Mark Humphreys, Visionary Founder of Multifamily Design Firm, Dies at 67

Under his leadership, Humphreys & Partners created a diverse U.S. and international portfolio.

Mark Humphreys. Image courtesy of Humphreys & Partners Architects

Mark Humphreys, founder of an award-winning firm that grew into the nation’s largest designer of multifamily projects, died Jan. 5, the company announced. He was 67.

Humphreys & Partners Architects (HPA) will now be led by its president, Greg Faulkner, and Walter Hughes, its chief innovation officer. Both are longtime executives at the firm. Faulkner co-founded HPA with Humphreys in 1991 after the two worked together at another architecture firm in Dallas. Hughes joined in 1994 after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin.

An early passion for art and architecture led Humphreys to enroll at the College of Architecture at Texas Tech University. He put himself through school by working at an engineering firm and for a local multifamily developer. Eager to start on his own, Humphreys began designing apartments in his free time. A Texas Tech professor spotted his potential as an entrepreneur and encouraged him to take business classes.

“Mark was a visionary and a great mentor and business partner, who could clearly see the future of multifamily architectural design and then bring it to life with incredible business acumen,” Faulkner said in prepared remarks. “He completely transformed the business and creative aspects of architecture in the multifamily industry. He will be greatly missed, but his legacy will live on for a long time through the firm and its employees.”

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Humphreys also founded One Humphreys, HPA’s parent company, whose affiliates include Atticus Real Estate, established in 1996; HPA Design Group (1998); HPLA Studio (2009); HP Civil Engineering (2010); and Glass Recycled Surfaces. Last year HPA marked its 30th anniversary.

HPA’s leader maintained commitments to a wide range of industry organizations: the American Institute of Architects, the National Multifamily Housing Council’s Chairman’s Circle and Board of Directors, ICSC, the National Association of Home Builders, the Urban Land Institute and the U.S. Green Building Council. He also served as a volunteer at Texas Tech University Architecture School, where he endowed the AIA Chair in Urban Design.

Humphreys & Partners has created multifamily, condominium and mixed-use projects in the U.S. and internationally. Notable recent commissions include the design for The Collins, a 334-unit community that will be part of a $200 million master-planned development in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2020, the firm received Multi-Housing News’ Gold Award for Development and Design in Student Housing in partnership with Gilbane Development Co.