AIA San Diego Mourns the Loss of Architect Lance Hosey, FAIA, LEED Fellow and Sustainability Leader

We are saddened to commemorate another extraordinary architect who left our world far too soon. Lance Hosey was a leader on the fight for climate action, a talented designer and practitioner, and a terrific volunteer leader for our AIA Chapter and others.

Most recently in a top leadership role as HMC’s Chief Impact Officer, a newly created position to lead the firm’s sustainability efforts, Lance will be missed by his colleagues at HMC and AIA, both locally and nationwide.

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Remembering Lance Hosey

By Bruce Boul, Communications Director, HMC Architects

As humans, we struggle to embrace the magic of momentary connections. We hope—even expect—that everyone who crosses our path is here to stay. But as Robert Frost said of nature’s first green, “nothing gold can stay.”

So, we’re left with the magic.

Lance’s time with us at HMC was ephemeral. His impact, monumental. In just 14 months, he showed us a fleeting glimpse of what the future looked like. And it was epic.

It was as if he was sent here from another time to tell us some things and then was on his way. Lance joined HMC in June 2020 as the architecture industry’s first chief impact officer. He was the embodiment of HMC’s mission to anticipate community needs and create designs that have a positive impact. Maybe that’s why he felt so at home here.

For someone so unapologetic in his rally cry to design aesthetically attractive buildings with low (or zero) energy, his energy was off the charts. At HMC, he oversaw design and sustainability and served as our civic practice leader. He led strategies to improve the impact of HMC’s work and ensure that we are fulfilling our mission to serve communities. He became a mentor to younger designers. Designed a zero-carbon concept community in Lagos, Nigeria, that was featured in The New York Times among 16 projects looking ahead to a greener, healthier, and more equitable world. And was leading the design of a new Honeybee Discovery Center in Orland, California that aims to be one of the world's smartest buildings and the nation's only center of its kind. All this while leading the firm's internal design awards competition, which takes place this October during HMC Design Week.

He pushed us to do better. Be better. To explore new ways to improve the impact of design: socially, economically, and environmentally. To cast off trends and focus on the idea that a building looks the way it does because it works the way it does. To design buildings and communities that are not just good-looking but good for us. And what we consider to be good design could become less about what designers like, and more about what makes us all healthier and happier.

His legacy will be felt at HMC for many years to come because he shifted the culture of design and the way we approach our projects. He excited our spirit and stirred our minds.

That’s the magic.

You can read Lance's obituary at lancehosey.com.

Plans for services are pending, as are discussions about scholarship and research funds in his name. I will share that information as it becomes available.

Share a Memory About Lance

AIA San Diego invites you to commemorate Lance by sharing a memory, anecdote, or kind words. We won’t publish these notes, but we may share them with Lance’s wife, Kate, as she prepares his service.