In response to recent growth and demand for its innovative designs, the leading-edge national architecture firm three has debuted a new brand identity as it has announced the expansion into new areas of luxury hospitality and senior living architecture. The latest moves include new project wins and the hiring of two accomplished professionals, along with a strategic and major promotion for a long-time senior team member. At the same time, the award-winning firm has introduced its fresh new identity and sophisticated branding with a change in name -- now simply three -- and a relaunch of its website, threearch.com.

At the same time, three continues to invest in top talent in its leadership market sectors. Stepping into the role of principal, longtime three team member Christine Cook, NCARB, continues her longtime affiliation with the firm -- a career spanning 25-plus years and dozens of acclaimed buildings. New additions to the firm’s architectural staff include Steven Knox as designer and senior job captain, as well as Catherine Wilson, AIA, LEED AP, who joins three in the role of project manager.

“Christine is an experienced managing leader in our senior living work, often requested by our ongoing Clients and leads our overall firm continuing education,” says Rocky Berg, AIA, Principal and Director of Development at three. “Positioned as a principal, she will continue to lead our project teams with innovative and forward-thinking designs for senior communities and other project types.”

“We’re also thrilled to be bringing Knox and Wilson on board, interjecting their valuable skill sets and communicative personalities at just the right time into a beautiful new senior living community project,” added Berg.

New signature buildings underway by the architects and designers at three include various large-scale senior living community expansions and a luxury hotel in the Caribbean, in addition to the recently completed Parc at Traditions senior living community in Bryan, Texas, named a 2019 Architecture and Design Awards Winner by Senior Housing News.

First joining three in 1998, the architect Cook has spent most of her decades-long career focused on senior living works, contributing to some of three’s most notable communities including Edgemere, a 423-unit continuing-care retirement community in Dallas, and Kahala Nui, a vibrant retirement community in Honolulu. In her role as principal, Cook shepherds the design and development process from the earliest visioning phases through construction and into post-occupancy evaluations that serve to better the client’s understanding of how buildings perform. Cook also continues to serve as a devoted mentor, spearheading the firm’s internal education committee, called 3.edu, and partnering with her alma mater, Texas A&M University.

Brand new to the three team, the designer Steven Knox brings wide-ranging experience on varied large-scale projects, including the Texas Lone Star Brewery Renovation in San Antonio, Texas, and the 100,000 square-foot San Francisco Chinese Hospital. In his new role, Knox will support the firm’s growing portfolio of projects, overseeing everything from client contact and pre-design to full project delivery and construction administration. As project manager, Catherine Wilson, AIA, LEED AP, will lead various new projects three has underway in the hospitality and senior living sectors. Lending over 23 years of professional experience as a project architect, designer and construction administration expert, Wilson has worked on a number of major projects including the adaptive reuse of The Women’s Museum in Dallas and the 95,000 square-foot Wellness and Recreational Sports Complex Center at the University of Texas.

A New Identity
Focused on expanding its reach as one of North America’s premiere luxury hospitality and senior living community architecture firms, three has also recently announced a major, award-winning rebranding. Previously known as Three Living Architecture, the firm changed its name and brand to three, creating a new and fresh brand identity  that combines the firm’s hallmarks of exceptional design and focus on the human and expressive side of architecture. Marking a new chapter in the firm’s 30-year legacy of creating “design that lifts the human spirit,” the new brand identity and messaging includes a much-anticipated new website that communicates three’s commitment to architecture that evokes “true emotional connection.”

“At three, we believe every new project has a unique, moving story to tell, one that moves the human heart,” says Gary Koerner, AIA, NCARB, three’s President and Senior Designer. “That’s why -- when we partner with clients -- our highest goal is to bring their ideas to life, and to create a transformational experience and emotional connection with everyone who interacts with the architecture.”

According to Koerner and Berg, three has stepped up its recruitment efforts as it has grown, with ongoing outreach to regional architecture schools. The firm is making future plans to celebrate its expanding success with a company trip to one of three’s most successful projects, the award-winning Hotel Emma — a striking and popular 146-room boutique hotel-resort that three adapted from the 19th-century Pearl Brewery. The success of this innovative boutique hotel launched a “downtown renaissance” for the Alamo City over the last decade.

Current work by the firm includes leading a $35 million repositioning effort for Forefront Living (formerly Presbyterian Communities and Services) of Presbyterian Village North, a 66-acre independent living facility in North Dallas, as well as the design of a $19 million expansion for the Woodlands at Furman community in Greenville, S.C. Work is also underway for a $41 million dollar new community to be known as LaSecoya de El Castillo in Santa Fe, N.M. three is currently completing multiple projects for The Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas and recently completed a large project for The Crescent Hotel, also in Dallas.