History

Richard B. Hudgens Architect was formed in March 1979 and was based in Linden, Alabama which is located in the “Black Belt” region of Alabama. Mr. Hudgens’ roots go back seven generations in this region of Alabama and the firm was formed four years after Mr. Hudgens graduated from Auburn University with degrees in Architecture and Building Science. The firm has completed a comprehensive range of projects over the past thirty-seven years including: renovation of existing public housing projects and new public housing projects; new schools and renovation of existing schools; new National Guard armories and maintenance facilities; new assisted living facilities; hospital emergency rooms; medical offices and clinics both new and renovations; day care facilities; housing for youths with special needs; historic hotel renovations and additions; new office buildings; house museums and visitor’s centers for historic parks; private residential projects including renovation, restoration and additions to historic houses; repairs and restoration to historic churches; renovation and restoration to historic city halls; historic lighting fixture restoration and renovation; and specialized historic interior and exterior finishes including soft and hard furnishings.

The firm has specialized in historic renovation and restoration projects throughout Alabama and Mississippi. In order to improve his qualifications in the preservation field of architecture, Mr. Hudgens attended Attingham Summer School in Shropshire, England in 1982 where the intensive course was lead by members of the British National Trust and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Two years later in 1984, Mr. Hudgens continued his education at West Dean College in England and completed their architectural conservation course where the emphasis was on protecting the historic fabric of buildings with modern conservation methods.

Preservation

The firm began work on historic projects for the Alabama Historical Commission in the 1980’s and prides itself on over thirty years of successful projects with the Alabama Historical Commission. All of the buildings in the Alabama Historical Commission Museum Projects are on the National Register and several are National Historic Landmarks. Many of the private historic projects are on the National Register as well. The firm is very familiar with the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for Historic Preservation and the review process with the National Park Services and State and Local Historic Review Boards.

The firm was hired by the City of Selma, Alabama to write its Historic Ordinance and also serves as advisor to the Architectural Review Board. Selma has the largest number of historic districts of any City in Alabama and all structures in those districts are subject to review by the Architectural Review Board.

In 1989 Mr. Hudgens moved the firm from Linden, Alabama to Selma, Alabama where it is currently located. Selma is the largest city in Alabama’s Black Belt region which is the home to some of the grandest antebellum buildings in the state. Many of the historic buildings the firm works on are repaired, renovated, or restored in phases over several years. This approach can actually enrich a project because it gives more time for research and analysis of the building and time for the Owners to refine their program. Very careful analysis and observation is required of a building before a major project is begun. The firm has understood that expert consultants in historic materials and finishes are required to solve complex problems that are very often the result of multiple factors in historic buildings. The firm has built a very successful relationship with experts in these fields completing numerous projects together.

Mission

The firm’s mission is to continue to preserve our architectural heritage in the South and enable it to retain its historic integrity while successfully adjusting to the technological innovations of the future.

Vision

The firm’s vision is that our built environment is a three dimensional link to the past and without it we as a people loose context as to our place in the world. It is imperative that we understand where we have come from in order to understand what kind of world we want to create. By contributing to the preservation and continued use of our historic structures, landscapes, and furnishings from the smallest most mundane to the grandest and most opulent; we enable future generations to better understand what their heritage is and what their context is in the world. We are not just American citizens anymore; we are world citizens now with many common values. Our built heritage helps make us unique.

 

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Qualifications

  • Richard B. Hudgens, President
    Richard B. Hudgens Architect, Inc.
  • Bachelor of Architecture, Auburn University 1975
    Bachelor of Science in Building Construction, Auburn University 1975
  • Graduate of Attingham Summer School
    Shropshire, England 1982
  • Graduate of Architectural Conservation Course
    West Dean College, England 1984
  • National Council Architectural Registration Boards
    NCARB Certificate No. 37829
  • Architectural Consultant to the Selma Historical Development Commission
  • Instructor, Rural Studio
    Historic Architecture Seminar
    College of Architecture, Design, and Construction
    Auburn University
  • Member American Institute of Architects
    Member Montgomery Chapter, American Institute of Architects (former President)
    Member National Trust
    Member Alabama Trust (former Board Member)
    Member Alabama Historical Association
    Member Southern Garden History Society
    Member Selma/Dallas County Historical Preservation Society

Resume

Mr. Hudgens began his firm in 1979 in Linden, Alabama and relocated the firm to Selma, Alabama in 1989. The firm has a general architectural practice centered in West Alabama and has specialized in historical restoration and renovation projects; especially tax act projects throughout Alabama and as a consultant in Mississippi.

As a consultant to the City of Selma, Mr. Hudgens drafted the new Historic Ordinance for Selma’s Historic Districts.

Mr. Hudgens was the architectural representative for the National Trust Study Team that visited Ashland, Wisconsin to help them begin their Main Street Project in 1991.

Mr. Hudgens received the Distinguished Service Award from the Alabama Historical Commission in November 1996 for Career Achievement in Historic Preservation work.

Mr. Hudgens has been a speaker at numerous meetings of the Live-In-A-Landmark Society and Alabama Historical Commission Conferences over the years.

Mr. Hudgens regularly attends regional antique forums in the South.

Mr. Hudgens is a private consultant to individuals in appraising nineteenth century American furniture and decorative arts.

Mr. Hudgens has consulted with and worked with Marvin Schwartz, curator of nineteenth century decorative arts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and co-author of the book, The Furniture of John Henry Belter and the Roccoco Revival on the interiors of Sturdivant Hall House Museum in Selma, Alabama. As a former member of the Board of Directors of Sturdivant Hall; Mr. Hudgens was Chairman of the House Committee and wrote a plan for the reinterpretation of the interiors.

Mr. Hudgens has worked closely with Historic New England, formerly The Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, in procuring their services to provide a paint analysis of the interiors and exterior of the St. James Hotel, an 1837 antebellum riverfront hotel in Selma, Alabama and of the interiors of the Jemison – Van de Graaff mansion in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Mr. Hudgens has also worked closely with R.S. Webb and Associates who provided the archaeological testing and data recovery work at the St. James Hotel site.

Mr. Hudgens has consulted with U.S. Axminster to recreate period nineteenth century carpeting for the Jemison – Van de Graff mansion in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Mr. Hudgens is an Adjunct Professor at Auburn University’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction Rural Studio in Newbern, Alabama. Mr. Hudgens currently teaches an Architectural History Seminar and Watercolor class and formerly taught Materials and Methods I and Architectural History I. One of the class subjects is the history of architecture in West Alabama and teaches the students about nineteenth century antebellum Alabama residential architecture and period interiors.

Mr. Hudgens received The Education Honors Program Honorable Mention Award from the American Institute of Architects in June of 1995 for the work of the Rural Studio.

Mr. Hudgens has successfully completed numerous Historic Restoration Projects and projects that have qualified for Historic Preservation Tax Credits over the past 36 years, including buildings listed on the National Register, National Historic Landmarks, and buildings contributing to National Register Historic Districts.

Mr. Hudgens was the historic architectural consultant on the renovation and restoration of the 1914 Beaux Arts Meridian City Hall in Meridian, Mississippi. Mr. Hudgens was responsible for the restoration of the exterior architectural terra cotta, replication of historic windows and worked closely with George Fore, an architectural materials and finishes specialist, on the restoration of the historic plaster, marble, wood, scagliola, and decorative paint finishes inside the building as well as replication of historic light fixtures.

Mr. Hudgens has successfully completed numerous projects for the Alabama Historical Commission on their National Register properties over the past 30 years including multiple phases on their properties over the years.

 

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