Early in 2007, architect (and Life at HOK blogger) Colin Rohlfing, sustainable design director in HOK’s Chicago office, accepted a challenge from long-time HOK St. Louis sustainable design principal Bill Odell.

Odell, one of the lead designers on HOK’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) team, asked Rohlfing to organize the sustainable design effort and to manage the LEED coordination and documentation for the 6.5-million-square-foot KAUST campus and town center projects—arguably the most ambitious delivery effort in the firm’s 54-year history (it was designed and built in just three years).

Two-and-a-half years and a lifetime of experiences later, Rohlfing, 28, recently learned that the team’s hard work on KAUST had …

HOK Chairman Bill Valentine reflects on the design for King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The airport opened in 1984.

“We were sitting around drinking beer at midnight and then we started drawing. … A billion dollars in construction later, there it was. It was just that idea that came out of the group in the time of need.”

Previous edition of ITDS: Don Crichton – Toronto

Recently, well not so recent but recent enough, I had the pleasure of accompanying my good friend Samira on her pilgrimage to Mecca. We had been planning our travels for quite some time, making sure to see everything, do everything, and just try to enjoy this once in a lifetime experience. When she initially asked me to go, I stereotypically was hesitant. A foreign destination, desert climate, and little-to-no caffeine kind of made me think twice about the whole thing. But I knew I couldn’t miss this opportunity, especially since not everyone is able to make the holy pilgrimage.

I may have mentioned it before, but I seem to have a little problem at airports, especially with airport security. I …

Recently I had a chance to visit one of the historic projects for HOK. Early Last week, Monte Wilson and Steve Parshall (Advance Strategies) and I were in Riyadh to kick-off the Master Plan Update for King Saud University. The original Master Plan and a number of buildings on the campus were done by HOK in late 70s. The university opened in 1984 and at the time was one of the biggest projects in the world. Since then the university has grown faster than anyone’s imagination and now needs a fresh look at its resources and future growth. The university approached us to do a master plan update that will integrate a new research campus (Riyadh Techno Valley) and …