation
North Street House Renovation
This 1925 Arts & Crafts style house is located on a brick-paved street near Ball State University in Indiana. It caught the eye of architect, Kelli Jordan, who purchased it for herself in 2010. It was the first design-build project that both Kelli and Brian worked on together.
The house was in good structural shape, but showed signs of age and had undergone an unfortunate 1960’s makeover that detracted from its original character. It needed a breath of vitality. Before Kelli moved in, all of the carpet was removed to reveal long-covered oak flooring. Next, the kitchen and bathroom were completely gutted, rearranged, rebuilt and re-plumbed.
Other updates included opening up the original framed opening between the dining and living areas, and painting the interior and exterior with historically appropriate colors palette that highlighted traditional trim, windows, and roof brackets.
Single Family Homes
S3 Architects began as a design build firm under the name of HandHewn Design & Construction. We designed and built in across a wide variety of project types. Some of our single family homes are shown below. Click on galleries to see full size images.
Light-filled living space
Open kitchen-dining space
Light-filled living space
Modest Mid-Modern House
A fresh take on a classic style, this house is only 1,600 square feet with a carport. It was designed for a couple of empty-nesters with simplicity in mind. Two bedrooms and two baths are located at one end of the house while the social spaces are gathered around a large fireplace in the center. Large decks at the front and back expand social spaces to the outdoors while creating a visual ledge for the low-slung gable to float over.
Lake House
The Lake House is a family getaway located in Syracuse, Indiana. This residential addition project was done in two phases. First a two-story addition was built to provide a 2-car garage with two bedrooms and a bath upstairs. The next project improved the kitchen layout and added dining, an outdoor kitchen and a fireplace. This family now has lots of space for kids, grandkids and pets inside and out.
Royerton House
After years of flipping through house plan books this client came to us with a single photo of an entry to a nature center and ask us to design and build them their dream home. Contemporary, powerful, suited to a growing family, and striking, those were our guidelines.
The final product is a clean roof form hovering over a cast-in-place concrete wall that clearly defines boundary where a guest enters the family home. The volume is split with bedrooms on the north side and living spaces on the south. The soaring ceiling leads up to operable clearstory windows that are accessed via a rolling library ladder.
Anderson House
This client approached us to design and build them a contemporary house in rural Madison County, Indiana. We took the challenge and found a way to incorporate a family story of a nomadic upbringing and a father who was a mason. The site was also unique because of an extremely limited building area perched on the edge of steep slope down to the White River.
The result is a house the bridges a ravine with a long, slender volume that is separated from a more traditional form by a concrete block wall. The hidden view out the back of the house is revealed at the primary entry and is visible throughout the space.
Urban Infill Houses
Urban infill houses that show off a contemporary Italianate style started the design and construction career by the early firm. Six individual homes were situated on a vacant downtown site starting a transformation of that neighborhood. The homes have aged well still stand as proud statement of what urban renewal can do for community.
Affordable Homes
Infill affordable housing based on a traditional bungalow style of home. As part of the NSP (Neighborhood Stabilization Program) we have helped to rejuvenate neighborhoods and communities across central Indiana.
This simple floor plan can be given a variety of street facades by manipulating the front porch. The shape of home fits most historic urban neighborhood lots and can utilize rear alleys for vehicular traffic and maintaining the ever important front porch along a residential street.
Sensible Housing
The Sensible House is part of a series of urban houses that incorporate quality materials and design detailing into the long-lived American tradition of city living. The houses have many features that make them unique from the standard “off the shelf” house plan.
Paint-able concrete board siding and trim; high performance exterior walls, light fixtures & lamps, low water use plumbing fixtures, windows, Energy Star appliances, and heating systems; recycled content flooring; natural daylighting & ventilation; and built of locally available materials.
All of these features within a contemporary floor plan and exterior that provides optional porches, roof configurations, and site orientation for optimal solar performance.
