HOK

Great design inspires. For architects and designers alike, we all remember that one building or place that changed everything.    We asked members of HOK’s Board of Directors to name a building that changed them. What do you think?   Featuring: John Rhodes, Director of Sports + Recreation + Entertainment - International Brian Jencek, Director of Planning Roger Soto, Design Principal, HOK’s Texas studios

Some of the world's best airports were just named, and we're proud to call them partners! ✈️ ✨ Congratulations to the airport clients recognized in the 2026 SKYTRAX World's Best Airports by Passenger Numbers. Across every size, from busy global hubs to fast-rising regional gateways, these airports set the standard for what great travel feels like. Bangkok Suvarnabhumi • Fukuoka • Seattle-Tacoma • Los Angeles • Dallas/Fort Worth • LaGuardia • Chicago O'Hare • San Francisco • Houston George Bush • Atlanta • Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Intuitive, passenger-first design is a big part of what earns this recognition, and it's an honor to help these airports transform the traveler experience.

Have you met Ann Kosmal yet? We'd like to introduce you! Before joining HOK as sustainable design leader for resiliency, Ann guided climate risk management and adaptation efforts for the U.S. General Services Administration’s federal real estate portfolio and contributed to climate adaptation and resilience initiatives across the federal government. Today, she helps clients understand how extreme weather and long-term climatic changes can affect their buildings, operations and investments—and what they can do about it. She also contributes to industry standards, national climate assessments and professional guidance that shape how the built environment responds to these changes. We recently sat down with Ann to learn how her work boils down to helping clients answer a simple question: What happens if a building can no longer do what it was designed to do? T 🎥 Take a watch now and find timestamps below ⬇️ Video Highlight Cheat Sheet: 00:00 – Starting with Curiosity: Why climate resilience begins with asking deep questions about a client's site and operations. 01:24 – "It Chose Me": Ann's shift from traditional architecture to climate science after working on a Net Zero project. 03:00 – Defining Resilience: Moving beyond buzzwords to precise climate adaptation language. 04:07 – Avoiding Disruption: Safeguarding assets and maintaining mission and business continuity. 04:45 – Actionable Science in Practice: Translating climate science into pragmatic risk management for real estate investments. 06:26 – Exposure vs. Sensitivity: Utilizing formal property resilience assessments to evaluate site vulnerabilities. 07:14 – The 3 Responses to Climate Change: Adaptation, mitigation, and why design must actively prevent human suffering. 09:09 – Informing Client Risk Decisions

Set along the campus wadi, the KAPSARC School of Public Policy is a graduate institution that develops future policymakers through education and research. Situated between the residential community and the research district, HOK's design acts as a node along that path, connecting home life with work life as this third point where the community can come together. Three rectilinear wings levitate above this landscape, a design that allows the life of the wadi to flow uninterrupted underneath. This follows a regional tradition of letting buildings create shade, forming comfortable outdoor rooms between the masses. Where the wings touch down, they are anchored by sculptural forms containing the cafeteria, auditorium and daycare—key community functions. Above, bridges stitch the wings into a single academic neighborhood connecting the various disciplines. Achieving the net-zero goal required a passive-first approach rooted in regional traditions. The building’s primary sustainable move was to elevate its main wings, allowing the landscape and cooling breezes to flow underneath—a modern take on the Saudi strategy of letting buildings shade the spaces between them. The roof forms extend far beyond the floor plates, creating large, shaded courtyards where teaching, dining and socializing can happen outdoors during the region’s cooler months. Our design also learns from the practical challenges of the desert. Guided by extensive performance modeling, the team developed an efficient “second skin” for the facade. This perforated screen limits heat gain and glare while maintaining views, avoiding the problems of traditional shading techniques. 🔗 Learn more in HOK's 2026 Design Annual: https://bit.ly/3R2Diei

When is the best time of day to select color?   For Jessica Collins, director of design, Interiors, in HOK’s Dallas studio, the answer comes from some of the best design advice she’s ever received.   What’s the best design advice you’ve ever received?

