Bill Hellmuth has officially taken over as the new CEO of global architecture practice HOK as part of a planned succession process which also sees his predecessor Patrick MacLeamy become the company’s chair.

Hellmuth’s promotion, which completes a reshuffle first announced in January this year, marks the first time since 1990 that the firm has been led by a design principal.

In a statement, the studio said the promotion “signals a renewed emphasis on design thinking and innovation” and praised Hellmuth for his “special insight on managing the creative process – balancing the art and the business to generate the best design solutions and most value for clients.”

The architect, who has served as HOK president since 2005, is based in the studio’s Washington offices.

“Design excellence will define our future,” said Hellmuth. “I joined HOK in 1991 for the opportunity to be part of a practice that had the opportunity to do the best design work of its time. We’re now creating design solutions that address some of the world’s greatest challenges.

“We’ll continue broadening the scope of our creativity and problem solving and using design thinking to strengthen our design culture. This will continue to attract the best people and clients to HOK.”

Ongoing HOK projects include the Porsche Cars North America Experience Center and Headquarters in Atlanta, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta and the New Palau Blaugrana arena in Barcelona.

Hellmuth and HOK were profiled in the very first issue of CLADmag.