HOK, the international architecture, engineering, and planning firm, will promote its President and 25-year company veteran Bill Hellmuth, AIA, to the position of Chief Executive Officer, effective April 19.
Hellmuth, who is the nephew of the firm’s founder George Hellmuth (its initials are an acronym for Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum), has been President since 2005. When he steps into the CEO post, he will replace Patrick MacLeamy, FAIA, LEED AP, who has served as HOK’s chief for 13 of the 49 years he’s been with the firm.
MacLeamy will remain as HOK’s chairman. During his HOK career, MacLeamy has overseen the establishment of several HOK regional offices in the U.S. and Asia. He has held leadership roles on several landmark HOK projects, including the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco and King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In a statement, Hellmuth identified HOK’s “sweet spot” as “the intersection of design excellence and thought leadership, combining design leadership with expertise in specific markets and building types around the world.”
HOK has 1,800 employees (it is 100% employee owned) in 24 offices worldwide. It has current projects in 75 countries.
Hellmuth has a total of 37 years experience in the architecture industry, including a stint with Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. He joined HOK’s St. Louis office in 1991, and two years later was promoted to lead HOK’s Washington, D.C. office. He joined the firm’s executive committee in 2004.
A strong advocate for sustainable design, Hellmuth began integrating sustainability into every project before LEED certification became a benchmark. In 2014 he was named Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council, and a GSA Design Excellence Peer.
Related Stories
| Feb 14, 2013
5 radical trends in outpatient facility design
Building Design+Construction combed the healthcare design and construction sector to evaluate the latest developments in outpatient facility designs. Here are five trends to watch.
| Feb 14, 2013
Boxman Studios launches shipping container buildings division
Boxman Studios has launched a new division aimed at sustainable solutions for the Built Environment. The Boxman Studios Buildings Division will focus on the adaptive use of decommissioned shipping containers as architectural elements and even complete buildings.
Smart Buildings | Feb 14, 2013
Minneapolis joins energy benchmarking trend for commercial buildings
Minneapolis is the latest major metro to require large commercial buildings to benchmark and disclose their energy and water use.
| Feb 14, 2013
Peter Rutti named Director of Design of Westlake Reed Leskosky’s Phoenix studio
Peter W. Rutti, AIA, Associate Principal and Project Director of Westlake Reed Leskosky, has been appointed Director of Design of the Phoenix, Arizona studio of the nationally recognized architects, engineers, and technology designers. The announcement recognizes the design excellence, leadership, and continued growth of the national and international practice of the integrated design firm in the western region.
| Feb 14, 2013
Peter Bardwell named 2013 president of the American College of Healthcare Architects
The Board of Regents of the American College of Healthcare Architects (ACHA) has named Peter L. Bardwell, FAIA, FACHA of Columbus, Ohio as 2013 national President.
| Feb 13, 2013
Department store concept by OMA's Koolhaas, Alsaka draws inspiration from open-air Arab marketplaces
The Exhibition Hall, a retail concept planned in Kuwait City's 360° Mall, will meld cultural and commerce spaces in a series of galleries reminiscent of the long passages of the souq—traditional, open-air marketplaces found in Arab cities.
| Feb 13, 2013
China plans new car-free city
A new urban development near Chengdu, China, will provide new housing for ~80,000 people, surrounded by green space.
| Feb 13, 2013
Advanced urbanism is focus of new MIT research center
MIT Center for Advanced Urbanism will seek 21st Century planning solutions, starting with infrastructure design issues.
| Feb 13, 2013
'Vegetative tower' apartments to revive NYC site
A Manhattan site formerly slated for development with a "tower of cubes"—a now-defunct project by Santiago Calatrava—will be revived with a 998-foot, 300,000-sf apartment building by Morali Architects.
