A History of Building Community
Founded in 1945, Parkhill started with a vision to bring innovative and practical design solutions to the challenges faced by people in West Texas. Three consulting engineers embarked on a mission to revitalize the post-World War II economy in Lubbock, Texas. Their constant collaboration, contagious passion, and true grit established a lasting legacy of building strong, resilient communities and putting people first.
Over the course of 80 years of continuous practice, Parkhill has grown to be a nationally ranked firm for research, design, thought leadership, and financial stewardship.
Here is a trip back in time that highlights some of Parkhill’s most notable achievements.
2025
Parkhill Expands in Fort Worth
2024
Parkhill Acquires Chahta Architecture
Parkhill expanded its Oklahoma presence by acquiring CHAHTA Architecture, which is based in Oklahoma City. CHAHTA Architecture has a long-standing tradition of delivering excellence, and this new chapter marks a significant step forward in Parkhill’s commitment to building community and fostering growth across the state.
2020
Cardinal Engineering, Lemke Land Surveying Merge with Parkhill
Parkhill merges with Cardinal Engineers and Lemke Land Surveying and opens offices in Oklahoma City, Norman, Woodward. Cardinal’s expertise, culture and values aligned seamlessly with Parkhill, providing more benefits for clients and new opportunities for employees. The addition of Lemke Land Surveying brought a highly specialized skillset in land surveying and geospatial mapping.
2018
Arlington Office Opens with Schrickel Rollins Merger
Schrickel, Rollins & Associates, Inc. (SRA) merged with Parkhill in 2018, diversifying its service offerings and building on Parkhill’s presence and culture in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro area. The two firms had already worked together on several projects as partners and trusted advisors in each’s own right, and the many shared values made the merge only more natural. Parkhill gained valuable skills and experience that have helped the firm stay competitive in DFW and led to the formation of the new Landscape Architecture and Planning Sector.
2016
Albuquerque Office Opens in 2016 with Gordon Environmental
Albuquerque-based Gordon Environmental Inc. (GEI) merged with Parkhill in 2016. The addition of GEI’s impressive portfolio of work and outstanding reputation gives Parkhill’s New Mexico presence a considerable boost. GEI adds their highly respected and sought-after solid waste engineering expertise to the firm’s strong solid waste program as well as a broad base of private, municipal and other governmental clients.
2015
Parkhill Launches Building Community Investment
Parkhill’s mission statement of Building Community reaches far beyond the vast amount of architecture and engineering projects. Since the program’s inception in 2015, Parkhill has donated more than $3 million to fund numerous projects for community organizations. Parkhill employees also volunteer at local soup kitchens, canned food drives, and fundraisers to directly build community with the people in the organizations they help.
2015
Parkhill Opens Offices in Frisco and Austin
Frisco was Parkhill’s first office location in the DFW area. Since its establishment in 2015, the Frisco team has grown from primarily serving the Community Sector to providing Landscape Architecture & Planning, K-12, Treatment and Environmental expertise among others. Parkhill’s Austin office got off to a quick start when clients like Austin ISD, the City of Cedar Park and the Texas Facilities Commission. The office maintains its strong ties to K-12 and Higher Education design, but it houses a diverse group of professionals in Education, Community, Aviation and Healthcare.
2013
Parkhill Completes T-Bar Well Field and Pipeline
The T-Bar Well Field and Pipeline Project was once described by former City of Midland Mayor, Wes Perry, as “the biggest project the city of Midland has ever accomplished … and will provide a water supply for at least the next 40 years.” This massive project was completed in 2013 and included 45 production wells, 67 miles of 58-inch pipeline, and 20 miles of 8-to-36-inch collection lines to provide Midland with water for many years. The project garnered national recognition, including Engineering News Record’s 2013 Best Projects in Texas & Louisiana Award of Merit, the Design-Build Institute of America’s Award of Merit, and Tnemec’s 2014 Tank of the Year.
2012
Parkhill Merges with Tittle Luther Partnership and Opens Abeline Office
In 2012, Tittle Luther Partnership, established in 1957, merged with Parkhill and established the Abilene office. TLP’s legacy for providing architecture and interior design services has since expanded to include civil, structural, electrical, and mechanical engineering as well as landscape architecture, sustainability, and ADA accessibility specialists since the merger.
2011
Parkhill Merges with WD Architects
In 2011, Parkhill merged with WD Architects, which expanded this office’s services from primarily engineering to include a full complement of architectural services. This level of expertise and experience allows Parkhill to accommodate the area’s 21st Century public-sector needs above the ground, below the surface and everywhere in between.
1992
Parkhill Opens Amarillo Office
Since the Amarillo office’s establishment in 1992, its fourth location is a significant example of classic modern design with Art Deco detailing.
1979
Midland Office Opens
In 1979, Parkhill opened the Midland office, which is today located on Wall Street less than a mile from Downtown Midland. The firm has owned the two story, concrete structure since 2008 and designed a total interior renovation since occupying the building. Parkhill opened the Midland office on the strength of Kyle Womack’s relationship with Midland International Airport. “He knew a lot of people and built relationships throughout the community. He was key to the success of the office growing so much, I believe – I really do,” said Darcy Knight, the Midland office’s first bookkeeper.
1975
Atcheson, Cartwright & Associates Merge with PSC
James E. “Jimmy” Atcheson opened a one-man architecture firm in 1945, the same year Parkhill was established. He added Atmar Atkinson as a partner in 1950 and then Edward W. “Bill” Cartwright was named a partner in 1955. The firm became Atcheson, Atkinson, Cartwright and Rorex when the partners added Evelyn Rorex. Shortly after, Parkhill offered Bill and Jimmy a chance to join the firm, and in 1975 AACR split into two firms with Atcheson and Cartwright becoming a division of Parkhill.
1963
Parkhill is Incorporated
Parkhill’s founders incorporated the business on Sept. 18, 1963, naming Gordon Parkhill the firm’s first President. Key completed projects at this time included the Lubbock County Buffalo Springs Reservoir Dam & Access Road, Odessa Elevated Storage Reservoir and Water Treatment Plant and utilities for housing units at Fort Bliss. Parkhill began work that same year on the El Paso Water Haskell Street Water Treatment Plant—one of the pioneer re-use projects in the nation.
1958
Parkhill Opens El Paso Office
In 1958, Gordon Parkhill — one of Parkhill’s three founders — moved to El Paso to organize the firm’s second location at the Anson Mills Building in Downtown El Paso. Their current office is their fourth location, occupying the historic Firestone Tire Company building which the El Paso Electric Company converted into office space in the 1920s. Some of Parkhill’s first projects were with El Paso Water, and 60 years later, the office celebrates the many projects, lengthy relationships, and unique history the firm has built in El Paso.
1947
Partnership with the City of Lubbock Begins
The City of Lubbock and Parkhill have partnered since Parkhill’s founding for decades of projects, starting with the main pumping station for Lubbock’s water in the 1940s and later including airport projects, municipal streets, public libraries, police/fire stations, municipal solid waste, drainage, and other municipal facilities and infrastructure projects.
1946
Parkhill Established Relationship with Texas Tech University
Texas Tech and Parkhill have a long-standing relationship that goes hand-in-hand together as both have grown over the years. One of Parkhill’s earliest engineering services for the university was the construction of Jones Stadium in 1946. This led to 80 more projects such as the TTU Master Plan, Library renovation, Southwest Collections Library, Rawls College of Business and addition, engineering for the United Supermarkets Arena and locker room renovations.
1945
Parkhill is Established
Gordon W. Parkhill, Marlin R. Smith and Clarence Cooper formed a partnership after World War II and established a civil engineering firm in Lubbock, Texas in 1945. The three promptly went to work and helped surrounding communities meet the demands of rapid development, which occurred after the war. Core services in municipal infrastructure became a mainstay of the firm.
