I just met a new awesome woman of HOK: the Planning Group’s fabulous Amy Roots, from HOK’s Toronto office.  No, I didn’t meet her because of a project or any official reason.  I met her because another awesome woman of HOK (Jeannette Thompson) decided that we should connect.  And we did! 

Amy’s about the same age that I am (we refer to ourselves as “tweeners” – not quite at the senior executive level, but well into our careers), and has been at HOK for about the same amount of time.  We giggled about how being in your early 30s is fantastic because it’s the “whatever” years.  Whatever you do …

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, …

Here’s another chapter in our ongoing 5 questions series with the women of HOK.  Meet Barb Ciesla, Sustainable Design Leader and Vice President in Toronto.  Barb has been with HOK almost six years now and we are glad to have her.   She is a Scorpio and true to her zodiacal sign, she is “one intense little creature.”  Barb is as smart as they come and won’t back down, especially when it comes to sustainability.  Read more and you’ll see why.

Q:  Why is sustainable design so important to you? – I got to a point in my design career where, although I was loving what I was doing, I didn’t …

HOK Toronto’s very own Sarah McCullough is the poster child for Newforma and how effective it can be. She has even gone so far as to make a promotional video to prove just how cool the software is!

Check it out and ENJOY… Newforma

HOK’s dragon boat team, Hell on Keels, recently clocked their best time of 2:21.59 during the Annual Great White North Dragon Boat Challenge, placing fifth overall in their division.

The race was in support of the YMCA of Greater Toronto, which serves 150,000 people of all ages in the Greater Toronto area alone. This year the race brought together 5,000 participants who helped the foundation achieve their goal of raising $150,000!

Congratulations to the following HOKers who participated in the event:
Catlin Turner
Deborah Sperry
Gordon Stratford
Heather Spithoff
James Janzer
Jozef Pilasanovic
Mounia Matta
Shahrazad Davoudi
Sharon Turner

AND a special thanks to HOK’s team Captain, Laura Fyles, for her dedication!

There are things in life that are certain. Paying taxes, dying, and me making a fool of myself. Now while I was hoping my life of misfortune events stayed behind in Canada, I always seem to even surprise myself at how it’s possible to turn a simple everyday task into the longest possible nightmare imaginable.

In my last post, I described my final days at HOK. I guess I never mentioned where I went because I didn’t really think it mattered because I am just a personality on the Internet. But I moved to England.

I had been thinking that this move really was my chance to kind of grow up, or as my …

So I gave my two-week notice three weeks ago. I’m not really sure what that makes me to you, the reader. But I’m not at HOK anymore.

Anyone who would have talked to me on a regular basis or saw the black bags under my eyes from stress would have probably known something about it. I actually kind of regret the way I left as my last day was first supposed to be my birthday (September 15th), then the following day, then the Friday, and then I was gone without any real goodbyes.

I have to admit I’ve probably written this blog post probably three or four times, because I really wasn’t sure how …

I’m not going to bore you with some miracle ‘weight loss’ plan, because that’s not really my style. But I am going to tell you about this other thing called ‘eating whatever you feel like’, as long as it is located with a 100 mile radius of your house.

I heard about the 100-mile diet last summer, and recently read another article about it in this month’s NOW Magazine. So I thought I would share some of my experiences I’ve had with the idea.

One thing I love about Toronto is the St. Lawrence Market. It’s a 100-year old farmers market, in an old building, and the old part of town. Local farmers …

With this week feeling quite lengthy and my birthday coming up, I thought I would share with you all a story from a couple of years ago, when I was going into my third year at Ryerson University.

It was the week before Labour Day, 2003 (School doesn’t start until after Labour Day in Canada.). I had been living in Residence (Dorms) for the past two years, and was convinced that I should become an RA (Residence Assistant) or Don as you may have referred to it at your own alma mater.

Going into the position, I was really indifferent about the whole thing. I never was a fan of the whole ‘frat’ guy …

I saw a commercial about this on Discovery Channel Canada.

The Shweeb – World’s First Human Monorail Racetrack

Currently it’s an amusement park ride, but I could actually see this being a form of transportation in Urban and even Suburban areas. Where there could be ‘Shweeb’ network at your nearest intersection, or even in the utility right-of-ways, which bisect most neighbourhoods. Which could then lead you to a main public transit node for your commute to work/shopping/entertainment.

In Toronto, a group is trying to raise support for a series of Bike Expressways throughout the city, similar to the Vehicular Expressway’s that ruin our cities neighbourhood’s. But the problem I see with them is gaining public approval, and Government support through finances, …

One of my favorite things as a kid was sitting on the porch watching the thunderstorms come rolling through over the cornfields. Where my grandmother would get out the holy water and start telling everyone to get into the basement. I use to love watching things blow up.

