Architecture and planning firm LS3P, which has an office in Wilmington, is growing again. Three months after its merger with Hubbard Architecture in Myrtle Beach, it has announced another merger – this time with Dawson Architects in Savannah, Georgia.

The new merger will incorporate Dawson Architects’ 20-person staff into LS3P. Neil Dawson, the Savannah firm’s principal, will become a principal of LS3P and will continue to lead the Savannah office, according to Thompson Penney, chairman, president and CEO of LS3P.

“That company will be known as LS3P Dawson for one year,” Penney said Monday, adding that, following that interim period, the firm name in Savannah will just be LS3P.

“For all intents and purposes, [Dawson Architects’] clients will not see any change, just added resources,” Penney said.

Dawson Architects, in turn, gives LS3P a stronger presence in Savannah and coastal Georgia and has significant experience to share with LS3P in several areas, notably in historic preservation.

“We do historic preservation work, but for Neil Dawson it’s a real passion,” Penney said. He went on to say the combined firm will now have a higher level of experience and knowledge in not just historic preservation, but renovation of older buildings and adaptive reuse.

The merger becomes official Friday, according to Penney. The resulting firm has a staff of more than 300 architects, planners, interior designers and support staff and continues its geographic focus on the Southeastern U.S., although it is involved in projects across the country, according to a news release.

Founded in 1963, Charleston, South Carolina-based LS3P merged with Wilmington-based Boney Architects in 2005. At that time, Boney Architects had offices also in Raleigh and Charlotte, which then became part of LS3P. Locally the firm has designed several high-profile facilities, including Cape Fear Community College's Union Station building and Humanities and Fine Arts Center, Live Oak Bank headquarters buildings and the Women's and Children's Hospital at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.