This blog is a collection of musings on our on-going research, design, inspiration, books and travel. As only Es Devlin can articulate, “The piece that one makes is the tip of the iceberg of the research that went into it. Allow your research to take you as far as you want; allow one thought to lead to another. Don’t be afraid to go down a rabbit hole of research. Find the patterns.” This is not to claim we are experts on anything included in the following entries, rather life-long learners enjoying the process.
Rush Dixon Architects’ design for a custom home on the Stono River in Charleston was featured in the October 2023 issue of Charleston Magazine.
Our design for a modern home on the Stono River was featured in the October issue of Charleston Magazine. Thank you to Jennifer Pattison Touhy for the unique storytelling.
“A minimalist, modern home on the banks of the Stono River marries the beauty of the Lowcountry with stylish practicality for one couple’s golden years.” Jennifer Pattison Touhy, Charleston Magazine
Click here for the full article.
Inspired by mid-century architecture, this modern residence located in Charleston, South Carolina captures Stono River views with transparency and clean detailing. Forever thankful for our clients who trusted us and the collaboration with these pros:
Landscape Architect: Steve Dudash
Interiors: Allison Elebash
Builder: Cline Homes
Photography: Julia Lynn
Styling: Kate Malpeli
Author: Stephanie Hunt
Excerpt from Luxe Interiors + Design Southeast Nov/Dec 2022 by Stephanie Hunt:
“The sun slipping beneath the horizon of Charleston’s Stono River affords a view unlike any other. The languid humidity, lingering nearly the whole year here, filters light like a kaleidoscope, tossing color to and fro. Frame this scene in the arms of majestic, moss-draped oaks, and it’s enough to take your breath away.
Such were the natural gifts of a picturesque Charleston property, where one couple hoped to capture these Lowcountry dreamscapes from every angle. Although the pair had adored a steel-and-glass addition at their previous, more traditional home, the Stono River site afforded the opportunity to indulge their midcentury preferences from the ground up. A respected real estate developer in the area, the husband already had collaborated with architects Rush and Judy Dixon on several commercial projects in the past, which made teaming up for a new residence a no-brainer. “This house is all about the view and connection to the water,” reveals Judy, adding that a benefit of embracing a modernist discipline is its inherent minimalism. “From our first meeting, these clients were clear they didn’t want something grand, fussy or ostentatious; rather, a home that would be organic, eclectic and clean,” she continues. “They understand the power of simplicity.”
Joining the project from the outset, landscape architect, Steve Dudash had the fortune of consulting heavily on the home’s siting, even directing a 180-degree flip in orientation to best capture the sunset views. To further leverage the river vistas and blur boundaries between inside and out, the Dixons devised a transparent, open living space. Bound by glass on two sides, it’s bookended by the primary suite as well as a two-story tower hosting additional bedrooms and a den. “The main living area easily absorbs all comings and goings when everyone is busy at home, but it still feels intimate when it’s just the two of them,” Judy says. “It was essential that every room, every space, feel comfortable on a personal scale, and with a connection to nature.” In the public spaces, cypress ceilings, soffits and a louvered overhang that filters strong afternoon sunlight all speak to local natural materials. Such details underscore the tireless efforts of buider Jay Godefroy and his team, including design coordinator Alexandra Frick. “Jay was exceptionally patient and thorough,” reveals Rush, who ensured a nod to classic Charleston vernacular by way of a white stucco facade.
Serenity comes not only from the breathtaking location, but from the simplicity of the interiors, where designer Allison Elebash capitalized on the Dixons’ modernist hallmarks. She anchored the main living area, for example, using a curved sofa with 1970s notes. “Solving the seating configuration in such a large horizontal space was tricky,” admits Elebash, adding that its embracing shape and golden mohair upholstery smartly combine form and function: lush to the touch, but durable enough to stand up to daily life. “I loved the practicality of these clients,” continues Elebash. In every part of the house, “they wanted to avoid anything extraneous; everything is purposeful.”
