PREFACE
Tall buildings give form to human aspiration. For 150 years, they have served as powerful expressions of our creativity, knowledge and will. Today, tall buildings continue to represent those ideals and more.
At the beginning of this century, roughly half the world’s population lived in cities. By 2050, that figure is expected to rise to nearly 70%. For future cities and their populations, high-rises offer a solution to this dramatic shift in population, allowing for greater density and efficiency while preserving open space and limiting sprawl. At the same time, tall buildings of today must respond to a changing world through sustainable and resilient design that promotes environmental health and community well-being.
The buildings in this book illustrate how HOK’s architects and engineers have sought to accomplish
these goals in projects around the world. Some are iconic towers soaring hundreds of meters into the sky. Others fit comfortably into their context at under 20 stories. (The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat defines tall buildings as 14 stories or higher.) A few others take existing high-rises and re-purpose their infrastructure to create new tenant options that extend their use and purpose.
Regardless of size, scale and type, each project in this book integrates structure and science to create forward-thinking, lasting solutions. We thank our clients for their trust, vision and partnership on these projects as together we give shape to the future of tall buildings and urban cores.
HOK Design Board
HOK is a collective of future-forward thinkers and designers who are driven to face the critical challenges of our time. We are dedicated to improving people’s lives, serving our clients and healing the planet. Together, we cultivate a culture of design excellence at the confluence of art and science, blending the power of creative expression with a clear sense of purpose.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Headquarters
Central Bank of Kuwait Headquarters
Crystal Tower
Msheireb Doha
PIF (Public Investment Fund) Tower
Allen Hotel Condo Tower
Corporativo Neuchatel
NewYork-Presbyterian David H. Koch Center
535 Mission Street
Atlantis Sanya
Chengdu Forte Financial Island
Forte Jinan Finance Center
InterContinental Beijing Sanitun at Topwin Center
Jiangxi Commerce Union Center
Le Méridien Hangzhou
Tianjin China Overseas International Center
UNBUI LT
Ogilvie West Tower
TAS 7 Labatt
4th and Harrison
China Overseas Suzhou Super Highrise Tower
Confidential Super Tall Mixed-Use Project
E5 New Songdo City
Lend Lease Circular Quay
Mixed-Use Tall Building Design Competition
Spire London
OIC Tower
REPOSITIONING / RETROFIT
Cira Centre
JP Morgan Chase Tower
Lightwell
Office Tower to Mixed-Use Tech Hub
Trammel Crow Center Redevelopment
8 Canada Square
MIDDLE EAST AMERICAS
ASIA
Area: 1.9 million sq. ft. / 175,300 sq. m.
Height: 1,123 feet / 342 meters
Stories: 75
Certification: LEED-NC Gold
Built: 2015
Awards:
• M iddle East Architect Awards – Highly Commended
• C TBUH Award of Excellence Winner –Best Tall Building
• C TBUH Award of Excellence Winner –Best Tall Building
• A rchitizer A+ Awards – Office Building High-Rise Jury Award
• A IA Maryland Design Excellence Awards
– Honor Award
HOK studio: Washington, D.C.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Headquarters
Abu Dhabi, UAE
The headquarters for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) symbolizes the company’s importance in the development of the United Arab Emirates.
Located on one of Abu Dhabi’s most prominent urban sites, the 75-story tower creates a new city landmark while articulating ADNOC’s role as one of the world’s most dynamic, influential petroleum companies.
The building’s elegant, minimalistic design expresses stability, strength and seriousness of purpose. Combining majestic spaces and high-quality materials, the design maximizes views of the Arabian Gulf through careful massing of the tower and placement of the surrounding courts, plazas and landscape. To maximize flexibility, offices are organized with a modular approach that is interchangeable and repeatable.
The tower’s north-south orientation minimizes the ground-level footprint, leaving room for landscaped amenity space. The north side of the tower is fully glazed to offer Gulf views and take advantage of limited direct sunlight. The south side, where sunlight is stronger, incorporates fritted glass and sun shades.
Extending south of the tower structure, the three-level rectangular podium houses employee service retail space, the service loading area, a heritage museum, and the main lobby and circulation space. The roof of the rectangular podium extends south across the access road to connect to a new mosque.
▲ north elevation
▲ south fa c ade
▲ east elevation
▲ south elevation
◄ fa c ade detail
▼ entrance detail
◄ facade
◄ aerial view
Area: 914,960 sq. ft. / 85,000 sq. m.
Height: 782 feet / 240 meters
Stories: 40 Built: 2016
Awards:
• M EED Quality Awards for Projects Best Building Project of the Year
• C TBUH Award of Excellence Winner –Best Tall Building + Interior Space Award
HOK studio: London
Central Bank of Kuwait Headquarters
Kuwait City, Kuwait
The Central Bank of Kuwait’s headquarters building symbolizes the nation’s economic power in the 21st century.
Located in the Sharq commercial and financial district, the structure is formed by a triangular, truncated pyramid tower intersected by a podium that houses reception and banking halls, conference facilities, dining and banquet rooms, and a museum.
The geometric forms echo Kuwaiti architecture’s style and order. The two walls facing the sun are predominantly stone, while the northern elevation is glass. Horizontal slots with recessed window openings minimize solar gain. At night, the all-glass viewing platform at the top of the building glows like a lighthouse. In contrast to the stone facades, the transparent north elevation looks out across the Gulf,
expressing Kuwait’s historic openness to commerce and trade and offering panoramic views.
Visitors enter the building through an expansive lobby, which features a wall with full-height, backlit, onyx pleated panels.
A retail branch of the bank is on the ground floor. On the second level, a conference facility accommodates corporate events and can be subdivided for smaller gatherings. Overlooking the Gulf, a 330-person auditorium is cantilevered beyond the line of the angled eastern elevation. A two-story juice bar at the opposite end offers views west toward the city.
HOK collaborated with Kuwait City-based Pan-Arab Consulting Engineers (PACE).
◄ exterior view entrance ▲
◄ interior lobby ▲
▼ aerial view
▼ view from harbor
Area: 452,000 sq. ft. / 42,000 sq. m.
Height: 787 feet / 240 meters
Stories: 52 Built: 2014
Crystal Tower rises from the city skyline in the Al Sharq district of Kuwait City. Composed of sloped glass and a metal panel curtain wall, the tower features elegant, slender proportions and a compact floor plate.
The building includes 45 stories of office space and a multi-level stone and glass podium. A striking open-air sky atrium at mid-tower height relates to the surrounding context of mid-rise buildings and provides sweeping, panoramic views. A 20-meter-tall steel truss spire atop the tower emphasizes the building’s dynamic asymmetrical composition.
Visitors enter through a three-story atrium. The dynamic lobby features abundant daylight, retail offerings and convenient access to building services.
