Who We Are
Joseph K. Oppermann – Architect, P.A., (JKOA) is an architectural firm based in the historic Arts District of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with a second location in historic downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. We have a national reputation for the preservation, restoration, and reuse of historic properties, including many of the nation’s most significant landmarks. We also design new architecture within historic contexts.
We have received more than thirty major awards for preservation excellence at the national, state, and local levels. A strong indicator of client confidence is our large number of repeat clients, among them many of the country’s leading preservation stewards.
JKOA is a full-service design firm providing services ranging from historical research and condition assessments through all phases of design, construction documentation, and construction administration. Founded in 1999 from a predecessor firm, JKOA was established on the belief that a multi-disciplinary approach is essential for the broad range of issues addressed. Accordingly, we regularly team with top professionals in a wide variety of specialties. Together, we use the most advanced technologies and time-tested practices with the most current approaches.
All JKOA full-time professional staff have advanced degrees in their respective professions, and several with over 25 years of experience.
Our Philosophy
We believe that historic architecture can and does improve the quality of life, and not just of the occupants. Buildings help define Place. The richness and diversity of the many places that make up this country are testimony to the many contributions and rich diversity of the people.
We help individuals understand the historic buildings and places that are important to them, how to care for those buildings and places, and how to manage change while preserving the characteristics that make them special. Our approach embodies a deep appreciation of history and is rooted in science.
Preserving historic buildings is inherently sustainable; the greenest building is indeed the one already built. And it is by working with the enormous stock of existing buildings that architects and engineers can best reduce the carbon impact essential to fighting climate change; we must redesign our way, not design our way, out of the climate crisis.