Optima DCHGlobal
About
Optima DCHGlobal, Inc. designs and builds residential real estate utilizing the two Optima DCHGlobal Building Systems, which synchronize standardization with design flexibility, and can be built quickly and efficiently in any location, climate, or terrain.
David Hovey Jr., AIA is President of Optima DCHGlobal, Inc. and President of Optima Holdings. He leads the Architecture, Construction, and Development teams for both Optima DCHGlobal, Inc. and Optima, Inc. in the Arizona office.
David’s father David C. Hovey, FAIA founded Optima, Inc. in 1978 with the intentions of streamlining the design, construction, and development process with a vertically integrated business model based on the principles and theories of “the master builder”. Optima, Inc. is responsible for acquiring the land, obtaining entitlements, the architecture, the construction, the sales and leasing, and the property management. Starting in 1978 with a six-unit townhome project in Hyde Park, Illinois adjacent to the University of Chicago, Optima, Inc. has evolved into one of the most distinguished architecture, development, and construction companies in the United States with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Phoenix, Arizona.
David has been working for Optima, Inc. since he was a young boy and has had the opportunity to contribute to all aspects of the company including architecture, construction, site acquisition, zoning and entitlements, permit and approvals, financing, sales and leasing, and property management. In 1997, he enrolled in Cornell University as a City and Regional Planning major in the School of Architecture and played for the university’s ice hockey team. After graduation he opened the Arizona office and spent time as the project manager and superintendent on five experimental single-family homes in Scottsdale Arizona while gaining an understanding of the local market in preparation for large scale Optima projects. While working on the single-family homes he became more interested in design as well as further streamlining the construction process. He enrolled into the Master of Architecture program at Illinois Institute of Technology and studied under his father mentor and Adviser at IIT Architect Arthur S. Takeuchi. He became interested in prefabricated and standardized building systems and studied Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, Buckminster Fuller, the Sears Roebuck and Company kit homes, and The Lustron Company along with many more modern -day systems. He was surprised that most of the systems offered only specific models and there was a lack of standardized construction systems that were comprised of components that could be assembled in different configurations.
In 2004 David completed his master’s thesis with the intentions of designing and developing a sustainable multi-generational system that was flexible in both horizontal and vertical directions comprised of standardized components that could be quickly and efficiently assembled in any location, climate or terrain. In 2009 David completed “Optima DCHGlobal Relic Rock Phase I” as the prototype of the system and in 2011 “Optima DCHGlobal Relic Rock Phase 2” was completed with innovations and lessons learned from the prototype. “Whale Bay House” was completed with the connector system in 2016 followed by “Arizona Courtyard House” in 2017.
In 2021 David completed “Stagecoach”, the prototype for the MFB system, an entirely factory-produced, modular system comprised of Vierendeel steel trusses that are carried by truck to the site and hoisted into place atop concrete piers by crane. Several additional houses were completed including “Rising Sun” with new innovations, enhancements, and design details following the first prototype. Optima DCHGlobal, Inc. continues to improve all aspects of the system with each new building.
The Optima DCHGlobal Building System has been recognized with national and international architecture awards.