The tower’s slenderness ratio of nearly 7 to 1 posed a structural engineering challenge for the design team. A cast-in-place concrete wall replaced the original steel V brace, absorbing the tower’s twisting motion under wind loads. Chamfered corners and perimeter tension columns in the concrete core further mitigate wind loads while also accentuating and enabling the tower’s sharp, angled massing.
HOK studio: Washington, D.C.
Crystal Tower Kuwait City, Kuwait
▲ sectional model
Area: 1.4 mill sq. ft. / 13,000 sq. m.
Msheireb Doha
Doha, Qatar
Height: 375 ft. / 115 m. (tallest building)
Stories: Various 27 to 5
Certification: LEED Gold
Built: 2021
Awards:
• T he Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design 2023 American Architecture Award
HOK studio: Washington, D.C.
What if you could design an entire city center from scratch? How could you make it respond to the needs of today and challenges of tomorrow? How could the design enrich the health and happiness of residents and reflect the history and culture of the community?
Those were questions HOK grappled with in creating Msheireb Downtown Doha, an urban renewal that creates the world’s first fully built smart and sustainable city center. HOK’s design of Phase 4 was the final phase of the 77-acre district and adds a vibrant, mixeduse neighborhood known as the Business Gateway District.
Few cities in the past century have grown faster or more remarkably than Doha. Gone are the low, adobe buildings and in their place, steel and glass towers stretch into the sky. Yet for all of Doha’s modern success, it
can be easy to lose sight of the city’s past and culture. Msheireb Downtown Doha is a response to that.
The Business Gateway District is the densest section of Msheireb Downtown Doha. Its 15 buildings include office towers, residential buildings, a hotel and retail shopping. HOK planned the district to support human connection. The site layout incorporates elements of the historic city grid. Building orientation and massing thoughtfully shades pedestrian walkways and allows prevailing breezes from the nearby bay to pass through the site. Traditional building materials provide proven, time-tested sustainability solutions. Narrow streets prioritize pedestrians, not autos.
The district boasts one of the world’s largest underground car parks extending the entire footprint and accommodating 10,000 parked vehicles. In addition, a metro station beneath the district serves as the main hub of Doha’s subway system.
Msheireb Downtown Doha boasts the densest concentration of LEED buildings in the world. All 15 buildings within the HOK-designed Business Gateway Quarter are now LEED Gold certified.
◄ aerial rendering street view ▲
◄ 3D section street view
◄ aerial view
Area: 1,980,000 sq. ft. / 184,000 sq. m.
Height: 1,260 feet / 384 meters
Stories: 80 Built: 2021
Awards: • International Property Awards – Best Commercial High-Rise
HOK Studio: Houston
PIF (Public Investment Fund) Tower
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Soaring 1,260 feet above the surrounding cityscape, the PIF Tower is the tallest of the five structures that make up the financial plaza of the King Abdullah Financial District. The team designed the iconic tower as the centerpiece of this new office district. It symbolizes the beginning of a new era of global financial leadership within Saudi Arabia's capital city.
Representing timelessness and openness, the tower's transparency relates to the crystals found along the wadis in the Saudi Arabian desert. This transparency creates internal openness and provides access to natural light within the workplace.
A high-performance solar control system moderates the intense Saudi light and heat. An external layer of fins, gantries and perforated panels provides shade, amplifying the thermal
efficiency of the triple-pane, unitized glazing. Together, these shading devices minimize solar gain and internal cooling loads, reducing HVAC requirements. Electrical energy is reclaimed through a photovoltaic array installation on the tower’s roof. The building was designed to achieve LEED Gold certification.
The hexagonal-shaped plan tapers inward and outward, providing clear-span floor plates that range from 26,000 square feet to 28,000 square feet. The podium structure at the tower’s base integrates public circulation with private amenity spaces, including dining facilities and a two-story auditorium.
HOK designed the tower in collaboration with Omrania & Associates.
NORTH RINGROAD
THE OLD RIYADH
THE STRIP SOUTH
Old Riyadh
concept sketches
▲ south elevation
▲ tower sun shading detail
▲ tower curtain wall detail
▲ tower curtain wall detail
cma service lift
local lifts (53-76)
technical levels
shuttle service
fire lift + service lift
local lifts (26-51)
technical levels
shuttles local lifts (1-24)
core
core ►
cma
mid-rise
◄ tower atrium ▲
▲ tower atrium
▲ physical model
▲ podium with shroud
▲ podium with enclosure system
▲ podium with structural diagrid
◄ street view
Area: 662,400 sq. ft. / 61,540 sq. m.
Height: 498 feet / 152 meters
Stories: 35
Built: 2024
Awards: • G RI Club Mexico 2023 Awards
HOK studio: Houston
Allen Hotel Condo Tower
Houston, Texas, USA
The Allen is a new mixed-use development located just west of downtown Houston along the Buffalo Bayou. HOK oversaw master planning for the six-acre development and designed its first two buildings: a 35-story luxury hotel/residential tower and a four-story retail podium.
The Allen embraces its location next to Buffalo Bayou Park through design and connections. The buildings’ sleek, contoured forms mimic the undulating, organic rhythm of the bayou. Elevated terraces and ground-level patios provide visible and physical links to the park’s trails and greenways.
An innovative cladding system, never used before in the United States, lends the retail pavilion and tower podium a cohesive, modern expression. In placing the tower on a podium, the design reduces the verticality of the building at street level, helping integrate it with nearby buildings and preserve the scale of
the neighborhood. All parking is strategically located either below grade or within the podium, enhancing the overall pedestrian experience within the development.
The tower features multiple programming types. A luxury Thompson Hotel occupies floors 5-15 with a ground-level concierge, coffee bar and signature restaurant. The hotel features 134 guest rooms, a spa, sky lobby, 300-seat ballroom and seventh-floor terrace with a pool and views onto downtown. Private residences occupy the building’s top 20 floors.
Subtle, curved massing accentuates the tower’s stacked volumes, with a striking cantilever denoting the transition from hotel to condos. Residential units include individual balconies (some with plunge pools) and shared amenities that include an indoor lap pool, conference rooms and private lounge.
To accommodate its multiple users, the tower offers three distinct entrances. Separate elevators take residents and hotel guests to their floors. Guests attending the fifth-floor hotel conference center and ballroom arrive by escalator or via a monumental stair leading to the hotel sky lobby.
The adjacent retail pavilion further distinguishes The Allen as a destination for residents and visitors alike. The pavilion includes ground-floor dining and retail, a multistory fitness center and a rooftop bar and restaurant overlooking the park.
aerial renderings ▲
▲ plaza renderings street view rendering ►
Area: 443,100 sq. ft. / 41,165 sq. m.
Height: 304 feet / 93 meters
Stories: 19
Built: 2022
Certification: LEED Gold (anticipated)
HOK studio: Houston
Corporativo Neuchatel
Mexico City, Mexico
The Corporativo Neuchatel tower is the first office building within the Cuadrante Neuchatel Polanco, a master-planned mixeduse development located in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City.