Now I’m not sure what the weather is wherever you are located. But here in Toronto we have had quite the strange year (or two). First we had a bitterly cold winter, followed by a very wet spring. Which made way the coldest June/July in 15 years. But lately what has been happening are these very large …

So this is my 100th blog post on HOKLife. I really don’t know what to make of that number. The average number of posts is around 20 for this site, so does that make me active on here, or just desperate for attention? I’m not really sure. But if it wasn’t for the people reading south of the border (I’m pretty sure no one from the Toronto office reads the blog anymore), I’m not sure if I would have made it to 100.  So I say thank you to the dozen or so people who read my nonsense. I’m not sure if there is any merit to my ramblings, but somebody seems to like it, or they would have told …

The memories of family camping trips are still a source of strength for me. I remember my first time quite vividly, kind of like the first time I drank a cup of water. Waking up early in the morning. Climbing into the back seat of the car. Getting something to eat – probably Tim Horton’s. We’d drive and drive and drive, until we finally stopped. I didn’t really know where we were, but there were some trees there. The rush of blood to my feet from running to the washroom always made me feel all tingly inside after a long car ride. I think we ate some kind of food, maybe played …

It has been almost 36 days since the last time garbage has been picked up in the city of Toronto (Compare that to my hometown of Windsor, which has had a city strike going for over 15 weeks.). But nevertheless, it looks like the city and the union have stopped their bickering and are working toward amends.

For the people to the south, not only have we had to go through a city workers strike, but also a VIA (Amtrak equivalent) strike and a liquor strike (We only have Liquor Stores, and Beer Stores. Not gas stations, or drive through windows where you can get your beverage …

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

…

Today is a big day at HOK. It’s the day we celebrate our offices to the north: Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, and Toronto, as we celebrate Canada Day. If you’re new to the office or visiting today, you would have noticed the Canadian flag displayed outside of the various HOK offices, and the reason why everyone is wearing red and white — it is customary to wish anyone wearing red a Happy Canada Day. As we at HOK celebrate all of our offices, and the wide range of locales they may be in, I myself can’t wait for the American Independence Day. Especially because we have been granted the day off to …

Big things happened in Toronto yesterday. A local Architect presented his idea for what he would do to with our inter-city expressway, the Gardiner Expressway. The same expressway the city has been talking about tearing down/repairing/doing nothing with, for almost a quarter of a century. It’s a great time to do it also, with the city will be going on strike come Sunday night. But never the less, I thought I would show my friends to the south as not many people from Toronto actually look at my content.

The Gardiner Expressway, built between 1955-1966. Named after Robert G. Gardiner, (our Robert Moses) was the Chair of the now defunct Metro Council. It stretches about 20 kilometers running east west, and …

It’s Saturday morning. Most people would describe their Saturday mornings the same way as they describe a visit to IHOP: slow-moving, waitresses with the smell of whiskey on their breath, and really bad food. While I’ve just spent another night sleeping on the floor.

Normally I wake up, do my daily routine of stretching and scratching, have a shower and stand in front of the window in my birthday suit. Welcoming each and every day the same way, as any normal person would do. Suddenly I notice there are 10,000 people standing outside my window. Not knowing if I should stand still and hope no one notices me, or move quickly to get out of the way. When out of my …

This past weekend, the City of Toronto held its 10th annual ‘Doors Open’ to celebrate the Architecture in the city, especially since May is ‘Architecture and Design Month.’ Unfortunately this year’s selection of buildings for the public to explore was mostly a wide selection of Public Lobbies and Foyers that anyone could go into on any given day. I’m actually surprised retail shops don’t try to partake in the festivities, just to get people to go into their stores.

So with that said, I thought I would share some photos and stories as we trekked across the city.

The first stop, and new to the Doors Open event, was the Canadian …

It was 9:00am, and we were already running behind. We were supposed to meet up with Joe Pettipas, the newly transferred Senior Vice President in the HOK Calgary office at 10. But we couldn’t help stop at the Dinosaur Valley before making our way into Calgary.

Drumheller, the Dinosaur Capital of the world as they call themselves, has had the largest concentration of dinosaur finds in North America. It just so happens it also has the most inflatable dinosaur heads per capita as well. Its kind of strange to see plastic dinosaurs running amuck while you’re exloring thousands of years of history….

