Coke Florance is being remembered not only as an architect who helped shape the built landscape of the nation’s capital in the late 20th century, but as a mentor who liked to assist less experienced colleagues.

Colden L’Hommedieu Ruggles Florance, who died in Washington on Dec. 28 several weeks before turning 93, was known for several high-profile D.C. buildings that were designed by teams he led. They include Capital One Arena and the visitor center at Washington National Cathedral. His historic renovation and adaptive reuse work includes the National Building Museum, the original Museum of Women in the Arts and the National Postal Museum.

In practicing architecture while based in Washington for six decades, Florance was also a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, involved in the design of hundreds of other area buildings and in 2000 received AIA Washington's Centennial Medal, regarded as the highest honor it can bestow upon a member. He was the father of Andy Florance, the CEO of Washington, D.C.-based CoStar Group, Hilary Esmonde-White and Susanna Florance and was predeceased by his son Christopher Florance.

In a 2017 interview for The American Institute of Architects, Coke Florance said his role as an architect was frequently that of an “editor-in-chief,” where he maintained a “collegial” relationship with the “bright, young people working with me.”

Sven Shockey, who worked with Coke Florance at SmithGroup, told CoStar News that the elder architect also knew how to design a meeting. "Coke started every meeting with positivity — a joke or a pithy aphorism — to set the tone. He was beloved by clients and his partners and colleagues."

Phil Esocoff, a Washington-based architect who also worked with Coke Florance, said he was a mentor in showing how to be an architect in the nation's capital.

“He was supportive in the best way,” Esocoff told CoStar News. “He would support you in coming up with a design that he helped edit and craft as a colleague.”

Esocoff added “When the time came to show this to a client he was more than willing to let you go out there and do it. And you knew he always had your back.”

Florance was born in Baltimore on Jan. 24, 1931, and his family later moved to Washington. Florance earned both an undergraduate degree in architecture and a master's degree in fine arts from Princeton University. After college, he joined the U.S. Navy and built bases and radar networks while stationed in Spain.

He began his architecture career in Washington, eventually becoming a name partner at Keyes Condon Florance. That firm later merged with the Detroit-based firm SmithGroup.

In the AIA interview, Coke Florance said that one of his favorite projects in Washington was the Greyhound Building, designed by a team at SmithGroup that included Esocoff. The Greyhound Building includes a restored former Greyhound bus station attached to a 12-story office building.

The Greyhound Building is a good example of how he stressed the importance of creating architecture that honored the city and its past, said Esocoff, now an architect at Gensler.

“He set an example of civic-mindedness that you felt was a requirement of being an architect in the city,” Esocoff said. “It wasn’t about your ego and your building, it was about how your building was making a better city.”

Coke Florance also worked on high-profile projects outside the United States. He led a team that designed the visitor center at the Normandy American Cemetery in France.

He devoted a significant part of his career to historic preservation, and his design portfolio includes the renovation and adaptive reuse of the Old Executive Office Building in Washington. Coke Florance’s work also earned him the District of Columbia’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation.