Forty Under 40: Brad Kingsley

Brad Kingsley developed an interest in architecture starting in middle school and initially was more interested in cities and urban planning.

High school mentors led him to consider an architecture career. The Hutchinson, Kan., native earned an architecture degree from Kansas State University and received a Master of Science in architecture and urban design from Columbia University in 2010.

Kingsley and Hufft founder Matthew Hufft were Columbia graduates and became acquainted. Kingsley joined the Kansas City, Mo.-based design and fabrication firm in 2015.

He was charged with leading a new project in Bentonville and spent a lot of time traveling between there and Kansas City. Meanwhile, Kingsley was developing new Northwest Arkansas relationships, leading to several other projects.

In 2016, Hufft opened a Bentonville office, and Kingsley moved here to lead it.

Kingsley oversees the design and management of about $150 million in construction projects throughout Northwest Arkansas. Recently, Hufft started the design work for the University of Arkansas’ Institute for Integrative and Innovative Research, an $89 million research building. Other projects include 8th Street Market, Thaden Fieldhouse and BlakeSt., all in Bentonville.

“We want to do meaningful work that’s meaningful to the community and meaningful to the people who use the buildings,” Kingsley said.

Hufft has six employees in Bentonville and 35 across the company. Since launching 14 years ago, the company has worked on 600 projects.

Before Hufft, Kingsley worked at Helix Architecture + Design in Kansas City and Thomas Phifer and Partners and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, both in New York.