A corporate client in Houston needed a workplace that could support growth while giving employees better options for collaboration, focused work and daily well-being. This project recently achieved LEED v4 Platinum Certification for commercial interiors, becoming one of just six spaces in Texas to reach that level. HOK’s design draws on the client's culture while celebrating Houston to create an environment where employees can connect, concentrate and recharge. At the 12th-floor reception, a marble desk faces custom textural terra cotta walls that reference the Buffalo Bayou cistern, a Roman-inspired reservoir that provided Houston with fresh drinking water for nearly a century. Large-scale artwork by a local artist anchors the reception area, while sculptural birds on a brick wall near the central stair reference the office’s bird’s-eye view over Discovery Green. Material choices emphasize sustainability and well-being with products chosen for performance, transparent environmental declarations and high marks for human health and safety. 🔗 Learn more: https://bit.ly/4gvZnwa 📸 Michael Robinson

The 2026 World Cup smashed attendance records, testing stadiums at unprecedented scale. Join us for a conversation on lessons learned and how this year's Cup could influence the design and development of future venues. 

New renderings of Bank of America Stadium offer the cleanest look yet at its future. The stadium showcases enhancements shaped by fan feedback, new ways to experience game day and design elements inspired by the character of the Carolinas. Tepper Sports & Entertainment released the new imagery as the Carolina Panthers and Bank of America announced a long-term extension of their naming rights agreement. The announcement reflects the full scope of projects originally contemplated during discussions with the City of Charlotte, whose commitment remains fixed at $650 million. TSE has elected to move forward with the complete owner-elected scope, as well as additional design enhancements, bringing the total project investment to more than $1.3 billion. TSE will also fund all potential overages and ongoing maintenance obligations under the agreement. Construction on the multiyear project remains on schedule and is being carefully phased to allow Bank of America Stadium to continue hosting Carolina Panthers games and Charlotte FC matches throughout the renovation. Interior work is taking place in 2026 with fan-facing elements set to begin in 2027. The new era of Bank of America Stadium marks the start of the ultimate fan experience. 🔗 Learn more about the Carolinas MO𝘔𝘐𝘕𝘛UM: https://bit.ly/44KiMlS

Ambulatory care meets patients where they are. Outpatient settings are a strategic asset beyond simply relieving pressure on the hospital: They are uniquely positioned to manage capacity, respond to changes in patient demographics and shape access in the years to come. The question for health systems is no longer whether to invest in ambulatory care. It's how to design outpatient environments flexible enough to adapt to patients’ needs as well as the changing care landscape. HOK’s design for the UPMC Mercy Pavilion in Pittsburgh demonstrates what this means for the next generation of care. This purpose-built environment for patients living with vision loss models how specialized ambulatory design can support healing and advance clinical excellence. 🔗 Read more: https://bit.ly/4hq1H8f

For the 11th consecutive year, Indianapolis International Airport has been voted into the Travel + Leisure Co. World's Best Awards! IND has also earned its 14th consecutive award from ACI World - Airports Council International.🤏 ✨   As master architect and terminal designer of IND's Colonel H. Weir Cook Terminal, HOK helped shape a facility where design excellence and operational performance work together.   𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦. Close collaboration with the Indianapolis Airport Authority, Turner Construction Company and subconsultants turned ambitious ideas into lasting results. HOK also brought together six small, local architecture firms to form ARCHonsortium LLC, then mentored the group throughout the project to scale their growth and build lasting capacity.   𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐫. A light-filled civic plaza, clear sightlines and spaces that celebrate Indianapolis' identity make the terminal intuitive and welcoming. That impact extends well beyond the terminal: IND supports 54,000 jobs statewide and generates an estimated $7.5B in annual economic impact.   🔗 ✈️ Great airports aren't built alone. Explore the story behind the design: https://bit.ly/4wWOJDy 📸 Images 1, 2 and 3 by Sam Fentress with section graphics from HOK. Image 4 by Nicholas Klein.