A custom walnut dining table bridges the area between this gathering space and the kitchen, where a calming palette of earth tones and sky blues is expressed through a dark gray island countertop and azure leather stools - all streamlined, per the clients’ request, so as not to compete with the views. But Elebash pushed back against the husband’s “no maintenance, no upkeep” pragmatism when it came to the kitchen backsplash. “I insisted we go with real marble,” recounts the designer, who specified a book-matched slab of Calacatta Namibia because “nothing beats the drama of natural stone.”
Situating the pool deck to capture the same sight lines as the house, however, required no cajoling. “Everyone agreed on the size, shape and location of the infinity pool, which would be surrounded by a bluestone patio,” Rush recounts. “The owners’ bedroom wraps around it, so again, there’s a connection from their personal space as well as the living room.” Keeping the pool and patio on the same elevation as the house likewise guaranteed the outdoor areas - updated by Dudash with fresh plantings of beautyberry, African iris, Foster holly and more - would be a seamless extension of the interior.
From this vantage point, the homeowners can fully soak up their fulfilled vision: a modern homage to Charleston’s ancient landscape that marries old and new, indoors and out, natural and man-made, with peace and practicality. After all, as the storied river and old oaks know, simplicity is best when nature’s beauty is so abundant.”
View of Dayfield Park A from Brighton Park Boulevard and main office park entrance with Dayfield Park B in the distance
Dayfield Park is a soon-to-be, modern day office park and commercial destination in the award-winning Nexton Community, in Summerville, SC. The design approach for these two commercial buildings is rooted in strong massing, innovative detailing and creating an inspiring place to work and do business. The development will ultimately include multiple buildings by several local architects (like our friends at Bello Garris) creating a varied interpretation linked by the same departure points: relevant and marketable commercial spaces, innovative yet locally inspired architecture and connecting the buildings with the thoughtful site design focusing on outdoor gathering areas for patrons and workers.
The project was subject to the Nexton community design guidelines which prioritize the following:
Architecture, land planning and landscape drawn from local and regional traditions but look to the future regarding specific design.
A commitment to sustainable design focused on protecting what we are here to enjoy and the creation of an overall healthier living environment.
Architecture - purposeful building designs that incorporate new and innovative building materials, systems, technologies and architectural expressions.
Use materials in innovative and unexpected ways.
Use clean, simple shapes in both massing and details.
Emphasize the relationship and flow between indoor and outdoor environments.
View of Dayfield Park B from the central gathering space
So what is a modern interpretation of a suburban office park? Today’s workforce wants to be connected to multiple uses, amenities, food + beverage options and outdoor space. Outdoor space can be passive, specific or flexible for all ages, uses and times of day; this also provides the ownership with an amenity to use for special events if desired. The blending of inside and outside is a strategy to allow patrons and workers to feel connected to the outdoor environs. Sidewalks and bike parking are important to offset the needed parking and vehicular pathways. During our research we found this interesting article from the New York TImes “The Suburban Office Park, an Aging Relic, Seeks a Comeback” which speaks to some lessons developers and designers could learn from the past. (The 80s might have been great for some things but not urban planning.)
View of Dayfield Park A from office park interior
The architecture for the buildings cosigns a minimalist approach with materials familiar to the area. Exterior materials include a modified board and batten wall system with varied batten spacing, cypress wood accents for warmth and standing seam metal roof panels for durability on the high slope areas. Angling the walls at the building’s entrances create a dynamic experience and covered areas. Special thanks to our clients for allowing us to be a part of this endeavor and the design team members we collaborated with:
Site Design: Seamon Whiteside
Structural Engineering: ADC Engineering
Mech, Elec, Plumbing Engineering: Charleston Engineering
Branding: Obviouslee
View of Dayfield Park B from the central gathering space
This year’s statewide Architects Power List curated by the editorial board of the Charleston Regional Business Journal and SC Biz News includes our own Judy Dixon. In their words, “Our editorial team analyzed industry data and considered the individuals who demonstrated vision and action in serving their profession, as well as the professional excellence that commitment provides to our places of work and life.
