Firm History
Robert Murphy, AIA, a Harvard educated architect who moved to Central Florida following his service in World War II, founded the firm in 1947. He built a strong architectural foundation based on the International Style of Modernism as taught by his Harvard professor, famed architect Walter Gropius.
The Bauhaus movement was sweeping the architecture world at that time. This initial strict, form-follows-function modernism has been tempered over the decades, but not diminished. Because of its longevity, it offers a smart balance of tradition, new ideas, and technology. In much the same way, our principals at HuntonBrady Architects designed our firm to evolve and allow successive generations of young architects to continue Bob’s legacy.
The firm has grown along with Central Florida. We have strong ties to the various communities and cultures spread across the region’s seven counties. Recent years have brought a global influence of international talent to the firm. As markets changed through the decades, so did our firm’s core business. HuntonBrady Architects designed a bevy of banks in the 1970s, followed by the boom of commercial office space in the 1980s. Later, the State of Florida’s increasing support for higher education led to our design of dozens of colleges and universities with more complex needs. In the late 1990s, we embarked on a healthcare design journey, which has produced our most significant body of work. We are a firm defined by our city, and now our buildings help define it. Currently, HuntonBrady Architects focuses on three main practice areas: healthcare, education, and commercial projects.