The 19-story building features exceptional amenities and flexible 24,200-sq.-ft. floor plates designed to maximize daylight and city views. Tenants enjoy convenient access to nearby restaurants, services, cultural centers and museums in one of Mexico City’s most desirable neighborhoods. In keeping with the master plan, the tower sits above 9 levels of underground parking.
HOK’s design establishes a striking entrance to the development, featuring an angled
northern facade and massing that align with the plot’s geometry. Sculpted corners accentuate the tower’s gateway presence, improve views and integrate it into the urban landscape. The main facades have slightly reflective floor-to-ceiling glass and vertical accent fins for shade and texture. Nonreflective, transparent glass on the corners further enhances the gateway aesthetic.
The site design prioritizes pedestrian connectivity and inclusive, functional public spaces. A pedestrian green space runs east to west, offering a series of lush courtyards and patios for respite from the busy city. A tree-lined north-south boulevard connects the tower to the dense Polanco neighborhood to the south.
The tower’s two-story, permeable base seamlessly integrates public spaces with an exterior garden, creating a hospitalityinspired lobby for work, conversation and relaxation. This versatile lobby is a dynamic, mixed-use space that transforms from daytime to nighttime, featuring a café/ bar and a library/lounge. Expansive glass folding doors and floor-to-ceiling windows foster a strong connection between the outdoor spaces and the surrounding community.
The high-performance building is expected to be LEED Gold certified.
◄ plaza aerial view
Area: 734,000 sq. ft. / 68,190 sq. m.
Height: 323 feet / 98 meters
Stories: 17
Built: 2018
Certification: LEED Gold
Awards:
• Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Award
• IIDA Healthcare Design Awards –Ambulatory Cancer Center
• European Healthcare Design Awards –Healthcare Design
• European Healthcare Design Awards
– Design Innovation for Quality Improvement
• ENR New York – Best Healthcare Project
HOK studio: New York
NewYork-Presbyterian David H. Koch Center
New York, New York, USA
NewYork-Presbyterian David H. Koch Center is a multifaceted building designed with the flexibility to support the evolution of medicine and patient care. The building houses three distinct programs: ambulatory care on floors 1-11; the Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns on floors 12-17; and, on the third floor, the Integrative Health and Wellbeing program operated in collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine.
A private drive-through drop-off and a generous daylit main lobby welcome patients and their families from the congestion of the city. The hospitality-inspired lobby features comfortable living room-styled seating areas, bold artwork and a warm wood ceiling.
A dramatic stair ascending from the lobby encourages healthy movement and leads to quiet zones, lounges and a mezzanine dining area with restaurant-quality offerings and a juice and coffee bar.
Upper levels continue the focus on patient comfort with bright sky lobbies and open circulation areas. A triple-glazed facade with encapsulated wood screens provides light and views that orient people as they move through the space.
The building’s sustainable and resilient design includes a green roof, high-performance facade and a high-efficiency mechanical system. Critical building systems essential to maintaining building operation are located on upper floors to protect them from flooding associated with climate change.
The David H. Koch Center was the first project in New York City to earn certification and the first in the state to achieve LEED Gold under the more stringent LEED Healthcare rating system.
HOK served as architect on the project in collaboration with Ballinger (medical architect) and Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (consulting architect for the building envelope and lobby).
Area: 354,000 sq. ft. / 32,900 sq. m.
Height: 378 feet / 115 meters
Stories: 27
Built: 2014
Certification: LEED Platinum (Core + Shell)
Awards:
• ENR California Best Projects – Office/ Retail/Mixed-Use
HOK studio: San Francisco
535 Mission Street
San Francisco, California, USA
The slender, tapered form of this Class A office tower transforms the South of Market (SoMa) district of San Francisco.
The San Francisco Chronicle called 535 Mission, “an urbane addition to the vertical scene, a good neighbor on the ground—and a reminder that, architecturally, a little restraint can go a long way.”
As the city’s first LEED Platinum Core and Shell certified office tower, the building’s advanced mechanical systems, highperformance skin and water-use efficiencies promote sustainability. Indoor controls optimize the energy and light transmission efficiency of the high-performance glass facade.
Approximately 3,700 square feet of groundfloor retail space serves building occupants, visitors and city residents. The two-story tall lobby includes publicly accessible open space that flows into a covered outdoor plaza with flexible seating, generous landscaping and an espresso bar.
The addition of new trees and a continuous band of planting along Shaw Alley softens the streetscape and enhances the pedestrian environment. Concrete paving in the alley adds pedestrian scale and texture.
◄ aerial view
facade ▲
Area: 2.55 million sq. ft. / 237,000 sq. m.
Height: 748 feet / 228 meters
Stories: 55
Built: 2018
Awards:
• World Travel Awards – China and Asia’s Leading Resort
• Golden Horse Awards – Asia’s Best MICE
Destination Resort
• Golden Horse Awards – Asia’s Best
Entertainment Destination Resort
• China Tourism Bureau – Outstanding Travel Project
HOK studio: New York
Atlantis Sanya
Hainan, China
The design for this luxury resort hotel reinterprets the myth of Atlantis on Hainan Island.
Inspired by the crashing of the South China Sea against the island’s rocky coast—once considered to be the end of the earth—the tower rises in two fin-like forms to create a dramatic massing. The building podium, including the main lobby rotunda, is conceived as a series of spiraling vortexes of water streaming away from the towers.
Capping the 55-story tower is a 79-foot-high lantern that pulls the rhythm of the tower’s continuous linear balconies up to its peak.
The curtain wall and balcony rails incorporate a waved frit that appears to send ripples up the building, reinforcing the fluid nature of the design.
Pushing the building core back to the arrival side of the tower introduces a subtle inflection to the plan that allows the guestrooms to be angled toward beach and ocean views.
The podium includes more than 320,000 square feet of retail, restaurants and conference space. The signature Atlantis Bridge Suite is on the tower’s penthouse level.
The arrival porte cochere and lobby reception are developed on an axis with views of the waterpark and ocean. They also provide a strong cross-axial orientation to the signature Lost Chambers Aquarium beyond.
The project owner is Fosun International Limited, and the resort is operated by Kerzner International Holdings Limited.
◄ ground level floor plan
3D aerial perspectives
Area: 2,782,965 sq. ft. / 258,546 sq. m.
Height: 820 feet/ 250 meters
Stories: 49
Designed: 2020 (currently in construction)
HOK studio: Hong Kong
Chengdu Forte Financial Island
Chengdu, China
Located in the middle of the Jinjiang River, Chengdu Forte Financial Island is a new commercial district in the heart of Chengdu.
HOK provided multiple design services within the district, including:
• A rchitectural design for two 250-metertall office towers and connected retail podium
• Facade design for three 150-meter-tall towers adjacent retail buildings
The architecture of the towers and retail podiums echo the natural surroundings. The
two super tall towers project the power and grace of the river while their concave corners mirror the curvature of the island shaped by centuries of erosion.