After graduating from Virginia Tech in 1993 with a Bachelor in Architecture, Judy Dixon started her career a year later as an intern with SMHa, Inc., rising through the ranks to become a principal in the firm. She left the firm to join forces with her husband, first with Rush3 Product Design Studio and in 2014, she officially joined Rush Dixon Architects. Dixon has built a diverse portfolio, with projects that include the Daniel Island Recreation Center, Firefly Distillery and Santee Cooper’s Camp Hall Village. A registered architect in South Carolina, Dixon also is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design accredited professional by the U. S. Green Building Council. Throughout her career, she has served in a variety of leadership roles, including on the board of the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce and as chair of Leadership Charleston. She also supports organizations including the ACE Mentors, Turn90, Fresh Future Farm and the Paul R. Williams Student Scholoarship. The latter honors the first licensed African-American member of the American Institute of Architects by supporting African-American architecture students.”
2021 ARCHITECTS POWER LIST HONOREES (in alphabetical order)
Robby Aull, SSOE | Stevens & Wilkinson
Louis P. Batson III, Batson Associates Inc.
Cindy Benjamin, LS3P
Joel Carter, Jumper Carter Sease Architects
Keith M. Clarke, MCA Architecture Inc.
Judy Dixon, Rush Dixon Architects
Douglas E. Fraser, JHS Architecture
Scott Garvin, Garvin Design Group
Myles Glick, Glick Boehm and Associates
Tara B. Hile, SHLTR Architects, Inc.
Scott Johnston, Johnston Design Group
C. Dinos Liollio, Liollio Architecture
Margie Longshore, SMHa, Inc.
Marc Marchant, LS3P
Heather Mitchell, Boudreaux
Doug Quackenbush, Quackenbush Architecture
Ron Smith, McMillan Pazdan Smith
Michael W. Spivey, Spivey Architects Inc.
Gable Stubbs, SGA | NarmourWright Design
J. Michael Taylor, DP3 Architects Ltd.
Marc Warren, Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood
Edward T. Zeigler Jr., Craig Gaulden Davis, Inc.
It’s coming up on two years since Rush Dixon Architects was selected as the architect and designer for Santee Cooper’s Camp Hall Village Center; since then we have helped imagine the masterplan layout, phasing approach and concept architecture for the future buildings of this “next generation commerce park.” The overarching design concept of “Nature + Machine” marries the manufacturing nature of Camp Hall’s partners (looking at your Volvo SC) with the surrounding natural preserves.
With state-of-the-art manufacturing in a setting of vast natural beauty, the design concept of “Nature and the Machine” permeates the built environment. Like the vehicles and machines produced in Camp Hall, the Architecture is intended to embody precision, sleekness, and innovation.
With bird protection and awareness as a major focus for Camp Hall, the Architecture likewise found its inspiration. The building forms are abstract interpretations of the patterns, colors, and figures found in native species. The “Avian Pavilion” hovers over the lake greeting visitors with outspread wings, encouraging visitors to take refuge from the sun, birdwatch, and learn more about Camp Hall’s mission. [Camp Hall website]
Click here for a video prepare by Seamon Whiteside capturing our building designs for the village center: https://youtu.be/utZ-tb50I-Q
Main Park Pavilion Rendering
The first structures out of the ground will be open-air pavilions located in the Camp Hall Village park. The programmatic function is to provide gathering areas, places for viewing passive play areas as well as recreational courts and fields. The architectural design language will be established in this first phase through sculptural forms articulated with geometric framework and clad in a manner that harkens to patterns found in nature. The park pavilions act as pieces of sculpture in the landscape. Origami was also an influence as demonstrated in the Main Park Pavilion ‘folded’ roof form. Collaborators ADC Engineering (structural engineering), DWG Engineering (electrical engineering), Seamon Whiteside (landscape architecture) and Choate Construction (general contractor) have proven once again to be great company to keep in bringing the first structures to life. Stay tuned for construction updates and future events.
