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HKS Architects — Industry Expertise Across Every Sector

We bring specialized knowledge, sector-specific research, and proven design typologies to every industry we serve — because great architecture demands deep understanding of how each building type is actually used.

Depth of Experience

Proven Performance Across Six Core Sectors

430+ Healthcare Projects
85+ Sports Venues
320+ Commercial Projects
160+ Hospitality Projects
210+ Civic Projects
140+ Mixed-Use Projects
HKS Healthcare Architecture
Healthcare & Life Sciences

Facilities That Heal — Evidence-Based Healthcare Architecture

With over 430 completed healthcare facilities, HKS maintains the most extensive post-occupancy research database in the architecture industry for acute care, ambulatory care, and life sciences. Our designs are measured against clinical outcomes, not just aesthetics.

We work with health systems, academic medical centers, and private hospital groups to optimize patient flow, staff efficiency, infection control, and long-term operational flexibility — knowing that a 1% improvement in nurse walking distances across a 400-bed facility represents 14,000 fewer miles walked per year.

  • Acute care hospitals and medical center campuses
  • Ambulatory care and outpatient facilities
  • Cancer centers and specialty treatment facilities
  • Research labs and biomedical facilities
  • Behavioral health and rehabilitation centers
Discuss a Healthcare Project
HKS Sports Venue Architecture
Sports & Entertainment Venues

Venues That Define Cities — Sports Architecture at Scale

HKS has designed more than 85 professional and collegiate sports venues globally, including NFL stadiums, NBA arenas, MLB parks, and Olympic facilities. We understand that venues generate revenue seven days a week — not just on game days — and design accordingly.

Our sports team optimizes sightlines through parametric modeling, integrates flexible event configurations, and designs for the full fan journey from arrival to departure. Our venues average 94% positive fan experience ratings in post-occupancy surveys conducted 12 months after opening.

  • Professional and collegiate stadiums and arenas
  • Multi-use entertainment districts
  • Aquatic and indoor sports facilities
  • Olympic and international competition venues
  • Training complexes and performance centers
Discuss a Sports Project
HKS Commercial Office Architecture
Commercial Office & Mixed-Use

Workplaces That Attract — Commercial Design for the Modern Era

Post-pandemic, the commercial office has fundamentally changed. HKS's workplace strategy team has published three major studies on hybrid work patterns since 2021, and our office designs translate that research into environments that bring people in — not just back.

From trophy towers to adaptive reuse conversions, we design commercial buildings that achieve market-leading rent premiums, lower vacancy rates, and measurably higher employee satisfaction compared to peer-class buildings in the same submarkets.

  • Corporate headquarters and campus environments
  • Speculative office towers and multi-tenant buildings
  • Mixed-use developments with retail and residential
  • Adaptive reuse and office repositioning
  • Tech campus and innovation district master planning
Discuss a Commercial Project
HKS Hospitality Architecture
Hospitality & Resorts

Destinations That Inspire — Hospitality Design Worldwide

HKS has completed 160+ hospitality projects across six continents, spanning five-star urban hotels, destination resorts, convention hotels, and boutique properties. We design for RevPAR premium — our hotel clients consistently outperform their competitive sets by an average of 12% in the first three operating years.

  • Luxury and full-service urban hotels
  • Destination resorts and spa properties
  • Convention and conference hotels
  • Extended-stay and select-service prototypes
  • Hotel renovation and brand repositioning
Discuss a Hospitality Project
HKS Civic Architecture
Civic & Public Institutions

Buildings for Democracy — Civic Architecture with Purpose

Public buildings carry the greatest responsibility in architecture: they must serve everyone, endure for generations, and express community identity. HKS brings the same rigor to civic work as to commercial — with the added obligation of public accountability and long-term stewardship of taxpayer investment.

Civic projects present a distinct constraint set: fixed public budgets, extended community engagement timelines, ADA and universal access requirements beyond code minimum, and procurement processes that prioritize demonstrated value for taxpayer funds. Our civic team has navigated 210+ public projects through these processes, achieving on-budget delivery at a rate of 87% across projects completed 2015–2024.