Last week, while most watched Obama do his 100 day thing and also witnessed the American media continue to create fear in viewers eyes over the swine flu pandemic. (How many people are going to visit Mexico after this whole thing is over? Probably not many who consistently follow the views and opinions of some of the American media outlets.), I tagged along and went on a trip of a lifetime, the Great Canadian road trip out west. Now I know most people that view this blog don’t usually look at content that is Canadian specific. But I hope you will come along over the next five days, and enjoy some great Canadian landmarks along the way….

It’s Sunday morning, cloudy. Doesn’t look many people are on the streets because the highways are closed all weekend. So I decide to go for my usual Sunday walk to Tim Horton’s to get something to eat and read the newspaper.

( The point of the story isn’t about what I had for breakfast, as I’m sure most wouldn’t want to hear my description about the coffee and donut I had. )

I spent about 45 minutes in Tim Horton’s. Top up on my coffee before I leave, and head out the door. I’m walking down the steps to meet the sidewalk when I notice the lid of my coffee cup isn’t on all the way. So I start to go back …

I woke up this morning, like every morning, rolling out of bed.
I brushed my teeth, ironed my shirt, got ready in my head.
I walked to work, went to work, even grabbed a cup of coffee.
Today was just like any other day, except it was a Friday.

I sat at my desk, on my desk, even in a chair.
I checked my back, even looked back; I forgot to fix my hair.
This day was going to be long, too long, when will it ever end.
Thank god it’s the weekend, I think I’m going to hit the fan.

I left work, didn’t do much work, my head was in a spin.
I checked my watch, running to watch, it was a quarter past ten.
I was cutting …

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 …

Last week in the Toronto studio, Guillermo (Gil) Peñalosa, Executive Director of Walk and Bike for Life and the former Commissioner of Parks, Sports and Recreation for the city of Bogotá, Columbia, joined us for a talk about his work, both past and present. The nearly 2-hour presentation, which could have easily been 6 if he wasn’t forced from the microphone, was one of those occasions where you left the room feeling motivated to create change. Now while most people would write an eloquently written article about the information he was conveying, I’m not about to do that. But what I am about to do is talk about the faults of his presentation.

I’m not sure about anyone …

I contemplated the subject of my first blog post thoroughly. To be completely honest I was quite nervous, I even picked Justin’s brain about his technique – “Jessica, all you have to do is be yourself.” And with those 9 simple words Justin was able to kick apprehension right out the door!

So let me tell you a bit about myself. I began my career in Marketing by attending the Canadian Automotive Institute for Automotive Marketing. After college I quickly realized I did not want to limit myself to one industry, more specifically a dying industry (as it stands right now), and began to look elsewhere. I explored the realms of retail and information technology, before finding an environment …

Janet just wrote a couple days ago about Republic, a bike builder with online customization. Since I know many bikers there are at HOK, I thought this might be a nice entry.

Janet lives in Toronto (and as a former HOK employee, we miss you Janet!), it reminded me of this awesome graphic showing public transportation options for the Toronto office (below) when it won a SMART Environments award in Metropolis.

I’m pretty sure it’s imperative that if you work in the Toronto office, you have to be cool. Since everyone I’ve met from there is …

Valerie showcased some of her photos of Bukit Timah last week, so I thought I would share a few as well.
Tommy Thompson Park (soon to be Lake Ontario Park) is one of those areas that you go to let your consciousness loose. Although it’s a derelict space, full of empty Coke bottles and broken bricks, it’s a tranquil environment off the beaten path, allowing you to escape the city and venture off on your own.
Not many people make their way out to the lighthouse that greets those arriving on a vessel, but it’s one of those hidden gems of the city.

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Link …

I’ve noticed quite a few people have looked at my previous post about some of the projects in the city of Toronto, so I thought I would add a few more to my list.

Now I’m not saying Toronto is the “be all and end all” for architecture and interior design, but it’s starting to feature quite a few high quality projects.

Please excuse my lack of knowledge if I have missed any collaborating firms, or additional help.

Arthur Erickson Roy Thompson Hall (2)
Baird Sampson Neuert Architects French River Interpretative Centre (2)  (3)  (4)   Discovery Landing (2)
Drew Mandel Design Residence Residence II
HOK …

It was a brisk night, one of those frozen nose hair kind of nights. No matter how many pairs of socks or touques you could wear, it could never make it any better.

I had awoken earlier to find a raccoon trying to steal my box of timbits that had frozen over, but managed to fight it off with a piece of gum and stick. I had saw somewhere about hypothermia, and what happens when it hits you. Sense of delusion and you feel a painful amount of cold, followed by a sense of warmth. Well I was cold all right. I was sleeping outside in negative 30c temperatures.

…