Freeman &
Major Architects
70
celebrating
contents
november ‘10
features
6
Freeman & Major
Architects Celebrates
70 Years of Design
12
coming home
departmentalsection
19
design briefs
column
4
looking forward
5
who’s who:
Bo Aughtry
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6
3celebrating
70
Freeman &
Major Architects
1962
First Federal Savings & loan – Wade Hampton blvd branch
Designed in an oriental style, this was First Federal’s first branch office. Designed during the “Cold War” era, a community fallout shelter was included in the initial design. Prior to actual construction, changes the political climate dictated it being deleted from the plans. Courtesy of Freeman & major archives
years of
years of
design
Text | Katrina DanielPhotography| Courtesy of Freeman & major Architects
H
ere’s a question for Greenville history
buffs. What do the Pendleton St
Baptist Church, the Temple of Israel,
the SC Governor’s School for the
Arts and Humanities, John E. Johns Hall at
Furman, the Greenville Water System Building,
BB&T Building on College St., the West End
Market, and Gary Player Headquarters at The
Cliffs at Mountain Park all have in common?
They were all were designed by Greenville’s
Freeman and Major Architects, which is itself
an institution.
“We take great pride in the influence the firm has played in the development of Greenville. Our projects were influential in the early redevelopment of downtown (BB&T Building), to the develop-ment of the West End (West End Market), to the more recent push of the redevelopment further down
South Main Street (Zen),” says managing partner Joel Van Dyke
Freeman and Major is celebrat-ing its 70th year of business designing greater Greenville. The above named buildings are only the short version of all the projects with which this venerable company has been involved.
Top: Freeman & major Washington Street location. Above: 1960 Drafting room. W.e. Freeman & Associates offices on Washington Street. Courtesy of Freeman & major archives
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■a creative history
Freeman and Major was founded in 1940 by William E. “Jack” Freeman. The company’s first office was located over the Peoples National Bank that once existed on W. Washington St. Then the company moved to 226 W. Washington St. where the Symmes Gymnasium of the First Presbyterian Church now stands.
Freeman and Major was a business in tune with its time. The original offices had one telephone in the drafting room, desks made of hollow core doors stacked on saw horses, an old crank type ditto machine (the first copy machine), an adding machine that could convert feet and inches, and slide rules. All designs
were hand drawn.
The firm thrived until 1941 when construc-tion was frozen because of WWII. During that time, Jack Free-man taught drafting at Greenville High School, but after the war, it was back to business as usual, growing by leaps and bounds. Freeman worked with another legendary Greenville architect, Willie Ward, from whom Freeman developed his love of traditional architectural elements.
Jack Freeman’s influence and inter-ests went far beyond that of Greenville’s city limits. He was instrumental in establishing the Greenville Council of
Architects, (now the Greenville section of the AIA). He and several others were also involved in creating Clemson University’s School of Architecture as a separate school rather than just as
separate department. Freeman also helped establish the Clemson Advancement Foundation for Design and Building, which offers opportuni-ties to Clemson archi-tecture students to study abroad, usually at the Charles G. Daniel Center in Genoa, Italy. Current partners Joel Van Dyke and Steve Peckham, plus senior architect Douglas Rackley and architectural designer Robin Asire all studied there.
Anne Phillips, one of the first female architects in South Carolina, was with the Freeman firm. Charles Major, Jr. joined the company in 1959
1990s
2009
1950s
and James Wells and Major became partners with Freeman in 1966. Allen Freeman, who literally grew up in the business, joined the company as a partner in 1973.
“It has been a privilege to be a part of the exciting growth of Greenville,” says Allen Freeman. “We have had several opportunities to design projects in downtown — Duke Energy, Greenville Water System, etc. Due to the foresight of many leaders in Greenville, we now enjoy a downtown environment that is nationally recognized.”
Through almost four decades of work in architecture and design, Allen Freeman has seen the huge changes in this industry.