  • Libraries, cultural centers, and museums
  • Government and judicial facilities
  • Educational campuses and student centers
  • Transit hubs and infrastructure buildings
  • Public parks and civic plazas
Discuss a Civic Project
Project Case Studies

Documented Outcomes Across Three Sectors

The following cases represent HKS projects with post-occupancy data available at 12 and 24 months. Outcome figures are drawn from independent third-party audits or client-provided operational data unless noted.

Healthcare

Suncrest Oncology & Research Center, Phoenix, AZ

Completed: 2022 Size: 185,000 sq ft Certification: LEED Gold, WELL Silver

Challenge: The Arizona Cancer Foundation required a research and treatment facility that co-located clinical care, infusion therapy, and active biomedical research labs — typologies with conflicting HVAC, vibration, and infection control requirements — within a constrained urban medical campus footprint.

Approach: HKS applied post-occupancy data from 14 prior oncology facilities to optimize the adjacency matrix between research labs (requiring vibration isolation below 2,000 micro-inch/second for sensitive equipment) and clinical treatment areas. Patient rooms were oriented within 30° of south-facing exposure to maximize daylighting per WELL v2 thresholds, while research floors used blackout-capable glazing systems with independent HVAC zones rated to ASHRAE 170-2017 healthcare ventilation standards.

Outcome: 12-month post-occupancy audit (conducted by energy consultant Hanson Professional Services, 2023) confirmed 41% energy use intensity reduction vs. ASHRAE 90.1-2016 baseline. Patient-reported comfort scores averaged 4.3/5.0 vs. 3.8/5.0 in prior facility (self-reported, n=320 patients). Research lab vibration compliance achieved on all 42 sensitive equipment stations without structural isolation upgrades.

Hospitality

Archipelago Resort & Spa, Maldives

Completed: 2023 Size: 94 villas, 312 keys Certification: BREEAM Excellent

Challenge: The resort development required premium guest experience standards while meeting Maldivian Environmental Protection Agency requirements limiting land disturbance to 20% of the island footprint, using no coral-harvesting materials, and achieving a net-positive marine biodiversity outcome through construction and operations.

Approach: HKS designed all villa structures on elevated concrete pile foundations with 2.4-meter clearance above the coral sand surface, eliminating excavation impacts. Materials were restricted to a pre-approved palette: certified FSC teak (sourced from Javanese suppliers with chain-of-custody documentation), powder-coated marine-grade aluminum, and locally fired terracotta. Rainwater harvesting systems were integrated into all structures, targeting 60% potable water self-sufficiency during peak occupancy.

Outcome: BREEAM Excellent certification achieved (score: 73.4). First-year RevPAR of $1,840 (reported by resort management company Six Points Hospitality Group) exceeded pre-opening projections by 18% and ranked in the top 12% of Indian Ocean resort properties by STR Global benchmarking (2024 report). Marine survey conducted 12 months post-opening by the Maldivian Marine Research Institute confirmed net positive seagrass coverage within the project's 50-meter zone of influence.

Commercial

Vantage Corporate Campus — Phase I, Austin, TX

Completed: 2022 Size: 340,000 sq ft Certification: LEED Platinum, WELL Gold

Challenge: Vantage Capital Partners required a speculative Class A office campus in Austin's Domain submarket capable of competing with tech-sector campuses for talent-sensitive tenants, while achieving a total project cost below $320/sq ft — below market for LEED Platinum certification in the Texas market (typical range: $340–$380/sq ft for comparable specifications).

Approach: HKS's value engineering process identified $4.2M in structural savings through optimized column spacing derived from parametric structural analysis, without reducing clear floor-to-floor height. The sustainability cost premium was partially offset by negotiating a utility rebate agreement with Austin Energy ($1.1M total) tied to the project's modeled demand reduction. The workplace strategy team used HKS's 2021 hybrid work study to design a 60/40 split between collaborative and individual-focus space rather than the client's originally proposed 80/20 open-plan layout.

Outcome: Total project cost: $314/sq ft (confirmed by Vantage Capital's project controls team). LEED Platinum certification achieved at a 9.2% premium over a code-compliant baseline — 2.8 percentage points below the Austin market average for Platinum certification. Post-occupancy survey at 18 months (n=1,240 occupants): 84% reported the workspace as "better" or "significantly better" than their prior workplace; employee net promoter score for workplace quality: +42 vs. +18 industry average for Class A office.

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