What do a 5.5 million-square-foot research university in Saudi Arabia and a 6,000-square-foot orphanage in Haiti have in common? Inspired by sustainable architecture on two vastly different scales, their bond will soon help hundreds of children begin their journeys home.
Here at HOK, we love a good design challenge, and the offices of the Taproot Foundation certainly qualified as one. Mismatched furniture and cramped quarters were hindering the organization’s functionality, so it was time for a refresh!
What does Taproot do? From their website: “Taproot is a nonprofit organization that makes business talent available to organizations working to improve society. We engage the nation’s millions of business professionals in pro bono services both through our award-winning programs and by partnering with companies to develop their pro bono programs.”
It was appropriate, then, that our San Francisco office donated pro bono time toward this good cause. Read on as designer Emily Fettig answers some questions about this cool project.
The New Year always causes one to reflect on the recent past, but especially so today, the two-year anniversary of the catastrophic earthquake in Haiti. I have been fortunate to work with a dedicated group of volunteers at HOK to design a children’s center and orphanage in Port-au-Prince. Earlier this week, we presented our latest design to the client, Fondation Enfant Jesus, as well as to the U.S. Green Building Council. The results were very positive.
Our collective goal to create a nurturing and restorative place is taking shape. In many ways, though, this project is more difficult than the large, …
Sarah and a young boy at Fondation Enfant Jesus in Port au Prince (photo was taken by one of the children who discovered a new love for playing with Sarah’s camera)
When HOK was asked to partner with the USGBC on Project Haiti, a children’s center in Port au Prince, we decided immediately that the most appropriate approach to the project would require an integrated, multi-disciplinary team. So we assembled …
HOK is the USGBC’s official design partner for Project Haiti, a pro bono effort to build a LEED-certified orphanage and children’s center in Port au Prince. Sustainable Design Director Mary Ann Lazarus and a team from HOK recently returned from Toronto, where they shared the Project Haiti story at Greenbuild 2011. Read on for Mary Ann’s guest post and an amazing video from the USGBC:
“Imagine it: 15,000 people in the Air Canada Hockey arena, lights flashing, music playing, Jumbotrons running. Cue USGBC CEO Rick Fedrizzi for the introduction of the new Project Haiti video. The video features the recent site visit by the USGBC and HOK team members and meeting with the terrific clients, Gina and Lucien Duncan from the children’s center.
While many of us enjoyed the festivities surrounding the All-American Memorial Day BBQ on Monday, we may or may not have taken time to reflect on the brave men and women who selflessly serve(d) in our Armed Forces. Among our ranks at HOK New York, there is a small group of designers who have spent the better part of the last three years paying homage to the sacrifices of our veterans by designing supportive housing for over 50 service men and women who will soon be calling Fordham Village their new home.
Last week, at the Grand Opening of Fordham Village in the Bronx, I was alarmed to learn of the number of veterans who return home to …
On Saturday, a small-but-mighty HOK Impact crew spent the day painting at Potentials, a resale boutique in St. Louis County. Once the shop opens in early April, proceeds from clothing and furniture sales will benefit Youth in Need, an agency providing services and care for thousands of homeless youth in eastern Missouri.
As a pro-bono project, Michael Nolan (director of interiors for HOK St. Louis) teamed up with Sarah Weissman (an architectural technician and driving force behind HOK Impact) to design a functional, attractive interior space. The site, located in a shopping center in Creve Coeur, united two retail/office units into one streamlined space.
Our task for the day was to apply the second coat of paint on …
Every year, the DC Building Industry Association (DCBIA) selects a project for community improvement day. This year’s project was to restore and enhance the Metropolitan Branch Trail in Northeast Washington, DC (right by the Rhode Island Avenue Metro Station in Ward 5). This was DCBIA’s 18th annual Community Improvement Day and HOK’s fourth year participating.
The project’s goals were to create an urban arboretum and enhance the path for bicycle commuters and runners. The HOK team, small, but mighty was at the trail bright and early Saturday morning to get in some exercise, sunshine, hard work, teambuilding, and networking. With 500 professionals from across the building industry participating, we made quick …
The HOK St Louis office has been quite busy lately. So busy, some may say, we’ve been just a Chuggin-Along. Asked by one of our clients, Peabody Energy, to design a tree for inclusion in the Children’s Holiday Festival, we happily hopped on board (man, the puns just keep coming!)
The Children’s Holiday Festival is an annual event to benefit St Louis Children’s Hospital, one of the premier children’s hospitals in the United States. Trees are elaborately decorated and then auctioned off to the highest bidder. The winner gets to take home the tree and the hospital gets a bump in funding.
Jeff Reynolds, Jeff Strohmeyer, Clark Davis, Bob Blaha, JoAnn Brookes, Dennis Laflen, Tom Goulden, Joe Berra and Tim Tynan
If I actually knew how to golf, I would have raced out to Forest Park this past weekend — what a beautiful weekend it was – for the Third Annual Putting for Pooches Golf Tournament. I am a self-professed animal lover – here’s a pic of my basset hound Annabelle.
HOK had two teams in the 3rd Annual Putting for Pooches Golf Tournament. The team made up of Jeff Strohmeyer, Bob Blaha,
