Practice
Hive Architects is an award-winning architectural practice based in Sarasota, Florida. Principal architects Joe Kelly AIA and Gwen Leroy-Kelly AIA, a husband and wife team, share responsibility for developing the practice's vision. Influenced by architectural concepts engendered by the Sarasota School of Architecture movement, their designs include simple volumes and lines with a strong emphasis on the expression of the structural systems and site-specific planning strategies, as well as architectural components that respond to Florida’s subtropical climate. Hive Architects is a full-service architectural and interior design firm offering professional design services for various project types, but it is best known for its private houses.
To obtain a deeper meaning in the experience of each project, Hive Architects focuses on concept-driven design.
The Firm’s philosophy and approach to modernism are based on an analysis of the regional and climatic aspects of the site, the client's programmatic and functional desires, and the crafted selection of materials and building systems. Through this investigation and the distillation of all project aspects, hive endeavors to develop a concept or organizing idea that continues influencing and inspiring the design process. With no preconceived notions of form, the resulting architecture embodies the character of its local environment, culture, and, ultimately, the human experience of its inhabitants.
From concept to completion, the work of Hive Architects is based upon a symbiotic interdisciplinary collaboration that includes their clients and consultants. The team’s continued interaction and communication of various perspectives results in a refined architectural solution.
Why hive
The name ‘Hive’ originates from two basic concepts.
First, nature’s most efficient and stable building block is the hexagon. From the large scale of the Giant's Causeway basalt column formations on the coast of Ireland to quartz crystals, tiny but always unique snowflakes, or microscopic molecules, the hexagon is the main structural building block. The efficiency of the hexagon comes from its ability to interlock with other hexagons where there is no waste and space is optimized. That is why bees use the hexagonal honeycomb when developing their structure: the hive. This concept represents our craft: Architecture.
The second concept is based on the ‘Hive Mind’ notion, which refers to the desire to work together where each individual performs a specific role for the group's good. The ‘Hive Mind’ also refers to the collective thoughts, ideas, and opinions of a group of people functioning together as a single mind. It is about communication, collaboration and coming to a consensus together. Similarly to bees, the collective mental activity is expressed in a colony's complex, coordinated behavior, regarded as comparable to a single mind controlling the behavior of an individual organism. This concept represents the way our firm functions as a team.
Those two concepts merged to create Hive Architects.
Services
Hive Architects is a full service Architectural and Interior Design firm offering professional design services for a diverse range of project types, including:
New single-family residences
New multi-family and condominium residences
Interior design and furniture selection
Coastal construction and state permitting
New private commercial projects
Full renovations and additions
Tenant improvement work
Urban infill mixed-use projects
Historic designation and rehabilitation
We approach each project differently depending on its contextual surroundings, internal site conditions, environmental and natural attributes, and our client’s visions and expectations to provide innovative design solutions. On a larger scale, our design perspective extends through the site to be integrated into its surroundings. On a smaller scale, our commitment to design transcends from the edges of the property to the details of the interiors. The Hive Architects team offers architectural services from custom architectural design, interior design details, specifications and finishes selection, and lighting design to exterior hardscape and pool design. To ensure the cohesiveness of the interior design, we can also be involved in selecting furniture and custom-crafted pieces.