Tim Eddy’s upbringing in rural Montana taught him the importance of place that has made him a leader in campus planning, urban design and fitting new buildings into existing contexts.

With commitment to sustainable design, Eddy founded Hennebery Eddy Architects with the late Stephen Hennebery in 1992. Today the firm has more than 50 staff members and has received more than 50 national, regional and local design awards for projects throughout the region.

Projects in Eddy’s award-winning portfolio include Cascades Academy of Central Oregon, Portland Community College’s Newberg Center, Montana State University’s Jabs Hall and the Bend Public Works Campus.

“These projects all required that we unravel a great deal of complexity,” he said. “I’m proud that they have also been opportunities to connect people and strengthen community through sustainable, transformative architecture.”

Eddy, who served on the Portland Design Commission for eight years, is a member of the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows. Only 3 percent of AIA members have earned this recognition.

Will Ives, now the firm’s president, joined Hennebery Eddy just over 15 years ago and credited its growth to Eddy’s openness to creating space for others to take on new challenges and advance the firm in new directions.

“He’s always had this trajectory for the firm and yet he’s not been too rigid with that,” Ives said. “The type of work we’re doing has always been in the same spaces, but it’s evolved in the size of the projects, their complexity and their sustainability.”

Eddy, who is still a principal and board chair, recently shared how the firm has evolved over the years.

91��Ƶ: What do you enjoy most about your work?

Eddy: Working with our teams and clients to integrate their ideas within a construct of human interaction, well-being and design that transforms lives through the built environment. Leading teams, collaborating with and learning from those from other design disciplines, craftspeople, and contractors in designing and building physical projects is an extremely rewarding endeavor. Designing the Portland Art Museum’s Rothko Pavilion in partnership with Vinci Hamp Architects meant that we blended staff from both firms into a team that worked together for eight years completing work of which we are all immensely proud.

91��Ƶ: What have been some of the biggest challenges?

Eddy: It can be hard to advance deep sustainable design concepts when faced with tight project budgets, entrenched design and construction processes, and often modest expectations. On projects like Jabs Hall at Montana State University, we’ve helped our clients unlock their own sustainable design aspirations by demonstrating the economy, long-term efficiency and overall well-being resulting from ecologically thoughtful design.

91��Ƶ: You have many notable projects in your portfolio. Can you highlight one and talk about why it stands out for you?

Eddy: Designing the Portland Art Museum’s Mark Rothko Pavilion has been a high point for me. Transforming the museum into a cohesive campus and knitting it into Portland’s downtown urban patterns for a client focused on inclusion and community was quite fulfilling.

It was an intensely complex project over the course of many, many years and we had an opportunity to accomplish a lot for the museum and for the city. I think we did both in terms of making a cohesive campus that relates well with the city and also works well internally in taking guests through the museum and making them a priority.

91��Ƶ: How have you seen Hennebery Eddy Architects evolve over the years?

Eddy: We’ve grown incrementally from our start in 1992. We now have a team of 75 in studios in Portland, Bend and Bozeman, Montana. That growth has enabled the firm to put a broad range of design and technical resources in place along with the underpinning of an experienced administrative team.

Our growth has opened the opportunity to a broad range of compelling design projects and put the firm in a position where it can truly make others successful through design. In doing so, we’ve continued to be a workplace where emerging professionals thrive. We were recognized as an emerging professional (EP)-friendly firm by AIA, and our design work has been widely recognized. This holistic success is rewarding.

91��Ƶ: What are your hopes for the firm’s future?

Eddy: With Will Ives and (Vice President) Michelle Vo leading the day-to-day operations of the firm, Hennebery Eddy will continue to strengthen its ethos and grow its expertise. Our historic resources group is developing a strong national reputation. Coupled with our sustainable design focus, we will continue to broaden our work beyond Oregon, Montana and the Pacific Northwest.

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