Board of Directors

SPOTLIGHT...

As a boy growing up in the suburbs of Lynchburg, Virginia, Lee Driskill AIA spent much of his free time drawing and building structures out of sticks and drinking straws. While Lee dreamed of going to art school, his father had something else in mind for his son: a career in medicine. Attempting to fulfill his dad’s hopes, Lee attended Hampden-Sydney College as a pre-med student, earning a B.S. in biology.

Lee’s interest in art and architecture, fueled by a semester in London, further deepened while he was living in the Washington DC area after graduation. Nevertheless, Lee stayed the course, working in a hospital while studying molecular and cellular biology at George Washington University.

After six years, Lee concluded that he did not want to become a doctor and realized he had a passion for three things: city life, the built environment, and his fiancée Laura. He moved to Baltimore to pursue all three. At Laura’s urging, Lee entered a program at University of Maryland School of Architecture for students with non-architecture degrees. After earning his M. Arch., Lee worked for Steve Glassman at Art and Architectural Design. Eager to explore how architecture can improve the overall fabric of a community, he also became active in the Neighborhood Design Center, working with a team of volunteers to develop design guidelines for the renewal of the Canton neighborhood.

In 1991, Lee was hired by Ed Hord FAIA to join Hord Coplan Macht (HCM), then a 20-person firm. Today, Lee is a principal at HCM, which has grown to 80 employees. He helps lead the firm’s thriving multi-housing practice, which designs a wide range of housing types, including luxury and market-rate communities, active adult and seniors’ developments, as well as communities for low- and moderate-income residents.

Lee takes pride in HCM’s dedication to the ideals of good urban design and is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Congress of New Urbanism. He has been an AIA member and active in the Baltimore chapter for twelve years, especially with the Urban Design Committee. He now serves on our Board of Directors.

Lee and Laura are married with two teenage children and a dog. For the past seven years, they have lived happily in Roland Park, where Lee serves on the grounds and maintenance committee.