About

Design is a dialogue.

Between client and designer.
Between landscape and building.
Between the sun and the shadows on a wall.
Between the weight of materials and the need to create shelter.
Between the history of a place and the aspirations for its future.
Between a space and the event within.
Design is a fugue of overlapping voices.


Awards & Recognition

Year

Project

Award

2022

Heirloom Farm Studio

Award of Honor | Small Projects | AIA Virginia

2022

Heirloom Farm Studio

Winner | Small Buildings | World Design Awards

2022

Heirloom Farm Studio

Winner | Small Architecture | Architecture MasterPrize

2021

600 West Main Street

Winner | Mixed-Use Architecture | TAC World Design Awards

2021

600 West Main Street

Bronze Award in Best New Development & Design | Multi Housing News

2021

600 West Main Street

Honorable Mention | Architecture MasterPrize

2021

Center at Belvedere

AIA Design for Aging Review Award of Merit

2021

Downtown Loft

Honor Award | RD Residential Design Architecture Awards

2021

Downton Loft

Silver Winner | Residential Interior | MUSE Design Awards

2021

Downtown Loft

Best of Best Interior Design Award | Architecture MasterPrize

2020

600 West Main Street

Merit Award for Excellence in Contextual Design | AIA Central Virginia

2020

600 West Main Street

Runner-Up | Mixed Use | Architecture, Construction & Design Awards

2020

Downtown Loft

Architect of the Year Award | The Architecture Community

2020

Downtown Loft

Merit Award for Excellence in Interior Design | AIA Central Virginia

2020

Downtown Loft

A+ Awards Popular Choice Winner | Architizer

2020

Downtown Loft

A+ Awards Jury Winner | Architizer

2020

Downtown Loft

Winner | Residential Interiors | Architecture, Construction & Design Awards

2020

Live Arts Theater

Merit Award for Excellence in Interior Design | AIA Central Virginia

2020

Mossy Rock House

Residential Honor Award | AIA Central Virginia

2019

Downtown Loft

Merit Award for Excellence in Interior Design | AIA Virginia

2019

Downtown Loft

Kitchen & Bath Award | Architectural Record

2019

Mossy Rock House

Honor Award for Excellence in Residential Design | AIA Virginia

2017

Heirloom Farm Cottage

Merit Award for Excellence in Residential Design | AIA Virginia

2014

Bushman Dreyfus Architects

Charlottesville’s Top Twenty | C-Ville Weekly

2014

Jefferson School City Center

Best New Renovation or Addition | Virginia Restoration and Parks Society

2013

Jefferson School City Center

Award of Excellence for Building Development and Improvement | Virginia Downtown Developers Association

2013

Jefferson School City Center

Outstanding Community Preservation Project | Preservation Virginia

2009

1906 Lodge

Orchid Award for Historic Preservation | San Diego Architectural Foundation

2009

1906 Lodge

Adaptive Reuse Award | San Diego County Save Our Heritage Organization

2009

Paramount Theater

Preservation Award | City of Charlottesville

2009

Paramount Theater

Preservation Award | Virginia Society AIA

2005

Live Arts Theater

Preservation Award for New Construction in a Historic District | City of Charlottesville

2005

Rugby Road Kitchen

Merit Award | Inform Magazine

2005

Rugby Road Kitchen

Merit Award for Excellence in Interior Design | AIA Virginia

2005

Splendora's Gelato Cafe

Preservation Award | City of Charlottesville

2004

Bollingwood House

Private Preservation Project of the Year | The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities

2004

TNC Cobb Station Conservation Lodge

Palladio Award for Adaptive Reuse

2002

Chopping Bottom

House of the Year | Metropolitan Home

Paramount Theater

National Register of Historic Places Listed Structure

TNC Cobb Station Conservation Lodge

National Register of Historic Places Listed Structure

BDA Team

WHO WE ARE

 

Bushman Dreyfus Architects is located in Charlottesville, Virginia. Our firm was founded to bridge a divide between the extraordinary responsiveness of a small organization with the knowledge and depth of a larger one. We started small: the first project was a steel birdhouse designed for a charity auction in 1992, followed by winning a competition for the public amphitheater in Charlottesville. Today most of our built work is in Virginia, but we also have clients and projects in California, Florida, Liberia, Hawaii, Louisiana, and New York. Our expertise is design. Our focus is on clarity of communication. Our goal is consensus, as in E pluribus unum. Out of many voices, one.

 

People drive our creative process, not software or tools. Collectively, our diverse interests beyond architecture include teaching, community outreach, scenic design, dance, music, craft, graphic design, and writing. These ventures add cultural richness to our work and introduce exciting, useful perspectives to the array of effective solutions to a problem.

BDA About Livearts Lobby

WHAT WE DO

 

We focus not on a particular size or type of project, but rather on creating partnerships with clients to build a better community, enrich lives, enhance the environment, and make something beautiful. Our portfolio ranges from urban design to exhibit design, from houses to hotels, from vineyards to community centers, from art galleries to theaters. Our care and devotion to purpose is the same for all.

BDA Process

WHAT WE FOCUS ON

 

At BDA our mission is to improve nature and culture through design. Through our projects, we strive to foster social interaction and to make rituals and events meaningful, whether around a family dining table or on the stage of a theatre. Our designs foster opportunities for people to interact with the environment.

 

Most design initiatives present conflicting requirements, intentions, and desires. Our belief is that design leadership, combined with a willingness to hear all voices, will open interesting and often unexpected paths forward. This applies to interaction with public agencies, client relationships, the solving of technical problems, or diverse community charrettes.

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