The Post & Courier: Longtime Charleston architectural firm now under new leadership

Principals Jay White (left), Jennifer Charzewski, and Andy Clark are the new leaders at Liollio Architecture in Charleston. The firm started 65 years ago and in late 2020 moved from James Island to The Refinery on the upper peninsula.

By Warren L. Wise
Apr 9, 2022

A Charleston architectural firm that’s designed everything from welcome seniors to senior seniors has settled into a new home and is now under new leadership for the third time in its 65-year history.

Now at the helm of Liollio Architecture are principal architects Andy Clark, Jennifer Charzewski and Jay White. Each has been with the firm several years. They are taking over from longtime leaders Dinos and Cherie Liollio. The couple, both of them architects, aren’t stepping away just yet, but will remain in supporting roles to help guide the company forward.

With new leaders, its also in a new location.

Liollio Architecture now occupies a 5,000-square-foot space with a terrace overlooking an amphitheater on the second floor of The Refinery, a three-story office and retail site on Meeting Street Road. For the past three-plus decades, the firm operated near Wappoo Creek on James Island.

Liollio Architecture occupies a space on the second floor of The Refinery on Charleston’s upper peninsula. The office includes a terrace overlooking an amphitheater. The 65-year-old firm recently changed leadership.

The new leaders, who were tapped for their new roles several years ago, say the transition has been seamless and the company’s mission has not changed.

“We believe that the best designs use local history and culture as a guide,” Charzewski said. “Understanding a project’s narrative through the eyes and stories of a community creates deep connections. It brings a spirit, clarity and sense of place to our work.”

Clark agreed, saying, “We carry a strong sense of social purpose as we serve our communities through design.”

White said every project, no matter the size or scale, starts with an open dialogue with the client to create a place that becomes a source of local pride.

The firm, the recipient of several regional and national architectural accolades, was founded in 1956 in an office in Avondale by the late Demetrios Constantine Liollio, known to his friends and colleagues as “Jimmy.”

It eventually moved to a few different locations in West Ashley before settling on a site at 1812 Savannah Highway. In 1986, the company moved to James Island.

In 1976, Dinos and Cherie Liollio joined the firm, and in 1982-83, he assumed leadership. Over the next 20 years, Cherie, Tommy Schimpf and Rick Bousquet made up the leadership roster. The latter two will remain with the firm until their retirement.

Liollio Architecture moved into The Refinery on the upper Charleston peninsula in late 2020 and is now transferring leadership to three architects with the the 65-year-old firm.