Working in Context: Lessons from Charleston

The City as a Teacher

Designing in Charleston is an exercise in humility. The city’s architecture speaks in centuries, not seasons. Every cornice, balcony, and brick has endured through storms and social change alike. To design here means entering a long-standing conversation—one defined by discipline, craft, and context.

At Bittoni Architects, we were invited to contribute to that dialogue through a transformative mixed-use project located just behind King Street, between George and Society Streets. Designed in collaboration with local architect Goff D’Antonio, the development includes a boutique hotel with residential condominiums and a mixed-use apartment building. Together, they occupy a site that once served as a quiet parking lot but now aspires to reconnect the city’s historic core with its evolving present.

Listening Before Drawing

Our first task was not to design, but to listen—to Charleston itself. Context here is not visual alone; it’s cultural. It’s in the way shadows fall across narrow streets, in the cadence of arcades and courtyards, in the civic patience of brick and limewash.

We studied local precedents—the vertical rhythms of Ansonborough houses, the proportion of cornices along King Street, the density of detailing that rewards close looking. What we found was a city of remarkable consistency—but also nuance. Its beauty lies not in replication, but in restraint.

That became our north star: interpretation, not imitation.

Reinterpreting the Vernacular

Each building responds to its street with its own voice. Along George Street, the apartment building reads as a contemporary extension of the city’s masonry tradition—brick and cast stone articulated with depth and precision. Along Society Street, the hotel and condominiums embrace a quieter rhythm, incorporating the preserved façade of an existing one-story historic structure.

That decision—to integrate rather than erase—shaped the project’s architectural DNA. The layering of new and old became a story about continuity rather than contrast. The result feels distinctly Charleston, yet unmistakably of this moment.

“The Board of Architectural Review demanded rigor, and that rigor made the project stronger,” says Mark Bittoni, Principal of Bittoni Architects. “Charleston has a language—we didn’t want to mimic it, but to speak it fluently.”

A Continuing Story

Since our design work received BAR Preliminary Approval and Architectural Merit Designation, the site has continued to evolve. Aspen Hospitality recently announced plans to bring its Limelight brand to Charleston, marking a major step in the city’s ongoing transformation.

Our work on the project included the design of a boutique hotel and condominium building along Society Street and a mixed-use apartment building along George Street—each conceived to balance Charleston’s historic cadence with a contemporary civic presence. Seeing the site move forward under new stewardship reinforces what we value most: architecture as a long-term conversation between design, place, and time.

The Role of Collaboration

Working alongside Goff D’Antonio brought local knowledge and an invaluable understanding of the city’s design culture. Navigating the BAR process—from Preliminary Approval to receiving Architectural Merit Designation—was both challenge and education.

Charleston rewards patience and precision. Every proportion, detail, and junction is examined for coherence. That rigor aligns perfectly with our own belief that design integrity is not a limitation, but a catalyst for excellence.

Architecture as Continuity

Beyond its materiality, the project also reimagines public life. A garden courtyard, open to residents and visitors, introduces a pocket of calm amid the urban grid—a civic gesture inspired by Charleston’s hidden courtyards and shaded lanes.

For us, this project represents more than a building; it’s a meditation on time. Charleston reminded us that contemporary architecture has a responsibility not to disrupt, but to extend—to participate in the ongoing narrative of place.

“Working in Charleston taught us that context isn’t confinement,” says Bittoni. “It’s an invitation to engage with history through precision, proportion, and respect.”

Looking Forward

Every city has its own rhythm. In Los Angeles, it’s light and landscape; in Charleston, it’s craft and continuity. The lessons travel both ways. Designing in such a storied environment sharpened our awareness of what gives architecture meaning: not novelty, but belonging.

Context, we realized, is not a boundary—it’s a mindset. Whether building in the South or the West, in historic districts or emerging neighborhoods, architecture finds its power when it listens first, then speaks clearly.

Bittoni Architects is a Los Angeles–based studio designing projects across the country with a focus on context, craft, and community.
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