One of the comments we hear a lot is, “HOK’s such a big firm.  Don’t you feel lost there?” 

Coming from a very small firm (I was one of eight there; here I am one of 2,400 or so), I ’ll admit I was a little intimidated…but I’ve found the size issue is a misconception; HOK truly does provide great opportunities for collaboration that you wouldn’t find in a small firm.  In addition to having outstanding resources to help with project work (like the Denver project that used staff from San Francisco, St. Louis, and Washington, DC or the KAUST project that involved up to 400 HOK’ers at one point in time), it …

As you’ve read, HOK is big into sustainability, and part of our committment is personal – we’ve signed up numerous teams to compete in national bike-to-work month, sponsored by the cascade bicycle club (see Blake’s posts on HOK vs. Copenhagen and Calling all HOKers).  Tim O’Connell cooerced me into signing up using fear of public humiliation as his primary tactic. 

It’s a bit of a long ride for me (13.824 miles each way, according to Gmaps Pedometer) and I’m not much of a cyclist, but what the heck!  My route takes me along Cameron Run in …

As Blake told you, the WDC team is kicking butt in the bike-to-work challenge.  Today we had over 20 riders for National Bike to Work Day:

Front row, l-r: Jack Baker, Claire Whitehill, Pamela Sams, Jodi Williams, Julie Steele

Middle row, l-r: Daphne Kiplinger, Bokki Son, Jacalyn Chnowski, Vincent Ng

Back row, l-r: Pierre Lee, Chris Ryan, Bill Hellmuth, Bill Stinger, Walter Urbanek, Aaron Altman, Kyle Sullivan, Tim O’Connell, Sasha Strickland (Missing Morgan Williams).

It was enough that our bike racks were full….

So some people had to take advantage of the “executive parking.”

(That’s Bill Hellmuth, …

You know you’ve been anxiously awaiting our second installment of 5 Questions for HOKers.  Today’s feature is Esther Simon, the one and only prickly pear of HOK. 

Q: Tell us about your background.

A: I came to the United States from Israel about 30 years ago.  I have a great desire to be part of a larger community – I think this desire was formed in Israel, where there was a great sense of community due in part

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Today’s featured HOKer is a person I’ve been dying to get to know (I hear a lot about him – all good of course – but haven’t had the chance to work with him):  the one and only Brad Crown.  You’ll notice I was so intrigued that I actually ended up with six questions instead of five.  Oops!  Read on…

Q: How did you come to HOK?

A: I am a second-time HOK employee – I originally left the

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Today’s installment of 5 Questions features Tim O’Connell, a boomerang HOK employee. Tim worked at the DC office first in 2000-2001, moved to Boston, and then decided he simply couldn’t stay away and rejoined HOK WDC in 2006. 

Q: What five words describe HOK?

A: Versatile, Exciting, Innovative, Influential, Design and Quality-Focused,

Q: What is your role at HOK?

A: I am a jack of all trades,

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