The retail podium follows the undulating rhythm of the river’s edge, creating a natural pedestrian flow between the towers and the shopping district. The podium’s steel and glass enclosure pays further homage to the river, casting patterns of light like sun shimmering off the water.
▼ view along river
Area: 5,201,282 sq. ft. / 483,215 sq. m.
Height: 853 feet / 260 meters (tallest tower)
Stories: 53 (tallest tower)
Designed: 2021
studio: Hong Kong
Forte Jinan Finance Center
Jinan, China
This multi-building development comprises five mixed-use office and apartment towers.
Inspired by the concept of waves, the design seeks to evoke strength and serenity and reinforce the planning concept paying homage to the region’s mountains, springs, lakes, rivers and cities.
The development’s building podiums are conceived as a series of undulating forms that create a relaxing, lake-shaped plaza beneath the towers. The tower forms are
unpredictable yet consistent. Their varied height creates ripples on the skyline. The buildings’ curved edges maximize views of nature and the surrounding cityscape.
The sparkling surface of an adjacent lake influenced the buildings’ exterior. Glass curtain walls use dark gray metal accented with dark gold, with details reflecting the image of the waterfront and mountains.
HOK
◄ street rendering ▲ aerial rendering
Area: 1,323,960 sq. ft. / 123,000 sq. m.
Height: 492 feet / 150 meters
Stories: 48 Built: 2016
Awards:
• S tyle Awards – Best New Hotel
• China Hotel Awards – Best Hotel of the Year
• A IA Hong Kong Honor Award –Architecture
HOK studio: Hong Kong
InterContinental Beijing Sanitun at Topwin Center
Beijing, China
The InterContinental Beijing Sanitun distinguishes itself as a modern landmark with a hexagon-patterned facade that gives it a distinctive honeycombed texture. At night, the tower’s skin comes alive to create mesmerizing light shows.
In addition to the 305-key InterContinental Hotel, the property also includes 48 luxury apartments and a boutique shopping mall.
Challenged by a narrow site, HOK’s team designed a tapered silhouette at the two ends of the tower with a linear silhouette at the building’s core. This form creates a dramatic exterior that offers uninterrupted panoramic views for hotel guests.
Located within the tower’s linear massing, hotel guestrooms offer stunning vistas onto the Forbidden City and Beijing’s financial district to the west and a vibrant cultural district to the east. Suites on the north and south ends have a triangular floor arrangement that provides 270-degree views onto the city.
Separate entrances welcome residents, shoppers and hotel guests onto the property. One of Beijing’s largest revolving doors creates a grand entry into the hotel lobby, where a connected restaurant patio allows diners to experience the neighborhood’s hustle and bustle.
◄ lobby view apartment view ▲
Area: 3,767,370 sq. ft. / 350,000 sq. m.
Height: 820 feet / 250 meters
Stories: 58
Designed: 2016
HOK studio: Hong Kong
Jiangxi Commerce Union Center (Nanchang Commerce Center)
Nanchang, China
Soaring more than 800 feet above the city, Jiangxi Commerce Union Center lies within Nanchang’s new central business district. Inspired by the region’s natural beauty, the center’s two towers—an office high-rise and mixed-use building—anchor a retail mall and offer panoramic views of the Gan River and Nanchang’s cityscape.
In designing the towers, HOK’s team found inspiration in the sculptural form of the ceramic vases produced in the Jiangxi region. Tapering at the top and bottom, the smooth, undulating facade creates a distinct appearance that, like the river, appears to change shape when viewed from different angles.
The retail mall’s canopy offers a unique indoor-outdoor experience that features international brands and dining facilities.
For the interior design of the 277-room Nanchang Westin hotel in the north tower, the team sought to visually convey the rich history of the province and the entrepreneurial spirit of its people. The hotel atrium offers a contemporary interpretation of the siheyuan, a traditional Chinese courtyard house that historically has represented the mercantile essence of local residents. Thirteen floors of guestrooms surround this atrium and its views onto a
courtyard garden. Fine art displays on each floor showcase contemporary interpretations of traditional crafts such as ceramics and carved jade sculptures.
Additional HOK-designed amenities include three signature restaurants, an executive lounge, a sky bar, pool and wellness facilities, and a conference space with a ballroom.
◄ river view rendering construction photos ▲
Area: 645,000 sq. ft. / 59,920 sq. m.
Height: 427 feet / 130 meters
Stories: 33
Built: 2018
Le
Hangzhou, China
Hangzhou
Le Meridien Hangzhou is a 33-story hotel and residential tower located in the vibrant Binjiang Business District. Overlooking the Qiantang River, the building offers incredible views and easy access to commercial and cultural destinations.
Hangzhou’s elegant tradition of silk production inspired HOK’s design. The building geometry has a fluid, natural form. Composed in distinctive layers of a minimally detailed exterior glass and metal envelope, the tower’s form elicits a soft play of light throughout the day that casts a silk-like veil across the building.
HOK’s design orients the building layout to capture the best views and maximize the number of rooms facing the river. Guests and residents enjoy plenty of natural light and scenery.
The hotel features 199 guestrooms and suites. Amenities include a fitness center with an indoor swimming pool. Le Meridien’s family program offers a large kid’s club, indoor golf simulator, and an art studio for painting and drawing. Three different restaurants cater to diners seeking to experience the local cuisine
HOK studio: Hong Kong
Méridien
◄ street view
▲ main entrance
◄ facade detail
Area: 4 million sq. ft. / 371,000 sq. m.
Height: 1,115 feet / 340 meters
Stories: 71
Designed: 2021
HOK studio: Hong Kong
Tianjin China Overseas International Center
Tianjin, China
Tianjin China Overseas International Center comprises two office towers (the tallest is 71 stories) and a retail podium that acts as an entry to the development. HOK won the project following an international design competition.
The project is located in the heart of Tianjin’s central business district, on the east bank of the Haihe River. The world-class development features integrated sustainable strategies, including a high-performance envelope and ample green spaces. Rich amenities and luxury retail brands will position the development as Tianjin’s premier commercial venue.
HOK’s design emulates the modularity and structural grid of the neighboring buildings while achieving a contemporary, sculptural effect. As a new landmark for Tianjin, the 71-story tower appears to twist from the bottom to the top. HOK's architects collaborated with structural engineers at Thornton Tomasetti and the Tianjin University Research Institute of Architectural Design and Urban Planning to integrate the twisting tower facade with the building structure. The glass curtain wall, which contrasts with the elegant, modular skin system, provides unobstructed city views while drawing daylight deep into the building.
Located on the 41st and 42nd floors of the main tower, the “Sky Lobby” features an outdoor sky garden, fitness and recreation area, dining areas and a lounge. The garden terrace complements the complexity of the tower’s form and brings nature into the workspace.
