June 2021 - Hoffmann Architects, an architecture and engineering firm specializing in the rehabilitation of building exteriors, announces that Arthur L. Sanders, AIA has retired after 30 years with the firm.

Last January, Hoffmann Architects celebrated Art Sanders’ retirement from Hoffmann Architects, although he has remained with the firm since then in a limited capacity as Director, Special Projects. After more than 30 years, he had his last day on Friday, May 28.

On October 8, 1990, Sanders joined Hoffmann Architects as Project Manager. On his first day, he stepped into the spacious new Connecticut office at 432 Washington Avenue in North Haven, where Hoffmann Architects would remain for the next 15 years, until the 2005 move to Hamden. Already an experienced design professional, Sanders was a graduate of Yale University and a Certified Construction Document Technologist with the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI). He immediately went to work on one of the firm’s most ambitious projects: the Dome of the United States Capitol. Sanders’ first article on the project, “Hoffmann Architects Does Study for U.S. Capitol Dome Problem,” appeared in the March/April 1991 issue of CSA/AIA News. Later that year, his Dome water penetration study received the prestigious AIA New England Regional Council Design Award.

Sanders went on to oversee assessment, design, re-evaluation, stabilization, and, finally, complete restoration of the U.S. Capitol Dome over the course of the next 20 years. His expertise and leadership provided steadfast guidance for the project through the tenure of several Architects of the Capitol, presidential administrations, and sessions of Congress. As he worked to determine the best repair techniques for the thin yet massive cast iron, the historic float glass windows, and the layers of lead-based paint, he brought emerging professionals from Hoffmann Architects with him and provided mentorship and meaningful real-world experience on a high-profile project. Junior designers under his tutelage have since become senior architects and owners of the firm in their own right, carrying on the work he taught them and, now, leading in his stead.

The Capitol Dome project went on to win several prestigious design and preservation awards, as have a number of Sanders’ other projects. As a sought-after building enclosure consultant, he has also collaborated on the project teams for award-winning projects, from restoration to new construction. His expert testimony and litigation support have been instrumental in providing valuable documentation for cases related to standard of care and construction failure. In 1998, Hoffmann Architects recognized Sanders’ contributions by appointing him as director of the Connecticut office, a post he held until 2017, when Larry Keenan, AIA, PE took over the position. In his twenty years overseeing the Connecticut technical staff, Sanders built strong bonds with his colleagues, especially those emerging professionals in the firm who came to him for guidance, support, and education.

Over the course of a thirty-year career at Hoffmann Architects, Sanders has worked on some of the most noteworthy landmarks on the eastern seaboard. Along with the U.S. Capitol Dome, he worked on the U.S. Botanic Garden, the Capitol West Terrace, and the Air Force Academy Chapel. Headquarters buildings for MasterCard, UBS, General Electric, Hartford Insurance, Random House, IBM, and Nine West, along with Xerox Document University and the former Southern New England Telephone headquarters, were among his corporate clients. Academic institutions, including his alma matter, Yale, as well as the University of Connecticut, Southern Connecticut State University, Quinnipiac University, Fairfield University, Vassar College, the University of Pennsylvania, and dozens of private and public K-12 schools, from Choate Rosemary Hall to all 16 Fairfield Public Schools, are but some of his many educational facility projects. He is known for his consultation on the new Oklahoma State Capitol Dome, his building envelope rehabilitation of the Modernist landmark First Presbyterian Church in Stamford, and his investigation of the Chrysler Building facade and spire, which launched the NYC Landmarks Conservancy Lucy G. Moses Award-winning restoration project.

Sanders wrote his first technical article for the Hoffmann Architects JOURNAL in 1993, on glazed brick deterioration, and followed with nine more JOURNAL articles, on topics from historic copper roofing, marble, brick, and terra cotta to EIFS and sealant joints. His work has appeared in a wide range of industry publications, including The Construction Specifier, Papyrus, The Aggregate, Building Operating Management, Buildings, High-Profile, and Construction Canada. He is past president of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, served three terms as president for the Construction Specifications Institute Housatonic Chapter, and spent more than 15 years as representative to the Industry Practice Committee for the Connecticut Building Congress. He is also a longstanding member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Hoffmann Architects is privileged to have benefitted from Art Sanders’ leadership, technical expertise, innovative design strategies, client rapport, and mentorship for the past 30 years. He has been at the core of what defined Hoffmann Architects’ signature approach to exemplary standards of design and construction detailing, and he has helped shape what the firm has become today.