Principal architect · Third generation
Eugene “Gene” Cox Dunwody Jr., AIA
Architect, preservationist, developer, and civic steward—carrying a century-old practice forward by making historic places useful again.
- Education
- Georgia Institute of Technology, B.S. Architecture, 1985
- Recognition
- AIA Georgia Bronze Medal, 2008
- Practice
- Dunwody/Beeland Architects · Macon, Georgia
A city is a long project
Inheritance made useful
Eugene “Gene” Cox Dunwody Jr., AIA, is the owner and principal architect of Dunwody/Beeland Architects, the third generation of his family to guide a Macon practice founded in 1915. A registered Georgia architect and 1985 graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology, he has spent four decades pairing building craft with a broader idea of practice: architecture as stewardship of a city.
His work sits at the intersection of design, preservation, development, and public service. A 2023 account credits Gene and the firm with more than 80 downtown projects. Other reporting describes him buying and restoring buildings that few others wanted, assembling new uses for long-quiet storefronts, and arguing publicly for historic fabric when its loss would be permanent. He served on the Macon-Bibb Urban Development Authority from 2010 through 2018 and has led or served organizations spanning preservation, the arts, business, and professional practice.
The result is not preservation as nostalgia. It is a working method: read what survives, solve the hard constraints, and return a place to public life with enough flexibility to endure.
Hotel Forty Five
A three-generation building
The clearest expression of Gene’s practice stands at downtown Macon’s 45-degree intersection. His grandfather designed the 1941 high-rise addition to the Bankers Insurance Building. Decades later, his father sketched the hotel-floor idea that helped unlock a new use. Gene then carried the conversion into construction and became architect of record after his father’s death.
The 94-room hotel preserved marble walls, terrazzo floors, elevator lobbies, and original stairs while resolving accessibility, modern code, tax-credit, and grade-change demands. In 2023, The Georgia Trust gave Hotel Forty Five its Michael L. Starr Award for downtown historic rehabilitation and impact.
“We spent a lot of time figuring out how everything would work, down to the entry.”Gene Dunwody Jr. · Macon Magazine
Press & recognition
Work recognized for what it gives back
The Michael L. Starr Award honors rehabilitation that makes a positive difference downtown. For Hotel Forty Five, the recognition joined design quality to a larger result: a long-vacant landmark returned to use, a key corner reactivated, and three generations of architectural work made legible again.
2023 award
Architect Dunwody honored for Hotel Forty Five
Monroe County Reporter
Preservation award
Hotel Forty Five receives the Michael L. Starr Award
The Georgia Trust
Civic service
Eight years of service to downtown Macon
Macon-Bibb Urban Development Authority
National recognition
Selected for the AIA Twenty-Five Year Award jury
World-Architects
Community impact
Hotel Forty Five supports sustainable downtown redevelopment
Enhanced Capital
Downtown leadership
A local architect’s view of Macon’s next chapter
Georgia Public Broadcasting
Civic practice
Architecture beyond the drawing set
Gene’s professional and civic leadership has included the AIA Middle Georgia chapter, Macon Heritage Foundation, Macon Rotary Club, Cox Capitol Theatre, Macon Arts Alliance, Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce, the USGBC Georgia state board, and the Georgia Secretary of State’s Contractor Licensing Board.
His national AIA Twenty-Five Year Award jury service placed that local experience in a broader architectural conversation. His public preservation advocacy has also been personal: in 2022, he opposed the demolition of two buildings at his own church, one designed by his grandfather and one by pioneering architect Ellamae Ellis League.
“This place is part of our DNA. Hopefully this space will be functional for generations to come.”Gene Dunwody Jr. · 2024
Research notes and public sources
This profile is grounded in the firm’s public record, independent reporting, civic records, and an owner-authorized archive. Project awards are attributed to the projects or organizations that granted them.
- Dunwody/Beeland Architects — team profile
- Macon Magazine — “Multi-storied” (clean 2022 archive)
- Enhanced Capital — Hotel Forty Five impact
- The Georgia Trust — Hotel Forty Five
- Monroe County Reporter — downtown project count and Hotel Forty Five award
- Macon-Bibb UDA — board-service recognition
- World-Architects — 2019 AIA Twenty-Five Year Award jury
- Georgia Public Broadcasting — downtown Macon interview
- REBusinessOnline — practical sustainability
- Associated Press — downtown preservation partnership
- Macon Telegraph — First Presbyterian preservation advocacy
- Macon Telegraph — Poplar Street development
- Macon Telegraph — Middle Georgia Regional Commission