Special Advertising Section
A middle school career day opened Hunter Johnson’s eyes to the world of architecture. After shadowing a home builder renovating the family home, his career path was clear. While attending the University of Virginia for architecture, he filled summers with construction work and worked for a number of architecture firms. By 33, he founded TONO Architects with a unique vision.
“The name ‘TONO’ comes from the word ‘autonomy,’” he explains. “Our purpose was to differentiate ourselves…to understand that every personality is unique; every project is unique.”
Building on a foundation and reputation of 10 years, Johnson decided to “springboard into becoming a group of companies.” TONO Group became the umbrella company of TONO Architects, adding PROTO Construction and Interiors by DECO. Clients of all sizes rely on TONO Group for architecture design work, transitioning into construction and completion via interior design work.
“In essence, we are one-stop shopping, offering a seamless process,” says Johnson, principal architect. “When folks realize they can go to a single source, saving time and money by expediting the process, they gravitate towards us.”
The company’s grasp of the construction process gives them an edge, according to Johnson. “We take a team approach to everything we do—we are all passionate about our work. The staff is tremendous—creative, technical, with an understanding of the increasingly complex construction industry.”
TONO’s work in central Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic region includes retail, hospitality, corporate, residential, higher education, military structures and more. Johnson says the firm is completing several large office projects in the Mechanicsburg/Camp Hill area—a 250,000-square-foot building for Deloitte and an 80,000-square-foot structure for Hewlett-Packard.
Within TONO’s Lancaster County home base, TONO works with Armstrong World Industries to refit their campuses. Millersville is the location of one of his favorite projects, Crossways Church. “It was an eight-year odyssey…it’s now one of our signature works.”
Johnson summarizes TONO’s integrated process: “We think we’re making meaningful places. It goes beyond shelter—it’s really more about the process and the way we want to work as a team, approaching today’s ever-changing landscape.”
TONO Group | 436 West James Street, Suite 100 | Lancaster, PA 17603 tonogroup.com | 717-735-8166 Back to The Faces of the Susquehanna Valley