Guilherme Almeida

Biography: Hi, I’m Gui Almeida, AIA, LEED GA, Fitwel Ambassador, an Associate Principal and Design Director at Hickok Cole, an architecture and design firm based in Washington DC. I bring close to two decades of experience designing commercial office and multifamily projects nationally. Originally from Brazil, I’ve been fortunate to immerse myself in a range of cultures - growing up in Venezuela, studying as an undergraduate in Rome, and earning my graduate degree in Paris from The Catholic University of America. Throughout my career, I’ve led the design of a wide variety of project types, from luxury concrete high-rises and mass timber hybrid structures to downtown adaptive reuse conversions and affordable wood-frame housing. Many of these projects involved complex approval processes with local AHJ's like the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA), Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), Old Georgetown Board (OGB), and the Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) - processes I’ve successfully navigated and led. I currently lead Hickok Cole’s sustainability and high-performance design initiatives - efforts that began with one of my proudest professional milestones: helping secure and design the first net-zero energy commercial office building renovation on the East Coast, completed for the American Geophysical Union. That groundbreaking project catalyzed the Hickok Cole’s broader sustainability commitment. Since then, we’ve become signatories to the AIA 2030 Commitment and have focused on reducing the embodied carbon footprint of our work through innovations such as mass timber construction. I have had the honor of serving a three-year term on the AIA Strategic Council, contributing to conversations that help shape the future of the institute and the profession. As a result of that involvement, I was awarded the 2023 AIA Louise Blanchard Bethune Fellowship award, which honors retiring AIA Strategic Council members for their significant contributions to the profession. I’m actively involved in both local and national organizations such as NAIOP, recently founded the LGBTQ+ employee resource group at Hickok Cole, an initiative that brings me particular pride.