Light House Studio: Expanded Community Engagement

Light House Studio is a Charlottesville non-profit organization that offers filmmaking classes to young people, empowering them with the skills and confidence to thrive as storytellers and citizens. Alexander Nicholson is proud to have contributed to their effort. We recently completed a contemporary three-story addition at Light House Studio’s Vinegar Hill Theater.

Alexander Nicholson has spent several years rejuvenating Light House Studio’s downtown headquarters. The new addition, the final stage of our transformative project, takes advantage of a steeply sloped site overlooking the intersection of Water Street and Ridge Street. Two levels of learning space are tucked into the hillside behind a new glass entrance hall. Inside, a dramatic industrial stairwell leads to a pair of classrooms that feature a permanent greenscreen, numerous computer stations, and areas for creative collaboration. A third-floor terrace offers young filmmakers a dedicated spot for outdoor shots and elevated views of the city.

 The thoughtful building expansion was envisioned by Wolf / Ackerman Architecture + Design, a local firm with a commitment to community service. Their team specified materials and construction techniques that balanced Light House Studio’s functional and creative needs. Alexander Nicholson was happy to work with a trusted design partner to bring the project to life.

Several months after beginning construction on the addition, the reality of the coronavirus pandemic set in. Project Manager Drew Dunnington was faced with significantly extended material lead-times, and the responsibility of managing the health of everyone on site. Careful scheduling decreased exposure risk and kept the project on track.

With the new spaces now ready for primetime, Light House Studio will be able to expand its influence, offering filmmaking classes to more young people than ever before.  

If you’re interested in building in the community, reach out to us!

Clients’ Vision Inspires Living Space out of 1950s Horse Barn

Who knew a horse barn could be converted into an appealing place to eat, drink, study, and exercise?

The barn was built on this beautiful property in Albemarle County in the 1950s and housed stallions. In 1998 the owners decided they needed to update the structure. Alexander Nicholson did the work on that project, renovating the structure into a modern, functional horse barn. Twenty-two years later, the new owners invited us back doing a complete flip of the space into a space for the clients to enjoy in a different way.

The clients were inspired to convert the horse barn into a gym, bar, study, library, and dining area. We were up to the challenge. Our superintendent Garrett has artfully worked with the owners to make their dreams a reality. They wanted to keep the existing structure and stalls intact and our team worked hard to make that happen. Great additions like hidden doors and large lumber accents were also added. Garrett said, “working with the homeowners has been fun because they have amazing ideas.”

Barn Transformation Leads to Perfect Wedding Venue

When a four-time repeat client comes to us with a new project, it’s a no-brainer. The owners had a wedding coming up and wanted to turn a barn into a space for future events. The team, including DGP Architects and the clients, worked hard to make the concept a reality.

Allan Pettit, Alexander Nicholson Project Manager said, “This makes the fifth project that we have completed for this same owner. It was great to be able to bring the old team back together and knock one out of the park.”

Since the project had a strict timeline, we needed to put together a team that had specific skills and were willing to work under the pressure of the time restraints. The project’s superintendent, John Ouimette, led the team well. A man of many talents, John was able to handle the challenges that came along with the transformation. John’s son JP, a summer-time Alexander Nicholson employee, along with the four other Alexander Nicholson team members worked extremely well together. Allan said “[The] most interesting for me was the transformation from pretty rough pole barn to a place that people would be excited to get married.”

Once the project wrapped up, the wedding prep started. The wedding went off without a hitch and the clients were very pleased.

UPDATE: Alexander Nicholson's Phase 2 Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

As always, the safety of our people, our partners, and our clients is foremost in our minds. When the Commonwealth of Virginia entered Phase 2 of the COVID-19 safety guidelines on June 5, 2020, not much changed from our Phase 1, Stay At Home Order policies.

At Alexander Nicholson, we continue with safety measures for our employees and subcontractors including:

· Requiring workers to have a face mask in their possession at all times;

· Requiring workers to maintain 6’ of distance with the exception of tasks that require less distance. Masks must be worn for any task that requires close work.

All work locations affiliated with Alexander Nicholson including office and field, continue to be supplied with sanitizing spray, accessible hand washing stations; in addition to providing and having available face masks at all locations.

