Hoffmann Architects, an architecture and engineering firm specializing in the rehabilitation of building exteriors, commemorates the founding of the firm 40 years ago, in 1977.
Hoffmann Architects’ history began with the mission to address design details that are commonly overlooked. After immigrating to the United States from Hungary in the 1950s, Hoffmann Architects founder andpresident John J. Hoffmann, FAIA studied architecture at the City College of New York. As a young architect, heobserved that the design of construction details was falling less and less to design professionals, and moreto vendors and installers. As a result, intersections, terminations, and other details were often executedinadequately, leaving buildings open to distress and failure.
In 1977, he founded his own practice, Hoffmann Architects, with the intention of providing specialized expertise in building exterior details and construction technology.Since that time, Hoffmann Architects has grown to nearly four dozen employees in three states and has evolved a reputation for excellence in building envelope rehabilitation design.
Consistently ranked in the top 100 architecture/engineering firms by Building Design+Construction magazine,Hoffmann Architects has contributed to the preservation and longevity of some of the most significant architectural landmarks in the United States, including the United States Capitol, the Smithsonian Institution, the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center, the New York Stock Exchange, the United Nations, Folger Shakespeare Library, the Ford Foundation Building, and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
In 2011, after being sole owner of Hoffmann Architects for close to 35 years, John Hoffmann offered ownership stakes in the company to senior management personnel. With these new owners invested in the future of the firm, Hoffmann Architects is positioned to continue its trajectory of growth. While retaining a specialized focus on building enclosure design and detailing, the company developed a strategic plan to expand its reach and further cultivate longstanding relationships with building owners and managers in several target groups, including corporate, educational, government, healthcare, hospitality, religious, and institutional sectors.
Hoffmann Architects staff and family members celebrated the 40th anniversary at the annual summer picnic. Inter-office team collaboration continues to encourage Hoffmann Architects’ professionals to explore innovative strategies and drives the specialty architecture and engineering practice to evolve.
Founded in 1977, Hoffmann Architects specializes in the rehabilitation of the building envelope. The firm’s work focuses on the exteriors of existing structures, diagnosing and resolving deterioration within facades, roofing systems, windows, waterproofing materials, plazas/terraces, parking garages, and historic and landmark structures. We provide consulting services for new building construction, as well as litigation and claim support. Our technical professionals investigate and correct damage resulting from time and weather, substandard or improper construction, design defects, material failures, poor workmanship, structural movement, and stress.
