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LS3P, Boney Architects merge to widen markets
By Sarah G. McC. Moise
Staff Writer
Charleston’s largest architectural firm, LS3P Associates Ltd., has merged with Wilmington, N.C.-based Boney Architects. The new entity will retain the LS3P name and will be known as LS3P/Boney in Wilmington and Raleigh, N.C.
“We have complementary markets, shared core values and like culture,” says Chairman Frank E. Lucas, who founded LS3P in 1963. LS3P Associates is a multi-disciplinary firm offering architectural, interior architectural and planning services to clients throughout the Southeast. The regional firm is recognized by Engineering News Record as one of the top 500 design firms in the United States.
Boney, an 83-year-old company widely known for its expertise in educational, health care and corporate designs, was founded by Paul Davis Boney’s grandfather, and has seen three generations of family members practice architecture within the firm.
Boney, former CEO of Boney Architects, will serve as chief strategic officer for the merged company.
LS3P and Boney have shared clients in the past, most notably Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in North Carolina. While LS3P has designed for K-12 schools as well as higher education, Boney is a national leader in education facilities. By merging, not only will LS3P get expertise in K-12, but the Raleigh and Wilmington offices will broaden their portfolios to other specialties in the firm, such as retail, commercial and health care. The company has already been contracted to design a new hospital in Wilmington.
The combined firm employs a staff of nearly 200 and has completed thousands of projects worth more than $7 billion in today’s construction costs. In 2004, LS3P was the 37th largest purely architectural firm in the country.
Boney, a 46-person firm, was considered large by architectural standards, considering that 90% of firms in the United States have five or fewer employees, according to the American Institute of Architects.
By merging the two companies, LS3P has expanded its market and allowed Boney to expand its capabilities. “Combined, we have four offices and are starting one in Columbia. So we will have complete coverage of the Carolinas,” says Thompson E. Penney, president and CEO.
“We have been building our firm, but opening a new office in Wilmington would have been hard. Boney is the firm in Wilmington, and their reputation, which we now share, is impeccable,” says Penney.
He adds that although Boney had expanded into Raleigh and recently opened a small office in Charlotte, the firm was so focused on K-12 design, it was limiting growth. “They didn’t have as wide a portfolio as LS3P.”
Boney also stands to benefit from the large-firm business infrastructure of LS3P, such as an in-house CPA and human resources personnel.
“In a small firm, the principals end up doing everything, and it takes away from what they do best, which is drawing and designing new buildings,” says Penney.
One instance where the desire for a critical mass comes to bear is in marketing and branding.
“LS3P has had a branding expert in its Charlotte office, who is able to reinforce the experiential side of architecture. He’s a tool in our kit that is now available for Boney as well,” explains Penney. “This merger is more about team architecture and bringing the people with the right talents to the job.”
The two firms are also united in their shared dedication to sustainable design in architecture, or “green” buildings. The new entity will have a growing number of staff members accredited in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.
Sarah Moïse is a staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail her at smoise@crbj.com.
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