Summer is a fun time here in HOK San Francisco, what with the farmer’s markets, the street festivals, the kooky (read: foggy) weather, and most importantly, the summer interns! 2010 was a high-yield year for the internship program: We received 876 applications from across the globe, from both Graduate and Undergraduate degree candidates, from which five were selected. Who were the chosen few, you ask? This year’s interns are an engaging and diverse bunch, and since we consider our interns to be an essential part of “Life at HOK”, I bring you 5 for 5 2010: five questions for five interns!

1. Carrie N./ Urban Planning-Landscape Architecture/ Harvard University/ Graduate Student

   What is your background

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On-the-ground at World Expo 2010 Shanghai, HOK Global Director of Climate Action Stan Wrzeski is gearing up for the Monday workshop he will lead: Global Voice, Local Choices: Creating Low-Carbon Communities, in collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Here is an onsite report:

It’s my third day here, and my body is just starting to adjust to the time zone and high summer humidity. You wouldn’t think so, but the long lines of people entering the Shanghai Expo grounds are actually cooled by a water spray beneath the metal canopy. I suggested to Paul Woolford and Kelly …

Let me start by saying this is not your mother’s clean plate club. August Table is the brainchild of my friend Cherry Chaicharn who I met during my stint in Hong Kong. She has created a series of tabletop items and textiles to bring out the designer in all of us. This Chicago native and former transportation planner (who also admits to having a serious crush on San Francisco) is truly inspired by “place”. Her current “urban”ware series includes these great cities: San Francisco, Bangkok, Tokyo, and Hong Kong.

My own obsession with the dishes led to this interview for HOK Life with Cherry. One of the most interesting things about …

Patrick MacLeamy, FAIA, HOK’s chief executive officer, has a unique vision for the future of the building industry. He believes that today’s buildings cost too much to build, don’t work as well as they could and don’t last long enough. In this five-part video series, Patrick explains why he believes this to be true and offers a solution for creating better buildings at much more affordable prices.

Patrick’s story begins with A Tale of Three Domes, in which he chronicles the gradual separation of designer and builder and suggests that Integrated Project Delivery is an idea whose time has come again:

Part 2 – Team Organization: Owner-architect-contractor teams should be reorganized into a single-contract buildingSMART organizational model that mandates teamwork and thus leads

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Another installment in our series about the inspiring women of HOK (not to say that our men aren’t inspiring, too!): Meet Jeannette Thompson, Business Communications Specialist in the HOK Planning Group. While Jeannette calls St. Louis her home, she supports the HOK network throughout the world. You also know her as one of the Life@HOK blogstar team and future American Idol judge! Jeannette is a true superstar and I hope you enjoy getting to know her a bit better.

Q: What’s a typical day in the life of Jeannette Thompson?

A typical day involves a morning routine that is anything but typical, …

As I mentioned in my previous post, I’m in Portland, Oregon attending the 44th annual SCUP conference.  There are 14 HOKers here from across the U.S. and Canada, and not only are we learning lots and meeting great people, we’re also sharing HOK greatness with the world.

To be specific, HOK greatness includes:

• 2009 National SCUP Campus Planning Award – District Category for the University of Alabama Science and Engineering Precinct Master Plan (Tuscaloosa, Alabama). Accepted by Crystal Barriscale and Paul Woolford (San Francisco) and our University of Alabama Clients, this award recognizes the University’s new precinct which focuses on science and engineering and creates a new pedestrian

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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 …

Certain HOK-ers (ahem, John Gilmore ) have been bragging about HOK’s very cool new collaboration technology: the Advanced Collaboration Room, which combines Cisco Telepresence Technology and Polyvision Thunder Express.  Well, John, you are no longer the only cool kid in town!  The WDC office became the fourth HOK office to open it’s ACR for business.  St. Louis, San Francisco, and Toronto already had them…next on the list are Houston, Los Angeles, and London.

After a few solid weeks of construction, the ACR was ready for …

Ingredients:

2 Progressive Architectural Firms
1 Experienced Contractor
1 Innovative Client
A Boatload of Acronyms (BIM, IPD, LEED, etc.)
Lots of Teamwork
A Dash of Design Brilliance

Process:

Blend together all ingredients into a seamless, highly efficient, unbelievably gorgeous space. 

Outcome:

PLATINUM, baby!

View a video produced by DPR to showcase the project’s Integrated Project Delivery (and featuring comments from our own IPD Innovator).

As a DC/mid-Atlantic native, I was sure happy to get the heck out of town in the middle of January…temperatures here have been pretty frigid (despite that this happens pretty much every year, I’m always shocked at just how cold it gets). Anyway, I had the opportunity to head off to the lovely town of San Francisco (in the 70s during the day) for a meeting and a day of work in the HOK SF office. 

I was definitely disappointed to miss the inauguration and associated events (especially the free concert), but I did see some great stuff in San Francisco, beginning with my airplane ride (not nearly as interesting …

I think a lot of people know that I am quite the sports fan. It’s really the only positive that many of us have right now, and being that we have offices all over the continental United States and Canada. I thought it would be an appropriate time to take a look at how they are doing. Especially since most are at the half way point in there seasons, or almost at the end.

Atlanta Hawks (NBA) – Dreaming of the days of Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb
Atlanta Falcons (NFL) – Did better then expected, but can’t seem to get out of the shadow of a former player.
Atlanta Thrashers (NHL) – The owner is a crook, and the fans don’t know they exist.
Atlanta …

That’s Joshua Bridie, a senior interior designer in HOK’s San Francisco office.

HOK San Francisco Design Director Paul Woolford on getting paid to play and ideas that last!

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