A four-story observation deck atop the 71-story tower offers panoramic city views while accommodating a sky bar, fine dining and a multifunctional exhibition hall.
◄ facade view
▲ plaza rendering
AMERICAS
ASIA
EUROPE
MIDDLE EAST
Area: 1m sq. ft. / 930,000 sq. m.
Height: 805 feet / 245 meters
Stories: 40
Designed: 2019
HOKstudio: Chicago
Ogilvie West Tower
Chigago, IL
This proposed building , located at the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago, occupies an irregular slot bisected by commuter rail. While rail is a sustainable and necessary component of mass transit, it interrupts the urban fabric. The Ogilvie station services 500,000 passengers a week, but its 16 rails and eight island platforms block several downtown streets traveling east to west. Pedestrians, bikers and drivers experience long, narrow underpasses when crossing underneath the terminal.
Ogilvie Tower offers the opportunity to grow the public space that connects Ogilvie Station, two CTA "L" lines and 12 CTA buses to the surrounding area. The tower's mixed-use base of retail and transportation concourses provide direct access to train platforms.
The tower's podium base also expands public space. A roof garden on the third level creates a destination and refuge. Its landscaped plaza and amphitheater provide a place where people can gather and connect. A grand staircase and escalators improve the flow of movement to create a vibrant urban, transit-oriented environment.
The tower offers 1 million square feet of commercial space coupled with the amenityrich, transit-oriented public base. The design considers its position on the north branch of the Chicago River and the city skyline. Rising 40 stories, the tower is a beacon that announces itself in the skyline.
Ogilvie West follows a larger vision for Chicago that heals the city's infrastructure scars. By stitching and expanding public space, the tower serves to heal Chicago’s infrastructure scars. Downtown starts to become better connected, stitching together the Loop and West Loop neighborhoods to support a lively, active environment.
section facing South ▲
▲ low-rise typical plan
▲ physical model studies
▲ mid-rise typical plan
▲ high-rise typical plan
Area: 465,000 sq. ft. / 43,200 sq. m.
Height: 415 feet / 126 meters
Stories: 38
Designed: 2019
TAS 7 Labatt Toronto,
Canada
TAS, a real estate developer known for unconventional, neighborhood-focused projects, engaged HOK to design a mixedused high-rise development for downtown Toronto’s east side.
With an emphasis on creating a true community for its residents, the project’s vision is centered on creating a vertical extension of the neighborhood throughout the building. It provides a variety of amenities for healthy and communal living, such as urban farming, bicycle facilities and coworking spaces.
The project would enrich the public realm by providing public green spaces and retail spaces, including a Salvation Army facility.
The richly textured, high-performance facade helps the building blend into its context of low-rise homes and achieve sustainability goals. Apartment balconies are designed as true private outdoor spaces and are staggered to maximize daylight into all residential units.
HOK studio: Toronto
▲ street rendering
Area: 820,000 sq. ft./ 76,180 sq. m.
Height: 203 feet / 62 meters
Stories: 15
Certification: LEED Platinum (targeted)
Designed: 2021
Awards:
• T he American Architecture Awards - Best Mixed-Use Buildings
• C enter for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat – Future of Design Award
HOK studio: San Francisco
4th and Harrison Mixed-Use Development
San Francisco, California, USA
This proposed mixed-use development in San Francisco’s Central SoMa neighborhood links the Financial District with the burgeoning Mission Bay area.
The building would feature 770,000 square feet of Class A office space with large floor plates and amenities that include multiple roof decks with city views. The project also plans for 36,000 square feet of retail, onsite childcare and production-distributionrepair space, street level micro retail and 16,700 square feet of public open space.
Rising 15 stories* above grade, the building is designed to enhance the neighborhood’s character while acknowledging its context and history. Instead of the monolithic tower shape characteristic of many downtown office buildings, it takes inspiration from the intrinsic geometries found in the built and
natural environments. The articulation of the building on large and small scales creates a cascading effect reminiscent of falling leaves.
HOK’s design team used parametric design tools to create a pulsating rhythm of expansion and contraction with different panel sizes and colors. The metal panel facade blends seven copper and eight zinc tones highlighted by a gradient color shift from the ground up. Unique stacking arrangements and facade treatments visually break up the building’s mass. The glazing, metal panels and reliefs arrayed across the individual facades are environmentally responsive to solar orientations.
The building is designed to target LEED Platinum certification, which would make it one of San Francisco’s largest carbonneutral developments.
At street level, the building would feature two publicly accessible open spaces (POPOS) featuring public art. These spaces enhance the building’s inviting urban streetscape while meeting the criteria of San Francisco’s 1% Art Program.
*CTBUH evaluates buildings in context to their surroundings, with buildings of at least 14 stories or 165 feet generally categorized as a “tall building.”
▼ facade rendering from Harrison street
▲ privately owned public spaces interior rendering
Area: 4 million sq. ft. / 371,000 sq. m. Height: 1,500 feet / 460 meters
Stories: 99
Designed: 2021 (competition)
HOK studio: Hong Kong
China Overseas Suzhou Super Highrise Tower
Suzhou, China
Located in a blossoming innovation and residential district next to Jinji Lake, this proposed mixed-use high-rise lies at the crossroad of contemporary development and traditional Suzhou culture known for its gardens and waterways.
The 460-meter tower includes elevated luxury apartments, Grade A offices, lowerlevel retail and a sky observation deck. HOK’s team performed a rigorous analysis of site, climate and city context to create an elegant and holistic design solution for building occupants and guests.
Distinct entrances welcome residents, office workers, shoppers and observation deck visitors. A pedestrian connection links the building’s retail podium and office lobby to a nearby underground train station. Visitors arriving by car can access the building via generous and well-connected drop off areas.
Office floors are arranged in six-story volumes connected by open stairways to encourage collaboration and movement. Double-height office floors include flexible, open workspaces with outdoor terraces. Shared amenity spaces provide additional opportunities for collaboration, rejuvenation and wellness.
Residential floors occupy the top threefourths of the building. Residences were designed from the inside out, providing luxurious and functional units with expansive, birds-eye views of this east China metropolis of 13 million people. A series or prominent sky lobbies provide residents with communal neighborhood amenities, including rooftop greenspaces inspired by Suzhou's famed classical gardens.
aerial renderings
Area: 12,500,000 sq. ft. / 1,160,000 sq. m.
Height: 2,185 feet / 666 meters
Stories: 141
Designed: 2020 (competition)
HOK Studio: Hong Kong
Confidential Super Tall Mixed-Use Project
Guangzhou, China
This super tall mixed-use development would create an iconic new city center, enhancing the urbanization of Huang-Pu Harbor and strengthening Guangzhou’s position in the global market. The site’s adjacency to the Pearl River provides an opportunity to create a dynamic waterfront destination reflected in the architecture.
