HKS, Inc.

Together, we rise stronger and better. This Emirati Women’s Day, we celebrate the women whose leadership, ambition and contributions continue to shape the UAE and the families, communities, and institutions that support their progress. At HKS, we believe the built environment has a role to play in that ecosystem. Places designed around care, dignity, wellbeing, and human experience can help support women and families through some of life’s most important moments. HKS-designed Danat Al Emarat Women and Children’s Hospital in Abu Dhabi reflects that thinking by creating an environment dedicated to the health and wellbeing of women and children, while responding to the cultural and community needs of the UAE. Today, we celebrate Emirati women and the collective strength that continues to move communities forward. Learn more about the project: https://hks.onl/4cfAh1A 📸 by Luke Hayes Photography #TogetherWeRise #Architecture #Design #Healthcare #UAE

HKS has been ranked No. 1 on Interior Design Magazine's 2026 list of Healthcare Giants for the second consecutive year. The recognition reflects a simple belief: spaces built for healing should work as hard as the people inside them. Faster treatment. Rooms designed to adapt as needs change. Natural light in places built to ease patients through their hardest days. From research hospitals and academic medical centers to pediatric, mental health, and cancer care facilities, this is a standard built to hold up under real weight. #Healthcare #InteriorDesign #Architecture #Design

Materials behind the design: What if most of a student housing project was finished before it ever reached campus? By using prefabrication or modular design, projects can be cost efficient and quality controlled. This is important for education projects where it's best to minimize disruption. At UC San Diego's Theater District Living and Learning Neighborhood — 1.4M square feet, 2,000 beds — prefabricated components helped this mixed-use student residential community hit its budget and schedule as a Design-Build project in partnership with Ehrlich Yanai Rhee Chaney Architects (EYRC). At UC Davis, Yosemite and Shasta halls use different methods: light-gauge metal, load-bearing wall and floor panels, digitally fabricated directly from our Revit model and built offsite. This helped provide quality assurance, speed of construction and expedited delivery. Yosemite added 370 beds; Shasta added 430, bringing that residence area to 800. Our design for Sierra College’s New Student Housing took it further, pairing the same panelized system with prefabricated bathrooms and 358 beds erected on-site with minimal labor and minimal disruption to a campus with students still in session. Different methods, same goal: move precision-dependent work into a factory setting so campuses keep running while the building goes up. 📸 by Chip Allen, Lawrence Anderson, and Kyle Jeffers #Construction #HigherEd #Design #Architecture #StudentHousing

Can school design ease the isolation so many teens feel today? As a new school year begins, we’re revisiting the role the built environment can have on student outcomes. When Uplift Education merged two cramped Dallas campuses into a single, light-filled K-12 site built around a central quad, we measured what changed for students before and after the move. Adolescence is when well-being typically dips, stress climbs and loneliness sets in. At Uplift Education's Luna Campus, that decline didn't happen. Stress, loneliness and life satisfaction held steady at exactly the life stage when they're expected to drop. Students also showed up in pairs and groups far more than they had before, a measurable drop in observed isolation. For school boards, superintendents and education leaders planning their next bond or capital campaign: this study gives you a data point and proof that space affects student well-being, not just capacity. Explore the full study to see how evidence-based design turns square footage into better student outcomes: https://hks.onl/4xUmgyF 📸 by Wade Griffith #Education #Design #Architecture #SchoolDesign #BackToSchool #EducationResearch

Located at the intersection of global influence, national politics, and neighborhood culture, the HKS Washington D.C. office demonstrates how thoughtful design can measurably improve environmental performance, human health and the daily experience of people using the space. Three key ideas were behind the design: Environmental responsibility: The space showed how design can drive measurable progress towards sustainability with a 19% reduction in operational energy and a 19.5% reduction in embodied carbon. Brain-healthy design: Flexible layouts with adaptable workstations, quiet zones and collaborative hubs empower occupants with choice and flexibility. A sense of place: Blending historic character with local culture, the design reflects D.C.'s unique identity. HKS Washington D.C. is a model for a thriving, sustainable workplace environment that enriches both people and the planet. Learn more about the project here: https://hks.onl/4wuRkUo 📸 by Garrett Rowland #OfficeDesign #Architecture #WashingtonDC

Sometimes the most sustainable way to design a building is using one that is already standing. Across six adaptive reuse projects, HKS's teams are proving that what already exists can still provide benefits to people, the economy and the environment, including reducing embodied carbon. Check out six of our projects that exemplify the transformative power of adaptive reuse. 🚂 Asher Adams Hotel - Salt Lake City, UT. HKS transformed this historic 1908 Union Pacific depot into a dynamic hospitality destination. 🏥 ParkwayHealth Gleneagles Chengdu Hospital – Chengdu, China. A former shopping mall now houses a 350-bed hospital, built around the transit connections shoppers once relied on. 🛫 Expedia Group – Springfield, MO. This workplace occupies a decommissioned terminal at Springfield-Branson National Airport, trading gates for desks. ⚕️ Private Client Outpatient Centre – London, UK. HKS converted a 19th century office building to create a modern outpatient medical facility. 💡 Arc Light Co. Apartments – San Francisco, CA. HKS designed four stories of residences atop the former California Electric Light Company, Station B, elegantly combining historic brickwork and contemporary glass. 🌇 ProMedica Headquarters – Toledo, OH. This headquarters is an adaptive reuse of a historic steam plant and building along Toledo's Maumee River. Read more about each project here: https://hks.onl/4y5rjfZ #AdaptiveReuse #Design #Architecture

By 2033, the U.S. will see more deaths than births for the first time in its history. That single shift is already forcing a rethink of hospital design, workforce strategy, and where care actually happens. Read the latest from HKS Advisory Services below. Our strategists, nurses, architects, planners, and financial analysts help clients get ahead of shifts like this one. Click to read the full article ⬇️ #Healthcare #HealthcareDesign #HospitalDesign #Architecture 

What does it take to design a stadium in the entertainment capital of the world? At SoFi Stadium, that question starts with curiosity. Sports venues are one of the only places where a truly diverse audience gathers under one roof, and that shapes every decision, from sightlines to the way 70,000 people experience an event. CEO Heath May FAIA, Mark A Williams, FAIA, HKS Global Venues Director, Partner and Executive Vice President, and Lance Evans, Venues Design Director, join "Now We Know! with Steve Guttenberg to discuss regenerative design and the collaboration behind some of the most impactful places we’ve designed. Tune in Saturday at 11 a.m. ET on CNBC. #RegenerativeDesign #Design #Architecture

Wynn Al Marjan Island is officially set to open September 2027! HKS was selected to collaborate with the Wynn Design Team and envision a truly remarkable project. Set on a private island against white sand beaches and the Arabian Gulf, the 300-meter-tall integrated resort will house the Middle East's first licensed gaming casino, 1,530 keys, 22 upscale restaurants, a beachfront Day Club, private villas and spas, and a marina in Ras Al Khaimah. It's one of the most ambitious hospitality projects underway anywhere in the world, and a landmark moment for the region. Learn more about the project here: https://hks.onl/4xx1vJa #Hospitality #Design #Architecture #MiddleEast

For a century, design's answer to its impact has been "do less harm." At July's Regenerative Communities Summit at the UN, leaders from Singapore, UN-Habitat, AIA, and HKS asked a different question: what if the built environment gave back more than it takes? Read the three takeaways from the room here: https://hks.onl/45l09p1 #Architecture #RegenerativeDesign #Design #Leadership Consortium for Sustainable Urbanization