We continue to encourage office staff to work remotely, but employees are permitted to work in the office if necessary. If working in the office staff must wear a mask at all times and surfaces must be wiped down after use. 6’ of distance applies in the office as well as in the field. In addition, the office is fogged with disinfecting agents by Charlottesville Earthly Cleaning. The Alexander Nicholson office remains closed to the public.

Renovation of Trinity Episcopal Church in Charlottesville

If you have had the chance to drive or walk down Preston Avenue between 2017 and early 2020, you may have noticed three phases of renovations that occurred at the Trinity Episcopal Church.

The first phase consisted of Alexander Nicholson completing the exterior grading, and adding a retaining wall to create an outdoor worship area, along with an addition of a new playground. This phase was a huge transformation for the church and had the added benefit of solving the many water runoff issues that the church faced for years.

The second phase included a complete refitting of the exterior finishes on the church. All exterior siding, windows, gutters, roofing, painting, exterior HVAC units, and flashings were replaced. During this phase, Alexander Nicholson also completed an upfit of the inside of the statuary steeple.

The third and most recent phase, completed in December of 2019, was the expansion of the sanctuary. The sanctuary was extended out into what was the Narthex, allowing additional seating for up to 50 people. The front porch was enclosed to create the new space for the Narthex as well as entry into the church. There were a lot of design challenges with creating structure for the new extensions and removing bracing walls to open the spaces up.

Garrett Irwin of Alexander Nicholson was the site superintendent, who worked with architects Jim and Cathy Loman. Together they worked very closely to find solutions to challenges in order to keep the project moving progressively forward. Pastor Cass Bailey was involved in all phases and was great to work with throughout the whole project process.

Alexander Nicholson Completes Stone Barn Renovation In Time for Wedding

A barn built of stone can make for a gorgeous wedding venue, if only the owner has the vision. Our team of professionals used their skill, talent, and a lot of time to work within the client’s budget and made that vision a reality.

Alexander Nicholson was engaged to renovate such a barn, one built in Albemarle County around the turn of the 20th century. Formerly a horse barn, it originally had a second floor and hay loft. With these removed, the crew began work with a stone barn open floor to ceiling.

This project had a very short turnaround time, and a firm deadline, as the space was to be used for an upcoming wedding. In three and a half months, the team added all utilities to support the barn’s future use as a winery, as well as preparing it to be a stunning wedding venue. A large and highly skilled carpentry team worked 55+ hour weeks during the allotted time, bringing in subcontractors, all of whom put in great effort to pull this project off in time. At the end of the build, there were just two nail-biting days left until the wedding ceremony. The clients were thrilled with the end result.

David Williams of Alexander Nicholson was the site superintendent, who worked with drive and commitment to complete this project on time. David worked closely with Robert and Cecelia Nichols from Formwork Architecture to implement the design intentions.

Historic Renovation: Charlottesville Builder Transforms Vintage Carriage House

In collaboration with Bushman Dreyfus Architects, Alexander Nicholson worked to transform a vintage carriage house into stunning guest quarters. A three-bay garage with a storage loft became a finely appointed home office, home gym, full kitchen, full bath, and luxurious living area. Guests can exit through a folding 13’ door to a limestone terrace overlooking an exquisite infinity pool.

Project supervisor Stuart Squire said, “This project was rewarding as heck and fun to create. I feel very fortunate and take great pride in being able to work with our own local, highly-skilled trade and design people to put in place the fine finishes on this carriage house.”

Building from a balloon-framed garage, the team maintained the vintage exterior’s charm while adding an interior element of modern comfort and luxury.

Local Firm Chooses Charlottesville Builder for Downtown Office Addition

When Indaco Risk Advisors wanted to grow their downtown Charlottesville business, they turned to local builder Alexander Nicholson to add an addition onto their already-coveted address. Since there was nowhere to go but up, Alexander Nicholson worked with Wolf Ackerman to design a second floor that would be a seamless addition to the single-floor offices already occupied.

The newly added 2,300 s/f space includes 10 private offices, a conference room, and a second-floor patio.  Unique interior features of the new space include the creation of an open-air internal staircase and 12’ floor-to-ceiling windows in each office, providing the Indaco staff with much natural light.  The exterior consists of Resysta cladding, a bio-based wood substitute that offers the warmth and feel of wood, but the sustainability and durability of hardwood.

Indaco is pleased to be settled in and using their new office space, which was completed in November 2019, well before the end of the year.