HOK (firm)

Last updated
HOK Group, Inc.
Company type Private
Industry Architecture, engineering, urban planning
Founded1955;69 years ago (1955)
Founders
Headquarters
St. Louis, Missouri
,
United States
Number of locations
26 offices
Area served
International
Key people
  • Eli Hoisington
  • Susan Klumpp Williams (Co-CEOs)
  • Carl Galioto (President)
ServicesArchitecture, Consulting, Engineering, Experience Design, Interiors, Landscape Architecture, Lighting Design, On-Site Space Management, Planning + Urban Design, Sustainable Design
Number of employees
1,600 [1]
Website www.hok.com
HOK founding partners George Hellmuth, Gyo Obata, and George Kassabaum (1956) HOK founders 1956.jpg
HOK founding partners George Hellmuth, Gyo Obata, and George Kassabaum (1956)
Priory Chapel at Saint Louis Abbey located in Creve Coeur a suburb of St. Louis Priory Chapel at Saint Louis Abbey - July 2013.jpg
Priory Chapel at Saint Louis Abbey located in Creve Coeur a suburb of St. Louis
National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.jpg
National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Tokyo Telecom Center in Tokyo Telecom Center.jpg
Tokyo Telecom Center in Tokyo
Passenger Terminal Amsterdam in Amsterdam Passagiers Terminal Amsterdam.jpg
Passenger Terminal Amsterdam in Amsterdam
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia Udvar-Hazy Center center outside view.jpg
Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia
Indianapolis International Airport Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal in Indianapolis, Indiana IND-Midfield-Front-10112008.jpg
Indianapolis International Airport Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal in Indianapolis, Indiana
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia KAUST laboratory buildings and town mosque.jpg
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida St. Pete Dali Museum06.jpg
Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida
World Trade Center in Chennai, India WTC UnderConst.jpg
World Trade Center in Chennai, India
Rogers Place arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Rogers Place Arena.jpg
Rogers Place arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

HOK, formerly Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum is an American design, architecture, engineering, and urban planning firm. Founded in 1955 it is now registered as HOK Group, Inc.

Contents

History

Founding

HOK was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1955. [2] The firm is named for its three founding partners: George F. Hellmuth, Gyo Obata and George Kassabaum, all graduates of the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. [2]

The practice's first building designs were schools in St. Louis suburbs, and St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florissant was the first independent school designed by the firm. Another prominent school they designed was the Saint Louis Priory School.

Early years

By the mid-1960s, the firm was winning commissions across the United States and began to open additional offices, starting with San Francisco in 1966 for the design of a library at Stanford University and Dallas in 1968 for the master planning and design of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. [3] [4] Also in 1968, HOK launched its interior design practice. HOK also expanded into Washington, D.C., after winning the commission to design the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. In 1973, HOK established a presence in New York by acquiring Kahn & Jacobs, designers of many New York City skyscrapers. By the 1970s, the firm was operating internationally and in 1975 the firm was named as architect of the $3.5 billion King Saud University in Riyadh, at the time the single largest building project in the world. [5] In 1979, George Kassabaum was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician.

In 1983, HOK formed HOK Sport Venue Event, a subsidiary devoted entirely to designing sport stadiums, arenas, and convention centers, an architectural boom market at the time. [5] In January 2009, the Board of HOK Group, Inc. and managers of HOK Sports Facilities, LLC transferred ownership of HOK Sport to leaders of that practice. The company became an independent firm, and rebranded itself as Populous. [6]

Expansion and acquisitions

HOK's first office outside the US opened in Hong Kong in 1984, and the second in London in 1987, a practice that would be expanded in 1995 by merging with the British architectural practice Cecil Denny Highton. [7] [8]

The firm expanded into China in 2013, when it acquired the New York and Shanghai offices of hospitality design firm BBG-BBGM, creating one of the world's largest interior design firms, [9] although BBG-BBGM's office in Washington, D.C. continues to operate as BBGM. By 2007, international work represented more than 40% of HOK's annual revenue. [10]

As of April 2019, HOK operates offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai in China; Tokyo, Japan; Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam; Dubai in the Middle East; Mumbai, India; Mexico City in Mexico and Toronto, Canada, where it established its first offices in 1997 with the acquisition of Urbana Architects. [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

Other domestic acquisitions include Caudill Rowlett Scott based in Houston, Texas, in November 1994, adding offices in Houston and Atlanta. [17] [18] The purchase of 360 Architecture in January 2015, a 200-person, Kansas City-based firm, gave the group capabilities in the design of stadiums, ballparks and arenas. [19] [19] That acquisition enabled HOK to launch a new global Sports, Recreation, and Entertainment design practice after the breakaway of Populous, and to open new offices in Kansas City and Columbus, Ohio. [20] This return to the firm's tradition of stadium architecture was buoyed on May 15, 2015, when the firm announced a multi-year partnership with the United Soccer League (USL) in the US to lead a stadium development, design and standards initiative to help house all USL clubs in soccer-specific stadiums across North America by the end of the decade. [21]

