Baltimore-Based Hord Coplan Macht Names New CEO As Founder Retires
Lee Coplan, CEO of prominent Baltimore architecture firm Hord Coplan Macht, has retired after steering the firm for the last four decades.
“It has been an honor to serve as CEO of such a wonderful and diverse firm through many periods of growth and expansion,” Coplan said in a statement.
Tim Barnhill, the firm's chief operating officer, is replacing Coplan as CEO.
“I am honored to be taking over for Lee and will continue his legacy by staying true to our core values and goals as a company while designing great projects and making a difference in our work,” Barnhill said in a statement.
Hord Coplan Macht has worked on projects including a renovation and expansion at the University of Maryland's R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, Seawall Development’s Remington Row and Merritt Properties' 20-story Boston Street tower.
The firm also provided design services to the recently announced Roost Apartment Hotel, expected to open at Baltimore Peninsula this summer.
Coplan founded the firm along with Ed Hord and Carol Macht in 1977. In the years since, the firm has grown to operate five offices in cities including Alexandria, Virginia, Denver and Charlotte, North Carolina.
In September, Hord Coplan Macht purchased Charlotte-based architecture firm FWA Group, which added an office on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to the firm's stable.
The firm ranks No. 20 on Building Design + Construction's 2022 list of the 180 largest nonresidential architecture firms, with roughly $80.3M in design fees.
During his tenure, Coplan oversaw diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to improve diversity within the firm. Since 2018, according to the company, 67% of Hord Coplan Macht’s hires have been women and people of color.
Under Coplan's leadership, the firm also created the Hord Coplan Macht Scholarship Fund at the School of Architecture and Planning at the historically Black Morgan State University.
