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Well-Preserved: Artefact Architecture Marks 40 Years of Stewardship amid Change
Now in its fortieth year, Artefact has grown to a team of eight that includes experts in preservation, interior design, architectural detailing, and 3D modeling.
In 1986, Christine Ussler hung out a shingle for a preservation architecture firm in Southside Bethlehem. An Eastern PA native and Lehigh University graduate, Ussler was well versed in Bethlehem’s industrial history. With the decline of Bethlehem Steel looming, she felt called to start her own business to help preserve and shape the built environment that had evolved around the plant and other key industries in the Lehigh Valley.
Artefact Architecture was born not in a modern, well-appointed office but in the then-dilapidated Harland Building at 26-28 Third Street. Ussler and her first business partner rehabilitated the space in exchange for a six-month break in rent. Their budget of $500 stretched just far enough to buy drywall, paint, and wood for drafting desks and stools.
Considering the past four decades of projects launched from Artefact’s Southside perch—work spanning the adaptive reuse of historic buildings, new construction designed to harmonize with established neighborhoods, and thoughtful upgrades to period homes—the firm couldn’t have had a more fitting origin story.
In overlapping roles as an architect, professor of practice in Lehigh’s Department of Art, Architecture, and Design (she retired from teaching in 2025), and preservation architecture consultant for numerous historic boards and commissions, Ussler has continuously prioritized stewardship, sustainability, and community engagement in her work.
As Artefact’s portfolio has expanded, so has its team. Swiss-Italian architect Lucienne Di Biase Dooley joined as partner in 2008 after heading her own firm in Lausanne, Switzerland, for six years. An architect for high-profile international projects such as the European Museum of Photography and a past director of the Architectural Gallery F’AR in Lausanne, she shares Ussler’s design acumen, unflagging work ethic, and passion for preservation.
Ussler and Dooley fully embrace the adage that the “greenest” building is one that already exists. But beyond noting environmental benefits, they show developers and business owners that rehabilitating historic buildings can also make good economic sense.
Through projects such as the award-winning Simon Silk Mill renovation in Easton, Artefact has helped developers nominate historic properties for listing on the US National Register of Historic Places and secure federal and state tax credits to offset renovation costs, proving that preservation and financial savings can go hand in hand.
Now in its fortieth year, Artefact has grown to a team of eight that includes experts in preservation, interior design, architectural detailing, and 3D modeling. A typical “day at the office” might include design consulting with a residential client, researching a historic site for a National Register nomination, drafting plans for a former factory being converted into apartments, or arguing for the preservation of a historic commercial façade at a local commission meeting.
The years since Artefact’s founding have seen tremendous change in the Lehigh Valley as the region has shifted away from heavy industry. The firm’s expansive third-story windows serve as evolving postcard views of Southside Bethlehem throughout its many transformations. As Ussler looks out onto the street where her business first took flight, she can’t wait to see what happens next.
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