"Bill is absolutely approachable and very down to earth," says Patrick MacLeamy, CEO of HOK. Given some of the egos in the industry, it's easy to see how some may be thrown off when meeting the ego-free, genuinely friendly ball-of-energy that is Valentine.

"I expected somebody quite different from the person I encountered when I got to know Bill. Given his stature and what he's done, I expected someone full of himself," recalls William H. Rastetter, Ph.D., former executive chairman at Biogen Idec, who met Valentine when HOK designed Biogen Idec's San Diego corporate campus (pictured) in 2004. But, he adds, "Bill has an ability to dialogue that creates collaborative space that is not only architecturally beautiful and functional, but also meets the emotional and work needs of the client."

"I just love his bubbling personality," says Ray Anderson, founder of Interface and a friend of Valentine's. "There is no such thing as a glass half empty. In fact, I don't even think a glass half full works with Bill. Every glass, for him, is nearly full. He has the most positive outlook."

Forty-four years later, Valentine remains an active part of the firm. "It was the perfect place for me," he says, adding that working alongside Gyo Obata was "a hell of a lot of fun." And after all these years, Valentine still enjoys coming to work each day. "I became addicted to it," he admits with a laugh. "Even my family thinks of HOK as family." It's a feeling that pervades the firm, MacLeamy says, noting, "We've all come to think of the HOK family as something special, and Bill is right at the heart of it."

Regardless of a project's size, Valentine is unabashedly client centered, believing that each client has an important voice.

Take, for example, the Biogen Idec Nobel Research and Corporate Campus. Valentine assumed then-executive chairman Rastetter would want a space with a strong identity that projected to an adjacent freeway. But "that was the remotest thing in my mind," Rastetter recalls. He told Valentine: "This is a space for the employees, not the public. It is not a banner or proclamation of our greatness." The design process that followed, Rastetter recalls, "started with how a space should feel rather than look." The resulting the 360,000-sq.-ft. projects remains one of Valentine's favorites, and it includes several offices, laboratories, and a common building that stretch across the campus like an Italian village clustered on a hillside. Connectivity – among colleagues, company divisions, and buildings – is emphasized throughout the design, from informal outdoor and indoor meeting spaces to glass bridges that span between buildings.

Source: "Legend Award: At the Heart of It," Contract, January 2007, by Katie Weeks. Read the story.

More From Contract Editor in Chief Jennifer Busch:
"Valentine's passion and unbridled enthusiasm for design and life are still highly apparent in everything he does. Not the least bit content to rest on his laurels, earned from a long and distinguished design career that has included significant leadership roles at one of the world's largest and most corporate design firms, Valentine still is looking for ways to improve the industry and his clients' businesses.

"His current and ongoing passion for sustainable design in architecture and his genuine humility and kindness also speak to his commitment to improving the world around him. In the end, Valentine's legacy surely will be greater than the buildings he has designed."

Source: "Editorial: Nice Guys Finish First," Contract, January 2007.

More From Yahoo News (January 29, 2007):
Valentine joined HOK in 1962 and is currently based in the firm's San Francisco office. A vocal advocate for sustainability within the firm and profession, Valentine actively promotes his definition of "good design" as a simple idea, elegantly executed and inspiring, with social significance and in harmony with the environment.

"The Legend Award is a fitting tribute to a man who has had a profound positive impact on numerous clients, colleagues and the next generation of architects," says HOK CEO Patrick MacLeamy.

Valentine's notable projects include the Biogen Idec Research and Development Campus in San Diego; Natural Science Building at the University of California, Irvine; Nortel Campus in Ottawa, Canada; Adobe Systems Inc. World Headquarters in San Jose; Levi's Plaza in San Francisco; Microsoft Augusta Site Campus in Redmond, Washington; Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco; Phoenix Municipal Courthouse; and King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.