Last year, the State University of New York at Buffalo announced that it had selected HOK Architects to design a new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences near downtown Buffalo. Now, almost a year later, more details about the design have been revealed. The new building will be one of the largest to be built in Buffalo in decades, and it will also be one of the city’s most energy-efficient new buildings. With a dramatic six-story glass atrium, it will take full advantage of natural lighting, and the development will include a new station for Buffalo’s subway line, encouraging workers to take public transit.

Read the rest of HOK Unveils Plans for New LEED Gold Medical Campus in Buffalo

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Post tags: "leed", bike sharing, biomedical research, buffalo, Daylighting, HOK, HOK architects, LEED gold, medical school, public transit, SUNY Buffalo, transit-oriented development

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Post tags: Bill Hellmuth, HOK, HOK architects, infrastructure, International Business District, International Finance Center, istanbul, Istanbul master plan, master plan, public transit, sustainable design, turkey, urban parks

Opened late 2009, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, has come to be Saudi Arabia’s first LEED certified project and the world’s largest LEED Platinum project. Designed by HOK, the university is a super sustainable learning institution dedicated to advancing science and technology with a fellowship program that provides full tuition to both male and female graduate and doctorate students. The campus was designed as part of a larger master plan (also designed by HOK) to support a new town of 12,000 people living in over 6.5 million sqf on a 3,200 acre space along the Red Sea. Sited in an environment facing extraordinary challenges, including an extremely hot, humid climate, HOK was asked to create a low-energy, sustainable project that would also provide the necessary facilities to support cutting edge research and education, and a comfortable place to live. What resulted was a spectacular campus, that while modern in design, also draws deeply upon the traditional architecture of Saudi Arabia to minimize its energy needs. Structured like a traditional Arabic city, the campus is compressed to minimize the amount of exterior envelope exposed to the sun and reduce outdoor walking distances. The project also utilizes everything from passively cooled circulation thoroughfares, solar towers, traditional Arabic ‘mashrabiya‘ screens, water reclamation able to capture 100% of the wasterwater, and more. We recently sat down with HOK’s Bill Odell, architect and Director of HOK’s Science & Technology group, to talk about the design of KAUST. Read on for Bill’s fascinating story on how he and his global team at HOK were able to construct this top-notch, high-tech institution, and how the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) helped them turn out the world’s biggest sustainable project in just 28 months.

This interview is brought to you by Autodesk – Removing the barriers to better business.

Read the rest of INTERVIEW: HOK’s Bill Odell on the Design of Saudi Arabia’s KAUST University, the World’s Largest LEED Platinum Project

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Post tags: 2d/3d cad, 3D representation, 3d studio max, 3DS, Architecture, autdocad, autodesk, Bill Odell HOK, BIM, BNill Odell, building information modeling, Building Modeling, CAD, computer aided design, green architecture, Green Building, green design, greywater filtration, HOK, HOK architects, kaust university saudi arabia, kaust unversity, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, leed platinum schools, leed platinum university, leed rated schools, leed rated universities, middle east architecture, middle east inspired design, middle east schools, Revit, saudi arabia architecture, saudi arabia design, Sustainable Building, sustainable design, university saudi arabia, Using BIM For Green Building, virtual design and construction, world's largest Leed platinum project

Earlier this year we reported on the opening of the stunning Salvador Dalí Museum located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The museum is home to the world’s largest collection of Dalí works, and since its debut this past April, the dazzling venue has already welcomed over 300,000 visitors. With its clean minimalist lines juxtaposed against a sparkling geodesic glass atrium, the spectacular structure designed by HOK stands as a work of art in its own right, while still paying homage to the spirit of Salvador Dalí. The building also brings more to the table than just its looks. Housing over 2,000 pieces of Dalí’s most important works, the museum is sited within a corner of the country that often finds itself battered by severe storms with catastrophic results. To prepare for the worst, HOK designed the shell of the structure to withstand a Category 5 hurricane. The design also features numerous green systems, including a solar hot water powered dehumidification system, high efficiency HVAC and ventilation systems, and strategic daylighting to illuminate the interiors. We recently sat down with principal architect and Senior Vice President of HOK Yann Weymouth who enlightened us on the intricacies of the design, and what it took to get the museum built. Jump ahead for our exclusive interview with Yann as he explains the design, and how his team of architects and engineers used Building Information Modeling to build a space that’s not only beautiful and sustainable, but disaster-proof.

This interview is brought to you by Autodesk – Removing the barriers to better business.

Read the rest of INTERVIEW: HOK’s Yann Weymouth Discusses Designing the Hurricane-Resistant Salvador Dalí Museum

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HOK Architects were just selected from 14 entrants in an international design competition to design the new Ri.MED Biomedical Research and Biotechnology Center (BRBC) in Southern Italy.  The $269 million facility will be at the forefront of modern medicine and will focus on moving the research from the lab to the marketplace in order to prevent or cure diseases.

Read the rest of HOK Architects Win Competition to Design One of World’s Most Eco-Friendly Biomedical Research Centers

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Post tags: architecture competitions, biomedical research centers, eco-friendly research centers, educational architecture, HOK architects, LEED certified buildings, Ri.MED Biomedical Research and Biotechnology Center (BRBC)

Read the rest of HOK Selected To Lead Design of New Medical School in Downtown Buffalo

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Post tags: Design Competition, Green Building, HOK architects, LEED gold, medical school, NYSUNY 2020, Rust Belt, SUNY Buffalo, transit-oriented development, UB 2020, upstate New York

The U.S. Green Building Council recently announced that it has selected HOK as an official design partner for Project Haiti – a building designed to LEED Platinum principles that will replace a Port-au-Prince orphanage and children’s center devastated by the 2010 earthquake. The new structure will provide a safe, healthy home for the kids of the Fondation Enfant Jesus orphanage and children’s center. The design, which was just revealed yesterday, will take full advantage of passive heating and cooling, require minimal maintenance, and be independent from the city’s unreliable power grid.

Read the rest of HOK Teams Up With USGBC to Unveil Sustainable Orphanage and Children’s Center for Haiti

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HOK Architects were recently chosen to design Atlanta’s new Porsche North America headquarters, which will feature a sweeping kinetic facade and an immense green roof. The movement-filled building reflects the Porsche brand while incorporating innovative green landscape architecture, and it is designed to achieve LEED Silver Certification.

Read the rest of HOK Architects Unveil Porsche’s Green-Roofed North American Headquarters

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Post tags: Atlanta, Atlanta Airport, eco design, green design, green roof, HOK architects, interior courtyard, LEED silver certification, Porsche North American Headquarters, rainwater filter, sustainable design