History

Be completely devoted to the client. Give him what he's supposed to get: attention, unique design and quality of construction.

-William B. Harvard, Sr.

When William B. Harvard, Sr. moved to St. Petersburg, Florida in the summer of 1938, both he and his newly adopted hometown began to recognize the promise of things to come.

Newly registered as an architect and four years out of the University of Cincinnati, Harvard saw opportunity in a community of fewer than 60,000 residents that was still suffering the residual torpor of the Great Depression. Harvard believed that there was a chance to do things differently in St. Petersburg—to go against the tide of Mediterranean Revival architecture with a design concept he called "modern tropical." Harvard’s climate-conscious use of warm woods, balconies and cross-ventilation quickly stimulated a thriving residential design practice.

When Harvard returned to St. Petersburg after serving in the Corps of Engineers for five years during World War II, he continued to design homes and soon began earning commercial assignments. One of his first commercial assignments was the expansion of St. Joseph's Hospital, which was then located near downtown Tampa. This began a 60-year client relationship with St. Joseph’s Hospital, and set the foundation for a healthcare design practice that would prove vital to the firm's growth.

The St. Joseph's assignment also started another relationship when Blanchard E. Jolly joined the firm as a junior draftsman. Jolly promptly earned a promotion to associate status and then partner when the firm became Harvard + Jolly in 1961.

The mid-1950s provided a challenge that Harvard described as "a breakthrough in our thinking." The City of St. Petersburg tasked Harvard to replace its aging Williams Park Band Shell and Pavilion. The new design was regarded as revolutionary and prompted one local journalist to write that Harvard "broke the crust of tradition downtown for all local designers." The project was awarded numerous times throughout 1954, and 30 years later it won a coveted Test of Time Award from the American Institute of Architects.

One product of the 1960s that remains among Florida Suncoast's most widely recognized architectural emblems is the dramatic "folded roof" design of the Pasadena Community Church, acclaimed as "one of America's most striking examples of contemporary religious architecture."

The firm completed the iconic Municipal Pier in 1973. The structure’s revolutionary inverted pyramid design altered the downtown St. Petersburg skyline. Harvard + Jolly evolved further in the ‘70s when three architects brought their unique expertise to the practice: Enrique M. Marcet, R. John Clees and Harvard's son, William B. Harvard, Jr. This spurred significant growth in the firm’s healthcare and education design practices.

Both relatively recent University of Florida graduates, Clees and Harvard were still in the formative phase of their careers. Marcet's story was far different, however. A successful architect in Cuba, he left his homeland after the 1959 revolution with only a small amount of money in his shoe.

When the firm opened a Tampa office in 1976, the firm became Harvard, Jolly, Marcet & Associates. The practice rose to new prominence, particularly among healthcare providers. The firm worked on numerous projects to develop St. Anthony's Hospital in St. Petersburg and St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa.

In the 1980s, the firm took on a massive development project for the Bay Pines Veterans’ Administration Medical Center. In addition, their education practice flourished when they started to design educational prototypes, which have consistently proven their adaptability and economy to this day. The firm also embarked on fine arts projects, including the Salvador Dali Museum and the classic Museum of Fine Arts second floor addition.

In the early 1990s, the firm designed the four-building Caples Fine Arts Center complex in Sarasota and the extensively renovated Marina Civic Center in Panama City. The St. Petersburg Historical and Flight One Museum was also expanded to showcase a full-scale replica of the world's first scheduled commercial airliner.

Today, William B. Harvard's one-man practice has evolved into a regional enterprise with offices in St. Petersburg, Tampa, Ft. Myers, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Punta Gorda and Savannah, Georgia. As the firm enters its seventh decade, Harvard Jolly remains true to Harvard’s tenets.