It is with gratitude and appreciation for his decades of leadership contributions that Quinn Evans announces the retirement of Larry Barr, FAIA.

Larry joined Quinn Evans in 1984 and went on to serve in project leadership roles for some of the firm’s most prominent and well-known work. He was part of firm leadership for 37 years, ultimately becoming Quinn Evans’ president from 2011-2022. As president, he oversaw a period of extraordinary growth in the firm’s size and profile; today, Quinn Evans is one of the nation’s largest women-owned design firms and the recipient of the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA’s) Architecture Firm Award for 2024.

It would be difficult to overstate the impact and influence of Larry Barr on Quinn Evans and many of us who worked with him professionally and personally over the past four decades. We wish him the best for this well-earned next chapter.

ALYSON STEELE, FAIA, LEED AP | QUINN EVANS PRESIDENT & CEO

Larry earned a Bachelor of Science in 1980 and a Master of Architecture in 1982 from the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. After graduating, he relocated to Washington, DC, where he connected with Michael Quinn, FAIA, also a U of M architecture graduate, and took a job with Preservation Urban Design, Inc. Soon after Mike and David Evans, FAIA, split off to form Quinn Evans Architects in 1984, Larry joined them as the firm’s first employee.

Larry’s distinguished career focused on the modernization and transformation of historic buildings and sites to ensure their continued relevance for new generations. He was especially skilled at balancing contemporary mandates with preservation imperatives to enhance physical, intellectual, and cultural access at many of our nation’s treasured places. He helped renew countless aging structures as vibrant properties that enhance communities and boost economies while sustaining their rich architectural heritage.

A notable early project is the renovation of the Concert Hall at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where Quinn Evans acted as the architect of record and implemented the tenets of the then-new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The project won an Award of Excellence from AIA|DC and was widely praised for its seamless integration of ADA requirements. Washington Post columnist and wheelchair user Charles Krauthammer wrote that “for the disabled, the new Concert Hall is a marvel: You go in on your own, you go out on your own; no one to ask, no one to thank. Nothing to do but, like everyone else, enjoy. For those in wheelchairs, having an everyone-else experience in a public building is a rare thing indeed.”

In 1999, Larry was elevated to firm vice president and managing principal of the Washington, DC, office, which continued its partnership with the Kennedy Center by renovating each of its remaining major venues in turn: the Opera House (2003), Eisenhower Theater (2008), and Terrace Theater (2017); Larry served as the principal in charge for each of the renewals. The early 2000s also saw the firm develop a relationship with the Smithsonian Institution that would lead to hundreds of projects over the following decades, including multiple projects at the National Zoo and National Museum of Natural History and culminating in the modernization of the National Air and Space Museum—another project for which Larry served as the principal in charge.

A key project from this time is the National Academy of Sciences, a sprawling building on the National Mall comprised of wings dating to the 1920s-1970s. Larry was the principal in charge of a comprehensive modernization of the facility, including multiple infill additions. The renovation and expansion attained LEED Gold certification and won several awards for design and historic preservation, proving that historic buildings can be adapted to perform at the highest levels without compromising their character. David Maloney, DC’s State Historic Preservation Officer, said “the preservation and conservation treatments deployed on the lavish interior met the highest standards of conservation and can serve as examples for others to emulate.”

Larry succeeded Mike Quinn as Quinn Evans’ president and CEO in 2011. His presidency was a period of dramatic growth for Quinn Evans, which more than tripled in size under his leadership. At first, this growth was organic, driven by ever larger and higher profile projects such as the National Air and Space Museum and the revitalization and adaptive reuse of Detroit’s Michigan Central Station. The firm also grew through the acquisition of multiple local, community revitalization-oriented firms, including Centric Design Studio in Detroit, Michigan; Wnuk Spurlock in Washington, DC; Cho Benn Holback + Associates in Baltimore, Maryland; and BCWH Architects in Richmond, Virginia.  

Larry has been able to push Quinn Evans’ practice and help it grow—both in terms of people and the work we do. He’s been an instrumental part of the firm’s trajectory, setting a path for its continued success in the future.

TOM JESTER, FAIA, FAPT, LEED AP | QUINN EVANS PRINCIPAL & COO

Larry looks forward to embracing this next life stage by traveling with his wife, Vickie; becoming involved in his new local community; spending more time on the golf course (including the pursuit of the elusive single-digit handicap); becoming a grill master; and spending more time with his daughter, Mya, and her husband.