Donna Barry & Jose Pombo

Donna Barry and Jose Pombo, founding principals of Phoenix-based architecture firm Substance Design Consortium, will join the corporate leadership of HMC Architects as a result of a merger between the two firms. Barry joins the firm as design principal, while Pombo will serve as associate principal and senior project manager.

Barry and Pombo founded Substance Design Consortium in 2007 and have focused their practice on creating high-performance architectural solutions that maximize program requirements while responding to the natural environment. Their concentration on public and community-based facilities will complement HMC’s 71-year history of specialization in the justice, healthcare, education, and civic markets.

Substance Design Consortium will merge with HMC’s existing Tempe, AZ., office, led by principal-in-charge Erik Hanson and design principal David De Valeria. Hanson will continue to manage the combined downtown Phoenix studio.