urbanSTL

HOK has designed tons of buildings in St. Louis. True, they don't seem to be doing as much local work as they used to, but for a long time they were the 500-pound gorilla of St. Louis construction. 

Here are a few of their older works (some of the names have changed over time):

McDonnell Planetarium, Forest Park
The Priory Chapel
Lindell Terrace Apartments (4501 LIndell)
American Zinc Building
Gateway Tower (CBS/KMOV)
Equitable Tower
Boatman's Bank Tower (Bank of America)
Ralston Purina HQ Tower
Union Station Renovation
One Bell Center (ATT Tower)
Met Life Building
Community Federal Building (Edward Jones HQ)
Eagleton Courthouse
Our Lady of the Snows Shrine (Belleville)
Several Buildings at Wash U/BJC Medical Center  
Ridgeway Center, MO Botanical Garden
McDonald Douglas Automation Center
Edison Brothers HQ Tower (Stifel)
MCI Building (Deloitte)
Living World (STL Zoo)
Convention Center Washington Ave. Façade & Stadium
East Terminal, Lambert Airport
Missouri Historical Society Forest Park Addition
St. Louis County Justice Center

And lots, lots more. 

Btodd92 wrote: ↑

Dec 13, 2020

Hi.  I am looking into moving to the St. Louis area.  What are some of the more better/ more well-known architecture firms in the metro area?  I know of HOK, but that's all I know.

(Revised to now include discussion about best neighborhoods and schools.)

Not sure if you're on twitter but if so you should definitely follow @TonyInStLouis as he. too, is a Seattle native and teaches in SLPS. Tony's a solid dude who is gung-ho on the city and encouraging transplants... you're red meat for him as a current high cost coastal.  He comments on here sometimes as well.

There is nothing wrong with STL city public schools, I went to them, my friends went to them and we all at minimum have 1 college degree. The rankings are pointless- how do you expect kids to do well on tests when they have 1000 issues to deal with outside of school/ from having a place to live, knowing where their next meal will come from or if they’ll be caught in crossfire on the way to the bus or harassed by police for being black. If your kids don’t have to worry about those issues they’ll do fine. My cousins kids are at a charter school in south city and they’re doing great.

Didn't HOK design the current Busch Stadium?

My kids go to school in the Webster Groves School District.  I'm happy to answer any questions you may have about the district and/or area.

Recently moved from Clayton to Richmond Heights. Don’t sleep on the Maplewood/Richmond Heights School district. Our kids are still too small for it but all my neighbors LOVE the school district.

sc4mayor wrote: ↑

Dec 14, 2020

^ Yes they did.

It's a little complicated. They did, but . . . it was HOK Sport rather than HOK proper. Which is to say it was designed out of the Kansas City office by the company now called Populous rather than the St. Louis office of the parent company. So the design team behind Busch Stadium is presumably completely unrelated to the design team behind the new soccer venue. It was pretty big news when both when they joined HOK and when they left and the story is a little complicated to say the least, and I don't pretend to know the details. I just followed it in the papers.

Sure, but I think OP is an architect looking at firms in the area, so I'm just putting a bit of a caveat around that particular project. The seating around the football pitch is probably more representative of working at HOK these days than that around the ballfield.

Btodd92 wrote:Hi.  I am looking into moving to the St. Louis area.  What are some of the more better/ more well-known architecture firms in the metro area?  I know of HOK, but that's all I know.

(Revised to now include discussion about best neighborhoods and schools.)

Core10 Architects are doing a lot of new condo building projects in the central corridor & inner burbs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi all, thanks so much for all of the information.  I'm really impressed with the character of these neighbhorhoods in St. Louis..Richmond Heights, Kirkwood, Forest Park, Central West End, University City AND they are affordable!!  But, the biggest problem I am facing now is finding an architecture job in St. Louis.  Anybody have any connections?  I have little to none.  Doesn't seem like there is much hiring.  But, lots of jobs out there are never posted.  I've tried to contact HOK, Cannon, Trivers, & LaMar Johnson Collaborative.  I'll try Core10.  If anybody is interested, here is my portfolio:

https://www.brandonfrancomarchitect.com/

^Impressive work; best of luck to you. 

Btodd92 wrote:Hi all, thanks so much for all of the information.  I'm really impressed with the character of these neighbhorhoods in St. Louis..Richmond Heights, Kirkwood, Forest Park, Central West End, University City AND they are affordable!!  But, the biggest problem I am facing now is finding an architecture job in St. Louis.  Anybody have any connections?  I have little to none.  Doesn't seem like there is much hiring.  But, lots of jobs out there are never posted.  I've tried to contact HOK, Cannon, Trivers, & LaMar Johnson Collaborative.  I'll try Core10.  If anybody is interested, here is my portfolio:

https://www.brandonfrancomarchitect.com/

Might be worth reaching out to the local AIA President. They may have contacts to share with you or at least guidance on who may be looking to higher.

I haven't see HOK much in the international architectural press lately, so it's nice to see them doing something progressive. I know they're still one of the biggies, but they seem to have lost their relevance. Maybe I'm wrong?

"BIG and HOK to add timber terminal and control tower to Zurich Airport"

 https://www.dezeen.com/2022/06/30/big-h ... RyGLmpuNQU

Very nice! Zurich was the first airport where I really experienced a mall in an airport. I didn't technically fly out. We were dropping off someone else, as I recall, and just kind of enjoyed the place. (Back in the days when they let you past security even in Europe.) Anyway, that looks lovely and I'm glad to see HOK back in the news. V braces like that will probably always make me think of Shanghai, but this is an interesting new take on them. And the colors are pleasant. Hope it goes well for them, BIG, and HOK.

dbInSouthCity wrote: ↑

Dec 13, 2020

There is nothing wrong with STL city public schools, I went to them, my friends went to them and we all at minimum have 1 college degree.    The rankings are pointless- how do you expect kids to do well on tests when they have 1000 issues to deal with outside of school/ from having a place to live, knowing where their next meal will come from or if they’ll be caught in crossfire on the way to the bus or harassed by police for being black.   If your kids don’t have to worry about those issues they’ll do fine.  My cousins kids are at a charter school in south city and they’re doing great.

right on.

HERE HERE! Gateway Science Academy on Flyer is great!