OUR MISSION: To create contextually sensitive, sustainable designs.
OUR VALUES: Listening carefully; improving communities; contributing to our local and regional quality of life; conducting all business as people and place matter.
Legerton Architecture is a responsive, design-driven firm based in Asheville, North Carolina. Founded in 1994 by John Legerton, the practice entered a new chapter in 2024 under the leadership of Wendy Legerton, AIA, LEED AP BD + C, and Michael Mitchell, AIA, building on a long-standing legacy of thoughtful, community-focused design.
We’ve partnered on more than 600 projects with homeowners, nonprofits, and institutions across Western North Carolina and beyond. Our team of ten includes five registered architects and LEED-accredited professionals, alongside interior and architectural designers who bring a wide range of perspectives and expertise. As a diverse, women-owned firm and a 2026 Living Wage Certified Employer, we design across project types from custom homes and renovations to affordable housing, community centers, educational spaces, healthcare environments, and commercial projects like cafés, breweries, and workplaces.
Our approach is simple: listen closely, design thoughtfully, and document thoroughly. From early concepts through construction, we create clear, detailed drawings and 3D models that lead to better coordination, more accurate pricing, and smoother builds.
We believe good design extends beyond buildings. Our team actively serves on local boards and volunteers with nonprofits each quarter, staying connected to the communities we design for.
Our work spans residential, civic, educational, and commercial spaces, from small renovations to complex, community-centered projects. No matter the scale, we bring curiosity, care, and a high level of commitment to every project we undertake.
Team
Process
Our process is based on the AIA’s “Steps Involved in Design and Construction” and has been refined over our 25 years of practice. It is also a flexible process that can be adapted to fit the specific needs and requirements of each of our clients’ projects, budgets and schedules. Here are the phases you can expect in any new construction or renovation project.
- We ask questions and listen carefully to understand our clients’ needs, wants, and vision in order to understand their priorities and establish project parameters.
- Obtain site, community, and zoning information, and site surveys.
- Visit the site with our clients (and often include a landscape architect).
- Take measurements of existing structures in the case of a renovation or addition project.
- Develop a preliminary project scope (types and functions of site and building spaces, how many rooms, activities, and people to accommodate), budget, and schedule.
- Prepare initial site and building conceptual designs with sketches, drawings, and 3D images/views.
- Meeting(s) with clients to discuss and review conceptual designs options and probable construction.
- Prepare additional site and building design options and meet with clients to approve a schematic design and project budget to pursue to the next phase. (If the project’s probable construction costs as designed in this schematic phase exceeds our clients’ budget, we will work with our clients to redesign and/or reduce the project scope to bring project within budget).
- Prepare more detailed site plans, floor plans, and other 2D and 3D images/views of the proposed design.
- Meeting(s) with clients to discuss, review, and approve the more detailed design information.
- Develop outline specifications identifying the major site and building materials, systems, and finishes.
- Additional structural or other engineers/consultants may be enlisted during this phase of the project, depending on the project scope and clients’ preference.
- Update the probable construction cost budget and schedule, often with the help of potential contractor(s), and review with our clients. (Again, if the project’s probable construction costs as designed in this phase exceeds our clients’ budget, we will work with our clients to redesign and/or reduce the project scope to bring project within budget).
Note: Towards the conclusion of this phase, the client should interview potential contractors. We will provide recommendations as well as interview questions. Whether a client selects a contractor at this point or decides to bid the project may determine the level of detail needed in the next phase of drawings.
- Prepare the detailed drawings and specifications for the approved design (We are known for providing highly detailed construction documents, which can increase construction bid accuracy and decrease construction issues).
- These construction documents will be used to obtain contractor bids/construction cost proposals; they will be part of the construction contract between our clients and the selected contractor; and they will be submitted to local building safety review officials to obtain the required building permits.
- Assist our clients in selecting of a contractor.
- Coordinate the bidding process or advise during negotiation process.
- Provide AIA Owner-Contractor Agreement (Construction Contract) forms for constructing the project.
- Serve as the clients’ advocate through the construction process by visiting the site to observe the work for quality and conformance with the Contract Documents, review the contractor’s applications for payments, and answer questions from our clients and the contractors.
- Administer the project close-out process, including providing punch lists and review of the final completion of the construction work.
Connect With Us
(Note: If accessible parking is needed, there is one accessible parking space at the rear of our building. Take a left at the alleyway next to 19 N. Liberty St, the house to the right of our building, then take the first left turn off of that alleyway, behind 19 N. Liberty St. and you will see the accessible parking space for our building directly ahead).
Contact info
LEGERTON ARCHITECTURE
21 North Liberty Street
Asheville, NC, 28801 USA
828.251.9125
info @ legertonarchitecture.com