The development would be home to one of the world’s tallest commercial towers and a premier global business hub with world-class business and lifestyle offerings, including high-end shopping and hospitality.
The main tower, home to offices and a hotel, anchors the site as a prominent landmark of the new waterfront. The building’s sleek
massing and silvery facade pay homage to Guangzhou’s historic fishing industry. Six hundred meters above ground, the tower’s tapering form culminates in a high-altitude atrium that provides hotel guests and visitors with breathtaking views of the city and the Pearl River.
◄ south elevation sections ▲
Area: 70,000 sq. ft. / 753,500 sq. m.
Height: 505 feet / 154 meters
Stories: 40
Designed: 2018
E5 New Songdo City
Incheon, South Korea
Block E5 is the last prominent site to be developed along Central Park in New Songdo City, a master-planned, international business district on the outskirts of Incheon. Extending the successful legacy of the HOK-designed Block D-22 & D-23 residential skyscrapers on the other side of the park, Block E5 offers distinctive architectural forms, efficient planning and great amenities.
Two residential towers are conceived as organic twisting forms. Each floor plate consists of five units designed to maximize views and shared amenities. With each new level, the floorplate rotates slightly providing the building with a spiral effect as it rises into the sky.
A pair of three-story retail buildings run along the north and south edges of the site with
a five-story commercial building anchoring the southeastern corner of the development. The northern building is conceived as a shophouse typology allowing flexibility of use and ownership. The southern retail building is designed as modular retail on the lower two levels with offices on the third floor.
Both retail buildings incorporate terraces that look onto Central Park. A courtyard located between the two towers and the retail and commercial buildings offer residents and guests access to nature and private outdoor experiences.
HOK studio: New York
Area: 715,000 sq. ft. / 66,500 sq. m.
Height: 863 feet / 263 meters
Stories: 55
Designed: 2016
HOK studio: Chicago
Lend Lease Circular Quay
Sydney, Australia
The design competition proposal for the Lendlease Circular Quay Tower creates a structure that addresses multiple scales, from silhouette to surface, similar to the nearby Sydney Opera House.
At the macro scale, the team designed the 814-foot-tall tower to be the tallest building in Sydney with a distinct profile on the skyline. At the micro scale, the tower is situated within an active pedestrian zone in the city center. It complements and promotes the busy pedestrian laneway network while touching the ground as lightly as possible, despite the building’s size.
To maximize space on the ground plane, the design pushes the tower bulk to the ceiling of the buildable envelope, lifting the first full floor plate 80 feet above the lobby.
This gesture creates a porous, multilevel ground plane and lobby, accommodating grade changes on site. More importantly, it encourages pedestrian movement through the site and draws natural light into otherwise cavernous laneway spaces.
To create a flexible office plan, the design creates an offset core to the south of the building, preserving coveted harbor and Sydney Opera House views to the north.
An external structural shell supports office flexibility through a 39-foot, column-free band on the north side of the floor plan. The exterior structural grid also protects the north facade from direct solar exposure. The design team, which included HOK’s
in-house structural engineers, developed a highly efficient, hybrid structural precast column system with tensioned steel diagonals.
Splitting the tower plan into two slender lobes and expressing the 13-foot slot in the building silhouette creates zones for both catching daylight and providing natural ventilation.
◄ tower view from Sydney harbor
detail of 1:500 model ►
sketch of precast facade elements ▼
▲ north elevation
▲ east elevation
▲ south elevation
▲ west elevation
South view rendering from rugby place
▼ lobby view from bulletin place
▼ eye-level view at Pitt street and rugby lane
3. pedestrian marketplace
4. office lobby floor
A. laneway
B. plaza
C. retail
D. bike storage
E. lobby
F. elevated laneway
typical high-rise office floor 3. roof terrace
A. open office
B. atrium space
C. roof terrace
Area: 2.15 million sq. ft. / 200,000 sq. m.
Height: 820 feet/ 250 meters
Stories: 64
Designed: 2021
HOK studio: Hong Kong
Mixed-Use Tall Building Design Competition
Changsha, China
HOK designed this 64-story tower as part of a design competition for a confidential client. Located in the heart of Changsha’s River Delta District, the building offers breathtaking views of the Xiang Jiang and Liuyang Rivers and is near one of Changsha’s primary transportation hubs.
Changsha is one of China’s “Star Cities,” which means the government has designated it as a hub for science and technology. It’s surrounded by stunning mountain and water landscapes.
Taking cues from the nearby mountain peaks, the tower’s interlocking forms taper toward the top, mimicking the tectonic beauty of the nearby mountains.
The building would include office space, high-end private residences and a luxury penthouse club. Inspired by the ancient legend of the “Tian-Xin (Sky-Heart) Pavilion,” the clubhouse offers panoramic views of both the old city and the breathtaking natural environment.
Sustainability was a key consideration. The results of the team’s solar analysis informed the building facade design. Careful attention was paid to the positioning of the building fins to limit heat gain and lower energy use.
◄ plaza rendering
aerial rendering ▲
Area: 1,133,870 sq. ft. / 105,340 sq. m.
Height: 771 feet / 235 meters
Stories: 67
Designed: 2016
HOKstudio: London
Spire London
London, UK
Greenland Group, China’s leading real estate developer, engaged HOK to design a new landmark on the London skyline that would be Western Europe’s tallest residential tower. The 67-story building would house 861 private apartments.
Located adjacent to Canary Wharf and fronting West India Quay’s historic waterside, the tower references the nautical history of the site, as well as the orchid, a flower cultivated in China for more than 3,000 years. Three petals form the spire, featuring faceted glass facades with ‘prow’ and ‘bow’ contours. The angled roof of the tower allows for external terraces in the premier and penthouse apartments, while louvers allow for natural ventilation throughout the building.
The project includes significant public realm and landscaping improvements alongside new shops and cafes that will revitalize the West India Quay area. A grand, double-height lobby would welcome guests and residents with lounge seating, a petal-shaped reception desk and hotel-inspired concierge service. Shared amenities within the building include a pool, gymnasium, club room and cocktail bar.
Area: 1,980,000 sq. ft. / 184,000 sq. m.
Height: 1,260 feet / 384 meters
Stories: 76
Designed: 2021
Organization of Islamic Cooperation Tower
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
HOK’s proposal for the new headquarters of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (the world’s second largest inter-governmental organization after the UN) centers around concept of “Many as One.” Intentionally devised to be an aspirational and iconic tower, the design invites participation among OIC’s 57 members states.
Visitors and delegates access the building via a richly landscaped plaza that includes walking paths and a ceremonial fountain. The building’s podium stretches far beyond the base of the tower to create a vast conference and meeting space. This multi-level, atrium space serves as a zone of transparency where all OIC members are represented in equitable fashion.
