Maplewood Business: V Three Studios

Business Name: V Three Studios LLC- Architecture + Interactive

How did you choose Maplewood as a location for your business?We were looking for a bigger office in several areas around St Louis and Maplewood was at the top of our list due to the neighborhood feel and creative culture.  The two things that sealed the deal for us was our friends Chris and Greg (Wellbody on Sutton) leading us to a vacancy on Sutton and the welcoming embrace we received from Rachelle from the City of Maplewood.   

You specialize in re-imaging communication spaces and have worked on a variety of projects from radio studios to the Danforth Gallery at the St. Louis Art Museum. What project are you the most proud of and why? It’s impossible to pick one.  That’s like asking which of my children I am most proud of.  We are most proud of the projects that the client in the end says this space is everything we wanted and even more than we imagined.  WCBS in SoHo NY was special to us for it’s heritage as the first all news station in the US started by Edward R Morrow in the WWII era. The Harvey Digital Media Center at Washington University’s Danforth University Center is awesome in that we got an opportunity to bring all the experience we have gained around the country working for the top Media & Communication companies back to our hometown and a cutting edge institution.   

In addition to architecture V Three does interactive projects including websites and digital media. What are some projects that you have worked on? We have built sites for client such as the Austin brewery Thirsty Planet and apps for clients such as the AIA St Louis Chapter.  We are currently developing an app for them that will highlight the historic significance of many buildings downtown.

 According to the Small Business Monthly article you started out  in 2010 with no startup money and one project from a personal relationship and now you have a six person team and have worked on some really cool projects. What has been your biggest challenge in growing your business and what have you done to overcome it? 

We boot strapped it for the first two years and looking back I am not sure how we did it.  We often felt like a cat that had used 6 of its 9 lives.  We now have a line of credit in place to fuel our growth.  We have been very fortunate in this Design & Construction climate to have grown every year we have been in business.   

What is your favorite Maplewood destination outside of work? We often hang at The Post or Schlafly for our meetings.  My family loves the fish taco’s at Maya Cafe.  Home Wine Kitchen rocks as well.  For me personally as a guitar player the most dangerous place in Maplewood is Eddie’s guitars.  Nate and his guys are top notch and have the best inventory in town. 

V Three Studios’ Website