Enteros Design
Richmond, VA 23223
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Enteros Design
Key Contacts
Owners, Principals & Senior Executives
BETH VON KELSCH's Bio
Beth joined Enteros Design in 2008 having zero knowledge of architecture, and assumed all architects wear black tortoise shell glasses, scarves, and have German accents. It turns out it’s true, it’s all true.
Beth’s background is in the performing arts, and she moved from Chicago to Petersburg to help start a non-profit theatre in the City’s Old Towne District. While mopping the floors of the bathroom after a production, she was spotted by Enteros Design’s Principal Architect, Gil Entzminger. He thought, “If she’s willing to clean the floor of a men’s bathroom, she’ll definitely work for me!” And thus, Beth joined Enteros Design in late 2008.
Beth focuses on proposal preparation, graphic design, and special events for Enteros Design. She spends her weekends climbing volcanoes and reading Russian literature. HA! No, but seriously, she has a five year old. Her free time is filled with looking for lost LEGO pieces, searching for the AppleTV remote, and secretly judging other moms on their child-rearing techniques.
GIL ENTZMINGER's Bio
Gil Entzminger founded Enteros Design in 2003 with the intention to expand his goal of creating meaningful experiences in the built environment. His interest in evoking emotional responses to architecture is routed in the philosophy of Phenomenology. Phenomenology studies the structure of various types of experience ranging from perception, thought, memory, imagination, emotion, desire, bodily awareness, embodied action, and social activity. His design principle begins with what he has defined as the fundamental elements of design: expression, rhythm, order, and structure. The emotional experience of his architecture is enhanced by incorporating symbolism from the function, context, culture, and heritage of the clients, buildings, and communities he serves. Following these principles, he creates built environments which are inspiring, appropriate to their context, respectful of the environment, and expressive of their time and function.
Gil’s early career started in Washington, DC with the international firm Helmuth, Obata, and Kassabaum. There he focused on large scale government and institutional projects. He later focused on adaptive reuse, preservation, and renovation projects with the Georgetown firm Blackburn Architects. Through over 20 years of experience Gil has led project teams on complex projects while building long term relationships with his clients.
R. Scott Wheeler's Bio
Scott is driven by his pursuit of creativity and quality throughout the design process. His long-term interest in the value of architecture’s connection to both people and the environment began during architecture school at Louisiana Tech University and continued on with his career with Cooper Carry Architects in Atlanta, BCWH Architects in Richmond, and now with Enteros Design in Petersburg. He continues to build on the connective nature of architecture and design through both technical details and creative solutions to better serve his clients and the environment they live in.
Scott has experience on projects from large-scale institutional science and education buildings for both Higher Ed and K-12 clients, religious and cultural performing arts facilities, to small renovation projects. Throughout these projects he has developed a creative, but pragmatic design methodology that balances design with client objectives, technical coordination, and effective project execution. Scott strives to be involved in all aspects of the planning process and excels in developing project research and analysis to be used throughout the project.
As one of the early adopters for sustainable design, Scott became a LEED Accredited Professional back in 2001. Since then Scott has worked on several projects in an effort to organize the right balance between good design for the client, the environment, and the “bottom-line”. He has also been an advocate for sustainability outside of the office by being a leader in the community. Scott was a founding board member for local chapters of the U.S. Green Building Council in both Atlanta and Richmond. He served on the JRGBC Board as head of Programs for over six years, and is still active today.
Scott is also an avid cyclist and dreams of being able to take off and ride across the county someday. Outside of the office he is learning how to live sustainably by growing vegetables year round and tending his seven hens for eggs.
THOMAS FREEMAN 's Bio
Thomas has a vested interest in modern architecture and design. He believes that a buildings aesthetic should derive from its setting, function, and use. Modern design philosophy was an integral part of his education at the Virginia Tech College of Architecture + Design. During his education Thomas spent a semester studying urban master planning at the Washington Alexandria Architecture Center where he enjoyed working side by side with foreign exchange students from South America and Europe. In an effort to expand on the creative interaction between cultures Thomas spent the following semester studying architecture in Riva San Vitale Switzerland. Exposure to both old world and modern construction has shaped his design aesthetic.
His professional experience began in Leipzig Germany with the firm Weis and Volkmann where he worked on a number of adaptive reuse projects. The award winning East German firm helped vanguard modern rehabilitation of structures abandoned during the mass migration of Germans following the fall of the Berlin wall. After retuning to the United States and completing his architectural thesis Thomas continued his career by joining Enteros Design in 2006. Since then he has executed and directed residential, cultural, and civic projects working hand in hand with clients and contractors to deliver thoughtful and efficient designs.
Thomas owns a historic house in Richmond’s Jackson Ward Neighborhood which serves as a test lab for various architectural and design endeavors. In his free time Thomas enjoys playing in a local soccer league and participates in regional autocross events.