The tower’s office floors further reinforce the notion of diplomacy and collaboration. Flexible floorplates allow workplaces to change over
time to mee the evolving needs of the OIC. As the building rises, its circular silhouette tapers to recognition of humankind’s relationship to the celestial universe within its terrestrial setting.
The building features the latest in sustainability technology, including an on-site cogeneration facility that provides power, cooling and heating through readily available natural gas. The podium is designed to be highly energy efficient and illuminated with filtered daylight. The tower’s highperformance, double-skin facade significantly reduces solar heat gain while still allowing for appropriate levels of daylight.
HOK studio: St. Louis
Podium functions are distributed below the office tower beneath its glass skirt and the adjacent “green roof”. The faceted, circular tower skirt creates a contemporary “dome” above the conference center as a daylight luminaire, lighting the public space of the conference center below. Its geometry, designed as extensions of the tower façade, recalls the non-figurative pattern of domes from across the Islamic world. It’s structure and high performance, fritted glazing provide daylight while reducing solar gain on the space below. Overall, the space draws upon culturally specific references in order to promote an impression of “Islamicness” throughout.
MAIN APPROACH
Enclosure of the courtyard creates a more hospitable and sustainable environment for people to gather.
Courtyard of the Uqba ibn Nafi Mosque in Kairouan Ministry of Tourism
DESIGN THINKING - ORGANIZATION
View of Podium Petal Terraces
FACADE
SECRETARY GENERAL SUITE
CABINET OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL
DEPARTMENTS OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL
SUBSIDIARY ORGANIZATIONS
CONFERENCE CENTER COLLABORATION
SECTION 5m10m25m 50m
SECRETARY GENERAL SUITE
CABINET OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL
DEPARTMENTS OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL
SUBSIDIARY ORGANIZATIONS
AND LOBBY
ASSEMBLY
PHYSICAL
VIP DINING HALL
ESCORT/ GUEST DINING HALL
GENERAL DINING HALL
ROOF GARDEN ACCESS
SHARED DINING HALL
TRANSLATION ROOMS
TRANSLATION ROOMS
SECRETARY GENERAL’S RESIDENCE
PRESIDENTIAL HALL
TOWER LOBBY
STRUCTURED PARKING
MINISTERIAL HALL
SECRETARY GENERAL’S RESIDENCE
STRUCTURED PARKING
SMALL MEETING ROOMS
TOWER LOBBY
MEDIUM MEETING ROOMS
MINISTERIAL SUITE
TRANSLATION ROOMS
TRANSLATION ROOMS
MAIN ASSEMBLY HALL
GENERAL ASSEMBLY HALL SEMINAR ROOM
PRESIDENTIAL SUITE
CULTURAL CENTER
LIBRARY
CONFERENCE LOBBY
PRESS HALL
SHARED MEETING ROOMS
PRESIDENTIAL HALL - 3D SECTION
Stories: 29
HOK studio: Philadelphia
Cira Centre Lobby Renovation
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
HOK’s renovation of Cira Centre’s dramatic, yet underutilized lobby, transformed the building’s entrance into a welcoming, multipurpose environment that complements its distinctive architecture.
The original lobby, defined by faceted planes and sharp geometric lines, lacked human scale and functional areas. HOK’s solution creates a cohesive experience through two interconnected spaces: a reimagined main lobby and a new amenity-rich lounge.
Three architectural elements define the renovated main lobby while maintaining harmony with its geometric shell:
1. A light curtain suspended between central columns creates a striking focal point with fixtures that adjust to circadian rhythms throughout the day.
2. A s tone plinth emerges from the floor like a geologic formation, providing intimate spaces for working and gathering. It incorporates a fireplace, display shelving and a work counter while serving as a buffer between vertical circulation paths.
3. A reception feature wall grounds the welcome desk and guides visitors entering from several access points.
Together, these interventions create important variations in scale and distinguish public circulation from private areas. HOK’s design also turned a former branch bank into an amenity-filled lounge. The lounge offers flexible work settings, ranging from enclosed meeting rooms and a hospitality pantry to collaborative areas and quiet focus spaces. A sculptural banquette carved into the millwork wall provides seating while visually connecting to the main lobby. A new faceted ceiling bridges the two zones.
The renovation balances the building’s original architecture with human-scaled elements and amenities that enhance the workplace experience. The result is an inviting environment that serves as both a sophisticated arrival point and a dynamic community hub.
▲ ▼ tenant lounge
▲ meeting rooms
Area: 2,243,013 sq. ft. / 208,382 sq.m.
Height: 1,000 feet / 305 meters
Stories: 75
Renovation: 2022
Awards:
• T he Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design American Architecture Award 2023
HOK studio: Houston
JP Morgan Chase Tower Renovation
Houston, Texas, USA
Designed by I.M Pei in 1982, the 75-story JPMorgan Chase Tower opened as the tallest building in Texas. Since then, it has remained a premier business address and an icon on Houston’s growing skyline. Nearly four decades later, developer Hines asked HOK to help breathe new life into the building to attract new tenants.
JPMorgan Chase Tower’s expansive 1.5-acre outdoor plaza presented an opportunity to reimagine the ceremonial entry plaza into an active urban space along Capitol Street. A ground floor lobby, originally designed as a grand portal, was reconfigured to allow for informal gathering, working, and meeting. Bank spaces were converted into tenant amenities for conferencing, lounges, and retail.
HOK redesigned the plaza to provide a variety of spaces for outdoor activities while linking the areas around the lobby with new landscape, paving, and seating areas. The
large Joan Miró sculpture was preserved and integrated into the design as a pivot point in the composition. The plaza is above the lower floors of parking and service areas, requiring careful coordination with the contractor and client. A strategy of layered spaces, combined with outdoor seating rooms and trellis structures, creates a rich assembly of experiences and scales for informal connections, for tenants and citizens.
The tower footprint is based on a square with a corner removed. Recognizing this geometry, the square plan at ground level is restored to expand the lobby footprint. The resulting form creates an inverted triangular glass roof which is supported by the structure of its side walls. The triangle is divided into a rhomboid structural and glazing frame. The sidewalls are treated as light, transparent surfaces. This new glass pavilion bridges the exterior and interior spaces, transforms from day to night, and links the tower to the urban realm.
Interior design enhances the modernist roots of this building, incorporating a carefully crafted palate of warm materials, details, furniture, and artwork. Aside from the enlarged lobby, the design added a new conference center, lounge, sky lobby, and mezzanine retail café with connections to the exterior plaza seating areas. Careful attention to lighting adds color to darker interior core spaces.
Cognizant of the importance of this seminal building, this respectfully crafted transformation, contributes to city life, and optimizes the tower’s prime location and proximity to downtown Houston’s historic and cultural district.
◄ plaza view site plan
axonometric view ▲
◄ new lobby
▲ ▼ pre-existing lobby views
◄ new plaza
elevation ▲
old plaza ▲
▲ new plaza
▲ new plaza
Area: 650,000 sq. ft. / 60,387 sq. m.
