Laurie Hughet-Hiller, AIA, To Lead Firm’s Client-Development Initiatives
Laurie Hughet-Hiller, AIA, is McIntosh Poris Associates’ newest Principal. Her project portfolio with the firm includes The Assembly (left), a former warehouse reborn as a residential and commercial mixed-use property, and DuCharme Place apartments (right). Photos: Justin Maconochie (buildings), John D’Angelo (portrait). Click here for high-resolution images.
DETROIT: Laurie Hughet-Hiller, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, NCARB, has become a Principal of McIntosh Poris Associates. She will share the firm leadership with co-founding Principal Michael Poris, AIA, and Principal John Skok, AIA.
“Laurie’s recognized expertise in a broad range of project types has helped make our firm known for seamlessly blending award-winning design with the practicality of client needs,” says Poris. “Her excellent client-centric skills will help expand our client base, allowing John Skok to focus on operations and me to concentrate on design oversight.”
A designer and registered architect focused on experience-driven design that makes an impact, Hughet-Hiller leads projects from concept to completion and serves as the client’s key contact. In addition to her existing design and project-management role alongside Poris and Skok, Hughet-Hiller will manage the 16-person firm’s business-development initiatives to expand the firm’s client portfolio of real estate developers, hotel and restaurant operators, private homeowners, non-profit organizations, and cultural institutes, along with Detroit-based entrepreneurs and innovators.
During her two tenures at McIntosh Poris (2012-2017 and 2019-present), Hughet-Hiller has helped preserve and build on Detroit’s rich architectural history. “As a University of Michigan alum, I have a deep affinity for the Metro Detroit area,” she says. “I began my career in Los Angeles and returned to Detroit in 2009 to help contribute to the city’s revitalization. The most gratifying part of our work at McIntosh Poris Associates is being involved in projects that are both aesthetically significant and make a positive impact in the community.”
Hughet-Hiller has worked on a wide range of award-winning housing, hospitality, retail, education, and corporate projects in the Metro Detroit area, including The Assembly and DuCharme Place Apartments, Prime + Proper and Townhouse restaurants, The District Market at Little Caesars Arena, and Michigan Research Studio. She has been recognized for her professional accomplishments with the 2017 AIA Michigan Young Architect Award and the 2020 AIA Detroit Young Architect Award.
Hughet-Hiller is active in several professional and community organizations. She sat on the Board of Directors for both the AIA Michigan and AIA Detroit Chapters from 2020 to 2021 and has participated in several of the Institute’s Task Forces and committees. “It was exciting to be a part of the gender and racially diverse AIA Detroit board the past two years,” she reflects. Committed to advancing the success of women in the profession, Hughet-Hiller has also been a leader in CREW (Commercial Real Estate Women) Detroit as a board member and committee chair.
Born into an artistic family, Hughet-Hiller’s late father, Roger Hughet, was Assistant Chief Designer at General Motors, credited with designing the 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am and having significant influence on the 1984 C4 Corvette. Hughet-Hiller gravitated toward art and design growing up, and her father’s GM colleagues remember a “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” when Hughet-Hiller said at about age 10 that she wanted to be an architect when she grew up.
Hughet-Hiller earned both her B.S. in Architecture and her Master of Architecture from the Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor). She was on the Dean’s List as an undergrad and received her Master’s degree with High Distinction, spending a semester studying in Florence, Italy, as part of that program.
About McIntosh Poris Associates
McIntosh Poris Associates believes in the power of design as a catalyst for change, transforming communities through creative, interactive city building. Since 1994, the architects and urbanists of McIntosh Poris Associates have delivered architecture, interior, and urban design services for commercial, residential, and institutional clients across the U.S. Led by principals Michael Poris, AIA, John Skok, AIA, and Laurie Hughet-Hiller, AIA, Detroit-based McIntosh Poris Associates has won more than 160 design awards, including 30 regional and national AIA awards (23 for projects in Detroit) and a ULI Global Award for Excellence.
