Bill Valentine (architect)


William Valentine, FAIA, is an American architect. He worked at the firm HOK from 1962 to 2012, leading large projects such as the King Khalid International Airport and the Moscone Center.

Biography

Valentine received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from North Carolina State University and a Master of Architecture degree from Harvard University. He is a lecturer in Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
William Valentine started his career at HOK in the St. Louis in 1962. In 1970, he moved to California to help open HOK's San Francisco office. In 2000, he was named president and design principal of HOK and in 2005 he assumed the role of chairman. Valentine retired from HOK in 2012, after 50 years with the firm. He remains HOK chairman emeritus and lives in Mill Valley, California.
In 2008, the AIA made him an official media contact on all things regarding design.
In July 2019, Valentine and his wife, Jane, donated $250,000 to help fund construction of the new Whiteville High School, their alma mater, in Whiteville, North Carolina.

Style

As a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design credentialed professional, Valentine has been a frequent speaker and author on sustainable design. He is a recognized leader for sustainability within the architectural profession.
Valentine has described his definition of good design as “a simple idea, elegantly executed and inspiring, with social significance and in harmony with the environment.” He is a strong advocate for simplicity and efficiency and the "power of using less" as essential concepts of sustainable architecture, and attributes his philosophy—that "all designs should be very simple….we should work to solve our clients' needs and to be helpful to the world"—to the influence of HOK co-founder Gyo Obata.
Valentine is a self-proclaimed "evangelist" for affordable net zero carbon emissions design. In 2009–2010, he led an HOK team that collaborated with The Weidt Group to create a market-rate, zero-emissions prototype design for a Class A commercial office building in St. Louis, Missouri.

Selected projects

Awards