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About The Studio

Storefront in Five Points - Downtown DurhamDavid Arneson and Scott Harmon created Center Studio Architecture on June 1, 2004. Today the studio totals five people and occupies a storefront at Five Points in the historic center of downtown Durham. Our work is diverse and includes residential, office, restaurants, retail, mixed-use, multifamily, renovations, new construction, and adaptive reuse of historic buildings.

We share a passion for good design, a commitment to the local community, and a firm conviction that the former can improve the latter. Rather than focusing on a particular style or type of project, we seek clients who understand the deeper impact that good design can have on their lives.

A great home has a ‘soul’ that is intimately connected to its owners. Our residential clients are looking to create a sanctuary that’s protective and sustaining.

Our entrepreneur clients expect us to understand the larger context of their mission. Marketing, history, vision, location, their clients, efficiency, all play an important role. As our clients have done with their businesses, we’ve invested our lives in creating our studio.  We understand the very focused level of care that a successful entrepreneur needs.

Our intentions can be summed up with four simple ideas:

IT HAS TO BE BEAUTIFUL.

Good design involves a lot more than just aesthetics, which in many ways is the easiest part of our job. But beauty is important. It’s really important.

GIVE OUR CLIENTS THE INFORMATION THEY NEED TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS.

Design and construction are complex, with hundreds of variables, each affecting the other, and all of them competing for limited resources. Our job is to organize this information, find the opportunities and constraints, and present all of this to our clients so they can make the important decisions.

LEAVE THINGS BETTER THAN WE FOUND THEM.

All of our clients are looking to make a difference. They want designs that conserve natural resources. They look for ways to strengthen their community.  Their success is not just measured in dollars or square feet, but in impact, substance and sustainability.

MAKE SURE OUR CLIENTS ARE HAPPY AT THE END OF THE PROCESS.

It’s amazing how easy our decision-making process is when we keep this simple goal in mind. We love our work and strive to ensure that our clients feel like their lives are better because of our involvement in their project.