About Keith Hunter
I am a Virginia based architect and builder with more than four decades of experience working across residential, commercial, and institutional projects. My work is grounded in careful listening, disciplined thinking, and a deep respect for how buildings are actually made.
I began my professional career in New York City working in the office of Philip Johnson, joining the practice directly out of college and becoming the youngest person in the office at the time. I worked there for more than four years during a period when the office was engaged in some of its most ambitious work, collaborating closely with developers and consultants at the highest level. That included working with Eugene Tofflemire, a leading authority in curtain wall design and fabrication, and with Leslie Robertson, one of the most influential structural engineers of his generation. Daily coordination with structural, façade, and vertical-transportation consultants shaped my understanding of how architecture succeeds only when design intent, engineering rigor, and execution are fully aligned.
Since founding my own practice in 1986, I have carried those lessons forward into work ranging from large, complex buildings to highly personal residential projects and small-scale structures. Regardless of size or budget, each project is approached with the same attention to proportion, material, craft, and the lived experience of the people who will inhabit it.
Experience Across Scales
Over the course of my career, I have worked on projects ranging from large, complex institutional and commercial buildings to custom homes, small structures, and carefully detailed renovations. That range is not accidental. Working across scales sharpens judgment and reinforces the fundamentals—proportion, circulation, structure, material, and how people actually occupy space.
Early in my career, I was involved in the rebuilding of the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts following the catastrophic fire that destroyed the original facility. The project demanded careful coordination among multiple disciplines, including acoustical consultants Bolt, Beranek and Newman and specialized fire and life-safety consultants. The goal was not simply to replace what was lost, but to create a larger, safer, and acoustically exceptional performing arts venue—one capable of meeting the highest technical and experiential standards.
That experience reinforced the importance of systems thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration—lessons that continue to inform my work today. Whether on a large public building or a small residential project, the same discipline applies: design decisions must anticipate structure, safety, performance, and long-term use. Scale may change, but the responsibility does not.
With Philip Johnson
in the Glass House
New Canaan, Connecticutt, 1979
A lifelong interest in Building and Making
Design Approach
My approach to design begins with listening—understanding how people live, work, and move through space, and what they value most. Early conversations shape the framework of a project, allowing decisions about form, material, and organization to emerge from real needs rather than preconceptions.
Design is an iterative process. Ideas are tested, refined, and clarified through drawing, modeling, and discussion, with attention to proportion, light, circulation, and the relationship between structure and enclosure. I value restraint and clarity, believing that architecture is strongest when it feels inevitable rather than imposed.
Throughout the process, I remain attentive to how decisions made early affect construction, cost, and long-term performance. The goal is not novelty, but work that is thoughtful, durable, and quietly confident—spaces that continue to feel right over time.