To many young entrepreneurs, green is the color of money. For architect Matthew Hufft, principal and owner of Hufft Projects in Kansas City, green is the color of sustainable design.
"I'm not a radical environmentalist, but I do believe that it's about smart building," says Hufft, who opened his architecture firm in 2005 and is probably best known in Springfield for designing Matt O'Reilly's Green Circle retail center. "Energy costs are going to continue to rise, and we have to think about renewable energy and building efficiently."
Hufft's first big design break came from his parents, who wanted to trade in their French country Springfield farmhouse for a streamlined modern sanctuary. Today, Hufft and his team work on projects ranging from simple bathroom renovations and new homes to office complexes and retail concepts. Hufft is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-accredited design professional and a licensed architect in New York, Kansas and Missouri.
"To be sustainable, you have to be modern and not be so concerned with formal symmetry and placement," Hufft explains. "The one thing we ask of our clients is that there has to be some level of sustainability and the project has to be built smartly."
Hufft's local eco-building achievements include the new Andy's Frozen Custard store at Campbell Avenue and Camino Alto, the LEED-certified Green Circle and the sustainable R.B. Murray Co. office at TerraGreen in east Springfield.
Some of the buildings are made of materials with high levels of recycled content and resourced from local sources. Other designs utilize innovative energy technologies, such as geothermal systems and photovoltaic panels.
Hufft, who says he's in Springfield whenever duty calls, always knew he wanted to be an architect. "I grew up on a farm with a father who enjoyed doing woodworking projects like building dressers and putting up fences," he says. "I just loved doing that stuff."
He garnered a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Kansas, where he graduated at the top of his class. That same year, he won the prestigious Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Traveling Fellowship Award, which supports future leaders in design. The fellowship gave Hufft the opportunity to study Eastern architecture by traveling from Japan to Indonesia.
He received a master's degree in advanced architectural design from Columbia University in New York City, where he graduated with high honors.[[In-content Ad]]
