HOK: Америкалық дизайн, архитектура және жоспарлау фирмасы

American design, architecture, engineering and planning firm

HOK, formerly Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum and legally HOK Group, Inc., is an American design, architecture, engineering, and urban planning firm, founded in 1955.

HOK was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1955. The firm is named for its three founding partners: George F. Hellmuth, Gyo Obata and George Kassabaum, all graduates of the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis. Also in 1968, HOK launched its interior design practice. HOK also expanded into Washington, D. C., after winning the commission to design the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. In 1973, HOK established a presence in New York by acquiring Kahn & Jacobs, designers of many New York City skyscrapers. By the 1970s, the firm was operating internationally and in 1975 the firm was named as architect of the $3.5 billion King Saud University in Riyadh, at the time the single largest building project in the world. In 1979, George Kassabaum was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician. In 1983, HOK formed HOK Sport Venue Event, a subsidiary devoted entirely to designing sport stadiums, arenas, and convention centers, an architectural boom market at the time.

HOK's first office outside the US opened in Hong Kong in 1984, and the second in London in 1987, a practice that would be expanded in 1995 by merging with the British architectural practice Cecil Denny Highton. As of April 2021, HOK operates offices in seven different countries including the US, China, India, and Canada, where it established its first offices in 1997 with the acquisition of Urbana Architects. The firm expanded into China in 2013, when it acquired the New York and Shanghai offices of hospitality design firm BBG BBGM, creating one of the world's largest interior design firms, although BBG BBGM's office in Washington, D. C. continues to operate as BBGM. By 2007, international work represented more than 40% of HOK's annual revenue. Other domestic acquisitions include Caudill Rowlett Scott based in Houston, Texas, in November 1994, adding offices in Houston and Atlanta, and 360 Architecture in January 2015, a 200 person, Kansas City based firm specializing in the design of stadiums, ballparks, arenas, recreation and wellness centers, and mixed use entertainment districts. The acquisition enabled HOK to launch a new global Sports, Recreation, and Entertainment design practice after the breakaway of Populous, and to open new offices in Kansas City and Columbus, Ohio. This return to the firm's tradition of stadium architecture was buoyed on May 15, 2015, when the firm announced a multi year partnership with the United Soccer League (USL) in the US to lead a stadium development, design and standards initiative to help house all USL clubs in soccer specific stadiums across North America by the end of the decade.

In 2023, Eli Hoisington and Susan Klumpp Williams became co CEOs of HOK. They are the youngest and first female CEOs in HOK’s history. Carl Galioto serves as HOK’s president. Hoisington and Klumpp Williams succeeded Bill Hellmuth, founder George Hellmuth’s nephew, who was president of the firm from 2004 to 2016 and CEO from 2016 until his passing in 2023. Prior to Bill Hellmuth, Patrick MacLeamy, served as HOK’s CEO from 2003 to 2016, and chairman since 2012. MacLeamy succeeded HOK Chairman Bill Valentine when he retired after 50 years with the firm.

In 1983, HOK introduced HOK Draw, computer aided drafting software products that specialized in conceptual architectural design. In the early 2000s, HOK began using Building Information Modeling (BIM) to streamline the design and construction process. In September 2008, HOK announced an alliance with the Biomimicry Group, co founded by Janine Benyus. In 2010, HOK and energy and daylighting consultant The Weidt Group completed design of Net Zero Court, a 170,735 square foot, market rate, zero emissions class A commercial office building in St. Louis. In 2013, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 released the Genius of Biome report, a textbook for how to apply biomimicry design principles, and a year later in 2014, ORO Editions published "HOK Tall Buildings", a 300 page book exploring the design of the contemporary high rise.