“The 1980’s were a real period of transition from hand drawing to computer aided design and drafting (CADD),” he explains. “When that transition began, we really had no idea how quickly everything would become computer based. Since
Pendleton St, Baptist Church
Northgate Baptist Church St. Matthew Methodist Church
Westminster Presbyterian Church Sanctuary renova-tion and Fellowship Hall addition
Christ Church Episcopal Church Gym
Temple of Israel John Knox Presbyte-rian Church Sanctuary renovation
Anderson Mill Road Baptist Church Abner Creek Baptist Church
SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities Christ Church Episcopal Upper School
Christ Church Episcopal Middle School
Brashier Middle College Charter High School Heritage Elementary School Clemson Memorial Stadium North Stands
Brackett Hall
Lander University Library Greenville Technical College IT & Logistics Building Bob Jones University Welcome Center ( new main entrance)
John E. Johns Hall- Furman University
North Village Residence Halls, Furman University Presbyterian College Visual Arts Building
Greenville Technical College - Greer Campus Greenville Water System Building
Duke Power Regional headquarters, now First Citizens Bank
Piedmont Southtrust Plaza, 201 Mc Bee Ave
BB&T Building, College St. Gary Player Headquarters at The Cliffs at Mountain Park
Zen Restaurant West End Market
Greenville
Freeman & Major Projects
in and around
2000, the transition has been from 2-dimensional CADD drawing to 3-dimensional drawing. User-friendly programs have allowed us to make good design decisions. Light modeling has allowed us to show the client how a particular space will feel under different lighting conditions, as well as help us quickly evaluate how much daylight will penetrate the windows at different times of year.”
Allen Freeman is still a partner to this day and he designed the company’s current office building located at One McDaniel Green and completed the same year he
opposite page top: Piedmont Southtrust Plaza. middle: Duke Power. Photo by Aaron Greene.
bottom: bob Jones University. new construction photo by Howard Doughty, museum shot courtesy of Freeman & major archives This page: West end market and Greenville Water System. Photos courtesy of Freeman & major.
1990s
1990s
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became partner. The story of how this building came to be is one senior partners love to tell. Allen Freeman and Charlie Major began looking for bigger quarters for their quickly growing company. They found a suitable lot bordered by McDaniel Ave., Broad St. and Webster St. (now McDaniel Greene Condominiums). A law firm was already established there and a small grocery store also stood towards the rear of the lot. The store was owned by a Mrs. Easey. She allegedly refused to sell her property to the lawyers, wags say she didn’t trust them, but Allen Freeman was able to persuade her to sell to architects. The lawyers, in turn, also sold their portion to the architects, making it possible for Freeman and Major to build their own headquarters. McDaniel Greene Condos were developed by the Caine Company shortly afterwards. Caine Co. wanted to change the name of Webster St., to McDaniel Greene. The Freeman firm, now firmly ensconced there, agreed, but struck an unusual deal. They wanted to have the coveted number 1, so they would become #1 McDaniel Greene. The City of Greenville agreed, although Freeman should rightfully have been number 2 based on its side of the street.
After the building was completed in 1973, the company wanted to create a tranquil reflecting pool. They got
anything but that. When they tried to dam up the small creek flowing by, the first big rain washed it away and the area continues to swell with each major rainfall still.
■the firm today
The company now includes; managing partner Joel Van Dyke, AIA; Allen Freeman, AIA; Steve Peck-ham, AIA, senior architect Douglas Rackley,AIA, LEED,AP BD+C; architectural designer Robin Asire; project coordinator Scott Grzybowski and office manager Jane Lynch.
The firm’s design styles have evolved with the times as well, never freezing in any one period or style.
“I have never developed a particular style,” says Van Dyke. “Design solution vary so widely from project to project,
1996
1978 south Upper Deck, 1983 north Upper Deck
GEL
Engineering
LLC
resulting in a style that is more reflective of the client than the architect. This is a client-centric approach rather than a stylis-tic approach. That is not to say that there aren’t some more subtle stylistic themes throughout some of my work.”
“Our firm has been committed to expanding contemporary design principles which show up differently in each project,” adds Allen Freeman.
“We have also been asked to under-take some Georgian-style projects which we found very interesting and fulfilling. These include the Duke Energy Building, Greenville Water System and the Piedmont Natural Gas Regional Headquarters. These required extensive research leading to our ‘Williamsburg’ style, with which many Greenvillians are most comfortable.”
Managing partner Joel Van Dyke adds, “We feel strongly about projects that have an impact on people and the community. We are currently working on an affordable housing prototype project for Homes of Hope. This project has the potential to positively impact the lives of many people through providing jobs and an affordable, comfortable, healthy place to live. The homes will be LEED for Homes-certified.” d
opposite page
Top: SC Governor’s School for the Arts. Photo courtesy of Freeman & major. middle: Clemson University memorial Stadium Upper Decks.
This page
Above: Webster Service Station. Courtesy of Freeman & major archives
1965
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