HOK is a global architecture and design firm that handles large-scale projects across multiple sectors
HOK (Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum) is an international architecture, engineering, and design practice based in St. Louis, Missouri. The firm employs over 1,000 people across offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. HOK takes on projects that typically range from hundreds of millions to over a billion dollars, working for institutional clients, corporations, and government bodies rather than individual homeowners.
The firm operates as a full-service design organization, meaning it handles architecture, interior design, landscape design, and often coordinates with engineering consultants on a single project. This structure allows HOK to manage complexity — a hospital campus, an airport terminal, or a mixed-use urban development — without the client having to hire separate firms for different disciplines.
HOK's work is visible in airports you have used, hospitals where you may have received care, sports stadiums, corporate headquarters, and university buildings. The firm does not design single-family homes or small commercial buildings; its minimum project scope is typically institutional or large commercial work.
Key Takeaways
- HOK is a large international firm that designs airports, hospitals, stadiums, universities, and corporate campuses — not residential homes or small buildings.
- The firm employs architects, engineers, interior designers, and landscape designers under one organization, so clients work with one firm across multiple design disciplines.
- HOK's projects are usually initiated by institutional clients or major corporations through a formal selection process, not by individuals seeking design services.
- The firm maintains offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, allowing it to work on projects in different regions and time zones.
- HOK's revenue and project portfolio are public information because the firm is part of larger corporate structures or publicly traded parent companies.
The types of projects HOK typically undertakes
HOK specializes in sectors where scale, complexity, and long-term planning are central to the design challenge. The firm's portfolio includes airport terminals and ground transportation facilities, where design must accommodate millions of travelers annually and coordinate with security, customs, and operational systems. HOK has designed or redesigned terminals at major airports including London Stansted, San Francisco International, and Denver International.
Healthcare is another major sector. HOK designs hospital campuses, medical research facilities, and outpatient centers where the building itself must support clinical workflows, infection control, and emergency response. These projects require coordination with hospital administrators, department heads, and regulatory bodies before design even begins.
Sports and entertainment venues represent a third category. HOK has designed stadiums, arenas, and performance halls where the building must serve both the event itself and the surrounding community. These projects involve complex structural systems, crowd management, and often mixed-use components like retail, dining, or residential space.
Corporate headquarters, university campuses, and mixed-use urban developments round out the firm's work. In each case, the project involves multiple stakeholders, long planning horizons, and design decisions that affect hundreds or thousands of people daily.
How clients select HOK for a project
HOK does not bid on projects the way a local architect might. Instead, institutional clients and large corporations typically issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) or hold a formal selection process. The client's leadership, board, or procurement team reviews portfolios from several large firms, interviews the teams, and evaluates their experience with similar project types.
For public projects — airports, universities, government buildings — the selection process is often governed by state or federal procurement rules. The client may require that firms meet certain certifications, insurance levels, or diversity standards before being considered. HOK's size and track record make it a common choice for these formal processes, but the firm still competes against other large practices like Gensler, SOM (Skidmore, Owings and Merrill), and others.
Once selected, HOK assigns a project team that typically includes a principal architect (a senior partner or director), project managers, design architects, and technical specialists. The team works directly with the client's project leadership throughout planning, design, and construction administration phases.
HOK's organizational structure and offices
HOK operates as a partnership with multiple studios organized by geography and sector. The firm's main office is in St. Louis, but it maintains significant studios in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Shanghai, and Dubai. This distributed structure allows HOK to staff projects locally while maintaining firm-wide standards and sharing informed across offices.
Within each office, teams are often organized by sector — aviation, healthcare, sports, corporate — so that architects and designers who specialize in airport design, for example, work together and build deep knowledge of that building type. This specialization is part of what makes HOK competitive for large, complex projects.
The firm also maintains in-house capabilities in areas like sustainability consulting, building information modeling (BIM), and code compliance. Rather than outsourcing these functions, HOK keeps them internal, which speeds decision-making and ensures consistency across a project.
What distinguishes HOK from smaller architecture firms
The most obvious difference is scale. A local or regional architecture firm might employ 20 to 100 people and handle projects worth $10 million to $100 million. HOK's size — over 1,000 employees — allows it to staff multiple large projects simultaneously and maintain offices across continents. This means HOK can assign a dedicated team to your project without pulling resources from other work.
HOK also carries different insurance and bonding requirements. Large institutional clients require their architects to carry professional liability insurance in the hundreds of millions of dollars. HOK meets these requirements; a small firm may not. Similarly, public projects often require bonding that guarantees the firm will complete its work. HOK's financial stability and track record make it a lower-risk choice for clients spending hundreds of millions of dollars.
The firm's experience with regulatory complexity is another distinction. Designing a hospital requires knowledge of healthcare codes, infection control standards, and Joint Commission accreditation requirements. Designing an airport requires familiarity with TSA security standards, FAA regulations, and international building codes. HOK's specialists have worked through these requirements on dozens of projects and know the approval processes, timelines, and common obstacles.
How HOK's work affects the buildings you use
When you walk through an airport terminal, use a hospital, or attend an event at a stadium, you are experiencing the result of HOK's design decisions. The layout of the terminal — how you move from check-in to security to gates — reflects years of research into passenger flow and operational efficiency. The hospital's layout — where elevators are positioned, how departments connect, where natural light enters — affects how quickly staff can respond to emergencies and how patients experience their stay.
These design choices are not aesthetic alone. They are functional decisions that affect daily operations, safety, and the experience of thousands of people. HOK's role is to translate the client's operational requirements, budget constraints, and long-term vision into a building that works.
The firm's work also shapes urban environments. When HOK designs a mixed-use development or a university campus, it influences how people move through public space, where they gather, and how the building relates to the surrounding neighborhood. These decisions have effects that persist for decades.
How to learn more about HOK's work and approach
HOK maintains a public website where you can view completed projects, read case studies, and learn about the firm's design philosophy. The site includes detailed information about specific projects — the challenges they solved, the design process, and the outcomes. This is useful if you are studying architecture, researching how a particular building was designed, or evaluating firms for a project.
HOK also publishes research and thought leadership on topics like airport design, healthcare facility planning, and sustainable building practices. These publications are often available through the firm's website or through architecture and design publications.
If you are a client considering HOK for a project, the formal selection process typically includes a presentation where the firm's team discusses their approach, shows relevant past work, and answers questions about how they would handle your specific project type and constraints.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can HOK design a residential home or small commercial building?
HOK's practice focuses on large-scale institutional and commercial projects. The firm's minimum project scope is typically in the tens of millions of dollars. For residential or small commercial work, you would contact a local or regional architecture firm instead.
How long does a typical HOK project take?
Timeline varies widely depending on project type and complexity. A hospital or airport terminal typically takes three to five years from initial planning through design completion, with construction following afterward. Smaller projects may take one to two years. The client's schedule and approval processes significantly affect the timeline.
Is HOK affiliated with any government agency?
No. HOK is a private architecture firm. It works on projects for government clients — public universities, city airports, state facilities — but is not part of any government organization. The firm competes for these projects through formal selection processes.
Where can I see examples of HOK's completed work?
HOK's website displays a portfolio of completed projects organized by sector and geography. You can also find HOK's work documented in architecture publications, news articles about major building openings, and through searches for specific airports, hospitals, or stadiums you want to learn about.
How does HOK differ from other large architecture firms?
HOK, Gensler, SOM, and other large firms compete for similar projects and have comparable capabilities. Differences often come down to specific informed in a sector, past experience with a particular building type, and the chemistry between the client's team and the design team. Clients typically evaluate several firms before selecting one.