Height: 402 feet / 123 meters
Stories: 30
Repositioned: 2022
HOK studio: Kansas City
Lightwell Repositioning
Kansas City, Missouri, USA
HOK transformed one of Kansas City’s most significant downtown buildings into a creative workspace that has brought new business and buzz to the central business district. Prior to HOK’s intervention, the 1970s-era tower (previously known as City Center Square) had experienced few updates and had slipped to Class B office status with significant vacancy.
HOK’s repositioning began with a wholesale re-imagining of the building’s user experience, aesthetic and identity. Lightwell, the new name of the building, references the building’s top-to-bottom rebranding.
Dark wood paneling, granite floors and drop ceilings that once gave the property a dim and dated feel have been replaced with
bright open spaces, warm tones and exposed architecture that highlight the building’s modernist design.
A fully revamped lobby provides visitors with an inspiring and welcoming new entrance to the building. The four-story space features a new stairwell, green wall and skylights that add much-needed warmth and vibrancy. Amenity spaces sprinkled throughout the building offer tenants opportunities to plug-in, collaborate and socialize. These new shared spaces include a hospitalityinfluenced conference center, a private tenant lounge and a state-of-the-art fitness center.
New on-site restaurants, an art gallery, rooftop terraces and customizable workspaces further distinguish Lightwell as a new hub of activity in downtown Kansas City. Since its repositioning, the building has attracted new tech and creative companies and retained existing tenants that include legal and financial services firms.
◄ new elevator lobby pre-existing elevator lobby ▲
Area: 300,000 sq. ft. / 27,870 sq. m. (theoretical)
Height: 266 feet / 81 meters (theoretical)
Stories: 19 (theoretical)
Designed: 2024
HOK studio: San Francisco
Office Tower to Mixed-Use Tech Hub – Research Project
San Francisco, California, USA
Cities around the world are struggling with downtown office vacancies brought on by the shift to hybrid and remote work. To date, the most common solution is to convert empty or half-filled office towers for residential use. Yet not all office buildings make for ideal residential conversion. What might be done with those buildings?
HOK’s San Francisco team investigated that problem by taking a look at how buildings in their city—America’s tech capital—might find new life. Their solution solves not just a real estate challenge but finds new ways to advance information technology, sustainable design, urban housing and innovation.
The idea breaks up existing office towers into four core components: data centers, offices, urban agriculture and loft/creator spaces. Key to this design intervention is
the use of direct liquid cooling (DLC) servers that require far less space than traditional air-cooled centers. Having DLC servers located within these renovated office buildings would ensure next-generation firms have the computing speed, security and customization necessary to compete in the data-intensive and quickly evolving world of artificial intelligence.
DLC servers offer building owners another opportunity: vertical farming. While these servers are more efficient than traditional server types, they still generate significant amounts of heat. HOK is exploring ways to harvest the heat for on-site agriculture. Heat from the server racks could be channeled through a building’s heat exchange system
and delivered to agricultural floors. Condensate from the servers’ closed-loop cooling systems could be harvested for crop irrigation.
Lastly, HOK’s design carves up the large floorplates found in office buildings and subdivides them into smaller units to allow for more flexibility and leasing options. These smaller spaces are ideal companies looking to incrementally expand. The divided floorplates also allow for small apartmentlike “officetels” with private kitchens and bathrooms ideal for startups and tech entrepreneurs.
◄ street view rendering
Area: 1.2 million sq. ft. / 111,485 sq. m.
Height: 686 feet / 209 meters
Stories: 50
Redevloped: 2019
HOK studio: Dallas
Trammell Crow Center Redevelopment
Dallas, Texas, USA
The 50-story, postmodern Trammell Crow Center opened in Dallas in 1985 as the city’s premier office address and has become an iconic part of the downtown skyline.
Over the ensuing three decades, new development in Dallas’s central business district created more of a pedestrianoriented setting. Property owner J.P. Morgan Asset Management wanted to transform the tower into a mixed-use destination that would be a cornerstone for the neighboring Arts District.
HOK’s design of the tower’s first major renovation includes significant enhancements to the interior lobby, lower exterior and plaza. Key to the redesign is a
new 50-by-80-foot glass and metal facade below the third floor that reaches out to Ross Avenue and floods the building’s lobby with daylight. The Flora Street entry’s solid facade has been converted into glass, and the ground floor of the Olive and Harwood Street corners was extended toward Ross Avenue to create space for upscale dining and retail.
Reorganizing the lobby, adding retail, upgrading amenities and activating the plaza has made the property a benchmark for downtown’s next phase of growth.
◄ elevator lobby
exterior patio
Area: 1.6 million sq. ft. / 164,000 sq. m.
Height: 655 feet / 200 meters
Stories: 42
Study: 2023
8 Canada Square – Vertical Neighborhood
Study
London, England
Empty office towers drain neighborhoods of street life and place investors and cities in peril by cutting off lease and tax revenues. Residential conversion is often touted as a solution, but not all office towers lend themselves to easy residential retrofit. That is especially true for properties of the size and scale of the 8 Canada Square with a central core and deep floor plate.
HOK’s study of 8 Canada Square looked at transforming the building into a vertical neighborhood with a mix of uses and occupants. It’s a solution that could also apply to empty office towers across the globe.
8 Canada Square’s four elevator banks allow the building to be segmented into four unique zones, each serviced by a dedicated bank of lifts. One could imagine 8 Canada Square broken into separate hotel, residential, office and lab zones. Transfer floors between each zone could provide shared social and connection spaces for the tenants of each zone. Amenities on these floors could include reception, dining, gyms and lounge spaces.
Lab Zone
The building’s column-free work area and tall floor-to-floor height could accommodate ventilation and bench requirements for labs and scientific research. Flues could be routed up the central core or through an unused elevator shaft.
Office Zone
The tower’s large floor plate also allows each level to be subdivided as offices for multiple tenants. Shared amenities, such as restrooms and a kitchen, could be located in the elevator lobbies that do not service office floors. Opposite corners of the floor plate could be used as social and collaboration hubs with terraces and stairs connecting to other office levels.
Residential Zone
The mid-upper levels of 8 Canada Square could be retrofitted (with some modification) to accommodate market-rate and affordable housing. Recessed terraces could be added to improve daylighting within residential units and bring the building up to the residential code for and outdoor access.
Hotel Zone
The top levels of 8 Canada Square—with impressive views of London and Canary Wharf—could be converted to a hotel or short-stay rentals. The floor plate allows for at least 32 generous-sized guest rooms. Social hubs and lounges on each floor could enable guests to mingle and host informal gatherings.
Community Connections
In addition to providing new space for residents, guests, workers and researchers, 8 Canada Square could open itself to the community by transitioning its closed, corporate-style lobby into a public square with shops, dining, art and maker spaces.
HOK studio: London
