Retiring Larry Malcic announces two new London design principals: John Rhodes (left) and David Weatherhead (right).
HOK has announced the retirement of the studio’s founder and that two current design leaders have taken new roles as design principals.
Larry Malcic will be retiring from HOK after a prolific three-decade career as design principal in the firm’s London studio. In 1989, Gyo Obata, one of HOK’s founding principals, asked Malcic to move from St. Louis to London and serve as design principal of the firm’s fledgling London office, which opened in 1987. Since then, with Malcic’s design vision and leadership, HOK’s London studio has established itself as a design leader across the UK and Europe and has led landmark projects in the Middle East and Asia. Malcic has been a longtime member of HOK’s design board and board of directors as well as an active speaker and author in the design community. After his official retirement, Malcic will continue to consult with HOK on select projects.
“After spending 30 years leading design for HOK in London, I have decided it’s time for a new generation of design leadership,” said Malcic. “I did not become an architect for personal glory, least of all for financial gain. I wanted to use my talents to make the world a better place: to create order, harmony and, I hope, some beauty in a world that is often careless and chaotic. HOK not only gave me that opportunity—it did so on a scale beyond any expectation.”
“Larry’s work embodies our belief that architecture should improve people’s lives,” said HOK Chairman and CEO Bill Hellmuth. “Over the years he has led the design of many high-profile, award-winning projects while mentoring an entire generation of architects. All of us at HOK owe Larry a large debt of gratitude for devoting the past three decades of his distinguished career to the success of our clients, our people, our London practice and our firm.”
Malcic has provided design leadership for a wide range of award-winning cultural, civic, corporate and commercial projects in London including the Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum; the Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum; the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms Expansion for the Imperial War Museum; Barclays World Headquarters and 5 Churchill Place in Canary Wharf; Forty Grosvenor Place and 33 Davies Street for Grosvenor; and Saint Barnabas Church in Dulwich. Internationally, Malcic led the design for the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam, the Dexia Bank Tower and Cisco’s European Hub in the Netherlands; Central Bank of Kuwait Headquarters and the National Assembly Building in Kuwait City; and the recently opened LG Science Park in South Korea, the world’s largest corporate research facility.
As Malcic transitions to a consulting role, John Rhodes and David Weatherhead have been named design principals in London. They will collaborate with the current directors to lead the studio.
Rhodes, a director of HOK’s Sports + Recreation + Entertainment practice, joined the firm’s London studio in 2014. His current work includes the design of the 12,000-seat FC Barcelona New Palau Blaugrana Arena in Barcelona, Spain; an 18,000-seat arena in Valencia, Spain; the 18,000-seat Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE; and a new destination entertainment district in Gateshead, England.
Weatherhead, who has designed a variety of projects across the globe, joined HOK in London in 2016 as a senior project designer and is a member of the firm’s design board. He has spent 15 years as a practicing architect in London, led his own practice in Sweden and also worked in San Francisco. Weatherhead’s current projects include a 25-story residential tower in central London, a 50-story office tower in Kuwait, two large master plans for Transport for London and a mixed-use development in Egypt.
“David and John each bring a wide range of experience designing award-winning architectural projects,” said Hellmuth. “Together they will bring a diverse creative vision to our clients, design teams and communities that is unified by the commitment to design excellence that characterizes HOK’s work. As they build on Larry’s legacy, we look forward to terrific things ahead.”