Josh Allison, AIA, LEED AP
That’s me to the left- I am an architect and a pretty normal guy. As a one-man shop, writing a 3rd person bio didn’t seem like a fit, so I figured I would take a different approach- the abbreviated life story! Hopefully, this bio will give you a glimpse of my background, my practice and what I am about; all while realizing that I am an approachable, easy to work with guy who speaks your language- after all, the process of selecting an architect shouldn’t be intimidating.
I always liked drawing when I was young. Yes, I was good at math too, but drawing and making things with my hands is what I see as the true foundation for my professional self. I grew up in Wilmington Delaware and I’ll never forget when we had an architect visit our school to work with our art class for a week when I was in 8th grade. We were given a mock project and at the end of the week, the architect (whose name I have forgotten) had given me enough encouragement that I had my sights set on something big. I guess you could say I was one of the lucky ones (or not) who knew what I wanted to do early in life.
Fast forward to college and I found myself lucky enough to be enjoying life at Virginia Tech as a student in the school of Architecture. I admit, when I decided to attend Virginia Tech, I knew it had an architecture program, but what I knew a lot more about was all of the other reasons that I wanted to go there- you know, the things that go through every high school senior’s head as they choose a college! Looking back, that decision to attend what turned out to be a highly regarded architecture school, the instruction I received and the experiences I was afforded while attending were the second key piece of my professional foundation.
After graduating from VT in 1997 I moved to Charlotte. At the time, the allure of a beautiful southern city and the fact that my girlfriend and (future wife) had moved to the area seemed like reason enough to give Charlotte a try. Other than occasionally wishing we were closer to salt water I haven’t ever looked back. Within Charlotte, my wife Carrie, our 2 children and our newest addition- our dog Olive call our small Dilworth house home.
Back to my professional foundation…Shortly after committing to Charlotte as my new home in 1997, I was fortunate enough to land my first job at an architecture firm. I immersed myself in my role with the goal to learn as much as I could. In 2001 I completed the architectural registration exams as my quest to gain experience contiunued. I was fortunate to gain exposure to institutional, commercial, mixed use, multifamily, and single family projects while working at 3 different firms along the way. The wide range of project types that I was exposed to played an important roll in helping me figure out the types of projects that make me “tick” as an architect. I guess the easiest way to answer that “tick” question is by simply saying: “If people live there”. For whatever reason, those projects that involve a residential component are the ones I most enjoy- and also where most of my experience lies. “If people live there” can mean multifamily or single family projects; affordable or luxury projects; renovation or new construction projects; historic or contemporary projects; large projects or small projects; the list goes on… the bottom line is that if people live there, I want to work on it.
In addition to being passionate about architecture and the projects I work on, I believe that being well rounded is part of being a good architect. Balance in life is healthy and I find that work-life balance in a variety of interests and activities. family/ kids, salt water fishing, sailing, cooking, wine, carpentry, mountain biking, photography, cars, and volunteer work in the school system are a few of the things I enjoy in addition to practicing architecture.
2010 came along and despite a down economy, the timing was right for me to marry the idea of “if people live there” with that entrepreneurial spirit that had always lingered (since the days of my high school grass cutting business) and often made me dream about starting my own firm. So after a deep breath, I established Josh Allison Architecture in 2010. You can read more about the goals and work of Josh Allison Architecture elsewhere on the website, but hopefully after reading this you will realize that not only am I an architect who is passionate about and committed to what I do, but that I am a personable guy who can relate to my clients and enjoys the challenge of listening, learning and seeing things from your perspective.
-Josh Allison, AIA, LEED AP BD+C (resume)