Leadership

In 2023, Eli Hoisington and Susan Klumpp Williams were appointed joint co-CEOs of HOK, the firm's youngest CEOs, and the first time it had appointed a woman. [22] [23] They succeeded Bill Hellmuth, founder George Hellmuth’s nephew, who was president of the firm from 2004 to 2016 and CEO from 2016 until his passing in 2023. [24] Prior to Bill Hellmuth, Patrick MacLeamy, served as HOK’s CEO from 2003 to 2016, and chairman since 2012. [25] MacLeamy succeeded HOK Chairman Bill Valentine when he retired after 50 years with the firm. [26]

Innovation and sustainable design

In 1983, HOK introduced HOK Draw, computer-aided drafting software products that specialized in conceptual architectural design. In the early 2000s, HOK began using Building Information Modeling (BIM) to streamline the design and construction process. [27]

In September 2008, HOK announced an alliance with the Biomimicry Group, co-founded by Janine Benyus. [28] In 2010, HOK and energy and daylighting consultant The Weidt Group completed design of Net Zero Court, a 170,735-square-foot, market-rate, zero-emissions class A commercial office building in St. Louis. [29]

In 2013, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 released the Genius of Biome report, a textbook for how to apply biomimicry design principles, [30] and a year later in 2014, ORO Editions published "HOK Tall Buildings", a 300-page book exploring the design of the contemporary high-rise. [31] Its design for the Boston Consulting Group HQ in Toronto in 2022, is a recent example of wellness-informed architecture, maximising natural light and encouraging standing, rather than sitting, for which it won WELL Platinum Certification from WELL Building Standard accreditation body. [32]

Publications

Selected projects

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References

  1. ↑ https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/hok-buys-us-firm-360-architecture.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. 1 2 Olsen, Carlene (11 March 2022). "HOK Cofounder Gyo Obata Dies at 99". Interior Design. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
  3. ↑ "Stanford University Architectural Collection". oac.cdlib.org. Retrieved 2024-02-27.
  4. ↑ Bell, Ervin J., ed. (1968). "ARCHITECT OR DESIGNER" (PDF). The Architectural Index– via US Modernist.
  5. 1 2 "Anatomy of a Giant: HOK". Building Design + Construction. 11 August 2010. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  6. ↑ Chu, Jeff (2009-04-01). "The Biggest-and Newest-Name in Sports Stadiums: Populous". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  7. ↑ Kassabaum, Hellmuth, Obata & (2009). HOK. Images Publishing. pp. 6–8. ISBN   978-1-86470-318-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ Booth, Emily, ed. (2005-03-10). "Founding partner of Cecil Denny Highton dies". The Architects’ Journal. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  9. ↑ Nalewicki, Jennifer (January 20, 2014). "BBG-BBGM Joins HOK to Form Global Hospitality Leader". Interior Design Magazine .
  10. ↑ Staff (June 23, 2008) "Uncertain Economy Pushes Design Firms To Diversify Their Portfolios" Engineering News-Record
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  16. ↑ MacLeamy, Patrick (2020-03-17). Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm: The People, Stories, and Strategies Behind HOK. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN   978-1-119-68543-2.
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  18. ↑ Smith, Cara (29 August 2018). "How HOK grew its architecture practice in Houston". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
  19. 1 2 Aa, As (2015-01-18). "HOK acquired 360 Architecture and the New Stadium Atlanta – aasarchitecture" . Retrieved 2024-05-21.
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  28. ↑ Merchant, Brian (September 22, 2009) "HOK and Biomimicry Guild Forge Alliance for Bio-Inspired Design Excellence" Archived 2011-10-25 at the Wayback Machine TreeHugger
  29. ↑ Valentine, Bill (October 2010) "Net Zero: Two global design firms issue a call to action and lead by example" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine , Contract
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  33. ↑ "Lee F. Mindel Tours the St. Louis Priory Chapel". Architectural Digest. 2014-01-31. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  34. ↑ "UNION STATION, CENTRE GIVE ST. LOUIS A SHOT IN THE ARCH". Chicago Tribune. 15 September 1985. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
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  37. 1 2 3 "Who are the architects?". barcaacademy.fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
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  42. ↑ "Metlife Stadium". www.architectmagazine.com. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
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  47. ↑ "Porsche North America Experience Center and Headquarters / HOK". ArchDaily. 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  48. ↑ Brown, Steve (November 6, 2013). "Perot Buys Downtown Dallas Corner, Hints at Grand Plans". Dallas Morning News .
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