Main Park Concept Sketch
Several shade structures will be placed throughout the park for passive play area and recreation activity viewing.
Early concept for the main park pavilion
The massing of the new Firefly Distillery in North Charleston, SC was inspired by the horse barn that the distillery first occupied. The exterior design marries the distillery’s history with the industrial vibe of the area and distillery manufacturing component.
When we began the design for Firefly Distillery’s new facility, the first step was to visit their existing distillery and tasting room on Wadmalaw Island, SC to learn their history, better understand their brand, see their process, and sample some spirits. (Spoiler alert: they’re good.) Before putting pen to paper, it was important for us to know how Firefly started, where they are going, how they differentiated themselves in the industry and thus what functional spaces and visitor experiences to help create within the architecture.
The next couple of years included distillery research (see our Distillery Homework blog), design iterations and construction. The new facility opened in February 2020 and enjoyed a few weeks of hosting a record breaking number of visitors before the pandemic dialed down indoor gatherings. Firefly was able to pivot their distilling efforts to produce hand sanitizer to meet the moment and are now able to safely host visitors at the outdoor courtyard, tastings on the porch and socially distanced outdoor concerts.
Firefly is a locally owned, family business who was one of the South Carolina Lowcountry’s best kept secrets until their inspired collaboration with the neighboring Charleston Tea Garden yielded ‘Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka’. Ever since, they have enjoyed a national audience and are a destination for tours, tastings and events. Therefore the building program included a gift shop, distillery, bottling line, lab, a tasting room, spirits retail section and multiple places for events (weddings, receptions, smaller meetings and outdoor concerts.)
The Firefly brand is southern, approachable, and laid back in the best way possible; think sitting on your porch with a drink in your hand, friends nearby and bluegrass playing in the background. This told us that while this will be a brand new, code-compliant facility, there should be moments of patina and casualness. Specialty craftspeople really brought the ‘soul’ into this new building. Shout out to coppersmiths, Khalima Lights for their handmade light fixtures, Limelight for the signage installation, Gil Shuler for the branding graphics and Lowcountry Case + Millwork for sourcing the reclaimed wood and executing our barrel stave design.
The Firefly folks, while innovative and forward-thinking, are also nostalgic and rustic with a side order of DIY. This inspired us to deconstruct wooden bourbon barrels in the back of our studio and incorporate them into the bar and light fixture designs as well as source reclaimed wood for paneling and metal roofing from a former Firefly structure as an interior accents.
The tasting bar design was born from deconstructing wooded barrels and alternating the position resulting in a varied texture and color rooted in distillery life. Bar counter is a custom copper fabrication. Beyond the bar is the spirits retail display where visitors can purchase bottles. Custom display / cabinetry designed by Rush Dixon Architects and crafted by Lowcountry Case + Millwork.
Copper nails make up the Firefly logo behind the check out counter. (Shout out to Limelight Signs for the many, many, many hours of hammering to get this effect.)
The gift shop greets visitors with a soaring, reclaimed wood clad vaulted space.
The day we discovered Khalima Lights, a local husband and wife team that handcrafts custom light fixtures, was a good day. Located on Wadmalaw Island, they produced all of the specialty lighting. Shown here are deconstructed barrel stave “clouds” designed by Rush Dixon Architects with Khalima’s Waycaster pendant and Edison bulbs.
The gallery where tour groups gather to begin the guided distillery tour, showcases Firefly Distillery’s history and process. Gil Shuler and Limelight were the MVPs of the info graphics and execution.
The distillery and tank room where the magic happens. Special thanks to Vendome Copper and Dalkita.
After the distillery tour, visitors are invited to a tasting bar to sample spirits of their choice. The back bar was designed to allow for the current Firefly spirit products to be displayed. Reclaimed metal roofing and wood was utilized to provide a rustic feel.
Close up of the spirits retail display which needed to be locked down during events. Rolling barrel stave screens slide to secure the products while maintaining visual connection.
