User:JPRiley/Hillier

Bob Hillier (born July 24, 1937) is a Canadian-born American architect. Hillier established his eponymous practice in Princeton, New Jersey in 1966. Under his leadership during this practice grew to be the third largest architectural firm in The United States during the next four decades.

Life and career
James Robert Hillier was born July 24, 1937 in Toronto to James Hillier and Florence Hillier, nee Bell. The family immigrated to the United States in 1941 and settled in Princeton, New Jersey. He was educated at Princeton University, graduating in 1959 with BA and in 1961 with a BA. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1961. After graduation he worked for Princeton architects Jean Labatut and Fulmer & Bowers before opening his own office in 1966, reorganized in 1972 as The Hillier Group. By the 1980s The Hillier Group had grown to be the twentieth largest architectural firm in the United States, and though it had produced award-winning work, the firm did not have a reputation for exceptional design. This changed in 1986 with the hiring of architect and Princeton faculty member Alan Chimacoff as the firm's first director of design. Chimacoff was specifically charged with raising Hillier "to the first tier" in architectural design. Under his design leadership the firm began to emerge as a serious design force, and won and was shortlisted for a number of prominent competitions. Hillier later repeated this decision in the Philadelphia office, retaining Californian architect Wes Jones as director of design from 1995 until 1997.

Hillier served as president of the firm until 1987, and thereafter as chairman of the board. Expansion in the 1980s and 1990s led to the establishment of additional offices in Philadelphia, New York City and Washington, D.C. Their presence in the latter two cities led to their acquisition of The Eggers Group of New York in 1994 and W. G. Reed Architecture of Washington in 1995. In 1995 the firm was ranked the fourth largest in the United States by billings, and would further grow into the third.

In 2000 the firm was reorganized as Hillier Architecture. In 2003 Chimacoff and four other senior staff left amicably to establish their own firm, ikon.5, seeking "to return to the intellectual roots of design." By this time, Hillier Architecture and its predecessors had been awarded some 300 design awards by various groups. In 2007 Hillier merged with RMJM of Edinburgh, forming the third largest architectural firm in the world, with the United States component of the firm operating under the name RMJM Hillier.

The acquisitin

Ultimately the merger was not a happy marriage. The Hillier name was dropped in 2008 and in 2009 Hillier, with his wife Barbara A. Hillier, departed to establish a new practice under the name Studio Hillier. Later, in 2011, Hillier and other former Hillier employees that had initially stayed with RMJM sued, alleging that RMJM had reneged on promised retention bonuses, charges which RMJM denied.

Hillier is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and has served on the boards of many organizations. In 2019 the College of Architecture and Design of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) was renamed for the Hilliers, following a financial gift that was the largest donation in NJIT's history. The firm had previously been responsible for Weston Hall, the college's building, completed in 1998.

Architectural works
Works completed by Hillier and his firm include:
 * 1971 – Bryant University campus, Smithfield, Rhode Island
 * 1972 – Hillier residence, Princeton, New Jersey
 * 1975 – Kean University Hutchinson Hall, Union, New Jersey
 * 1977 – Rutgers University Jersey Mike's Arena, Piscataway, New Jersey
 * 1978 – Butler Hospital Delmonico Building, Providence, Rhode Island
 * 1979 – Princeton Townhouses, Princeton, New Jersey
 * 1981 – Harbour Island development, Tampa, Florida
 * 1982 – Beneficial Corporation headquarters, Peapack, New Jersey
 * 1982 – East Windsor Municipal Building, East Windsor, New Jersey
 * 1982 – Richard J. Hughes Justice Complex, Trenton, New Jersey
 * 1984 – United Jersey Banks headquarters, Princeton, New Jersey
 * 1986 – William Donald Schaefer Building, Baltimore
 * 1987 – Wharton School Steinberg Conference Center, Philadelphia
 * 1989 – Arizona State University Design North, Tempe, Arizona
 * 1991 – McDaniel College Hoover Library, Westminster, Maryland
 * 1992 – Adventure Aquarium, Camden, New Jersey
 * 1992 – American Home Products headquarters, Madison, New Jersey
 * 1992 – Samsung America headquarters, Ridgefield Park, New Jersey
 * 1993 – Princeton University Bowen Hall, Princeton, New Jersey
 * 1993 – Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland
 * 1993 – TEV İnanç Türkeş High School for Gifted Students, Gebze, Turkey
 * 1995 – John F. Kennedy International Airport Calpine JFK Energy Center, Queens
 * 1996 – Bellarmine University W. L. Lyons Brown Library, Louisville, Kentucky
 * 1996 – Wingspread restoration, Wind Point, Wisconsin
 * 1997 – Sprint World Headquarters Campus, Overland Park, Kansas
 * 1998 – Cornell University Sage Hall rehabilitation and expansion, Ithaca, New York
 * 1998 – New Jersey Institute of Technology Weston Hall, Newark, New Jersey
 * 1999 – Columbia University Warren Hall, New York City
 * 2000 – Niagara Falls High School, Niagara Falls, New York
 * 2001 – Capital One West Creek Campus, Richmond, Virginia
 * 2002 – GSK House, Brentford, Greater London
 * 2004 – Princeton Public Library, Princeton, New Jersey
 * 2007 – Virginia State Capitol restoration and expansion, Richmond, Virginia
 * 2011 – Irving Convention Center at Las Colinas, Irving, Texas

Personal life
Hillier was married in 1961 to Susan Baldwin Smith. They had two children and later divorced. Hillier remarried in 1986 to Barbara Ann Weinstein, an architect and interior designer employed by his firm. After this marriage the Hilliers designed a new home, Autretemps, on the Delaware River in New Hope, Pennsylvania. They had one additional child. Barbara Hillier died November 21, 2022.