We don’t know much, but we do know how to keep good company. See below for some of the all-star collaborators and craftspeople:
Seamon Whiteside: Civil Engineering + Landscape Architecture
ADC Engineering: Structural Engineering
Charleston Engineering: Mechanical, Plumbing, Electrical, Fire Protection Engineering
Dalkita: Distillery Consultant
Trident Construction: General Contractor
Gil Shuler: Graphic Design + Branding
Limelight Custom Sign Company: Signage
Khalima Lights: hand-made specialty lighting
Lowcountry Case + Millwork: interior millwork including tasting bars, spirits retail display, reclaimed wood paneling and barrel stave details.
Chris Smith Photography: All photographs
This speculative infill development included three single family residences located in the Cannonborough neighborhood in downtown Charleston. The client’s desire for a modern aesthetic with durable, low maintenance materials was executed with cementitious V-groove and lap siding on a stucco base. Now two of the three residences have been completed by Zourzoukis Homes and are for sale.
Click HERE for a link to the listing and additional photos by our friends at Birchin Lane Realty.
Rush Dixon Architects is a solutions-based, contemporary architecture and design firm. Results driven, we create value for our clients through designs that are both strategic and artful, always keeping client goals at the forefront. We believe that modern design is not found solely in the materials, but rather through the pursuit of better spaces for living and doing business. [Principals Judy Dixon, AIA, LEED + Rush Dixon, III, AIA, LEED]
As we mark our 15th year in business, we wanted to thank all of our clients, colleagues and mentors for being a part of our story. We consider it a great privilege and responsibility to design for our community and neighbors. In honor of this and in recognition of the opportunities we have been given, we have made a donation to each of these local non-profit clients; please check out their missions and programs if you are considering supporting the Charleston community.
Mission: Ending and Preventing Homelessness
35 Walnut Street, Charleston, SC 29403
Click here for their website.
Their mission to end and prevent homelessness in Charleston with a vision where everyone is housed. In 1984, community leaders came together to start a shelter to help the growing number of people who were homeless. Over three decades later, what started as a small effort to address an emergency need grew to be largest provider of homelessness services in Charleston. “While we are bigger than we used to be, we are local, regionally focused, and cater to our clients one person at a time, one family at a time.” Since the start of the pandemic, 134 individuals (including children, women, men and Veterans) have been moved into homes of their own. In addition, One80 Place tested all of the staff and clients in the shelter last month with everyone testing negative - a satisfying demonstration of their social distancing and sanitation protocols at work.
Mission: Prevent Abuse, Protect Children and Heal Families.
1061 King Street Charleston, SC 29403
Click here for their website.
Child abuse does not define who a child is or who they will become. At the Dee Norton Child Advocacy Center, children and families have a safe, child-friendly place to turn when there is a concern about abuse. Primary services include providing immediate support and assistance to children and their families through forensic interviews, medical examinations and mental health assessments. Dee Norton also provides therapy to child victims and their families where appropriate. Dee Norton is a community-based, 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, and coordinates with more than 30 partner agencies in the Charleston community to take appropriate action and deliver the critical services needed for the child and family. Since 1991, Dee Norton has helped over 29,000 children and their families.
Providing safety net services to our low income neighbors, while empowering them to create a better future for themselves, their families, and our communities.
1145 Six Mile Road Mount Pleasant, SC 29466
Click here for additional information on their website.
Founded as an emergency relief effort in 1989 after the devastation from Hurricane Hugo, East Cooper Community Outreach (ECCO) has since grown into a permanent resource for the community in need with three main program areas: Basic Needs, Health Services and Empowerment. Thousands of families a year receive emergency assistance for food, clothing, household furnishings, financial aid, and have access to dental care, medical care, prescription assistance, counseling, and educational opportunities like financial literacy classes, computer skills training, job readiness workshops. These services are all enhanced through personal interaction with staff who provide individualized support for each client, ongoing case management, and emphasize accountability and achievement.
