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HOK is spanning the globe to dominate the sports and entertainment venue design business
LONDON - It's stunning how HOK has been launched into some new stratosphere of sports and entertainment venue design, to the point that even the company's decision-makers seem slightly astonished at what they've wrought.
"Right from the beginning, we've always had a feeling of optimism, that we could take things higher and do things better," says Earl Santee, a senior principal and board member at the firm's base in Kansas City, Mo. "Historically, that's been our thinking, but even with that attitude I'd have to say we've actually overachieved, which is pretty amazing.
"I mean, we feel we've become strong and successful in most parts of the world, but if you look just at London right now, well, it's almost unbelievable."
Ah, London.
Right this minute, HOK designers - most but not all from the company's London office - are working on a boatload of huge projects in and around the British capital.
They are almost all historically significant venues - Wembley Stadium, Ascot Racecourse, Wimbledon, the Millennium Dome, a new stadium for English soccer champion Arsenal - and staggeringly expensive.
If London lands the 2012 Olympics in July and the architectural consortium that now includes HOK is chosen to design the main stadium in the Lea Valley area, the total cost of facilities with an HOK touch would zoom beyond $3 billion.
That's in one city. Even without the Games, current projects in London alone will carry a price tag on the north side of $2 billion.
"It does kind of make you think we've got our hands into everything all at once," says Rod Sheard, the senior principal who manages HOK's London office. "It might be a little deceiving because so many big projects seemed to come up at once, but however you look at things, it's a great compliment to everyone in the company.
"There are more than 300 people in our three offices now (a third is located in Brisbane, Australia), and they've proved they can deliver a facility that's exciting architecturally but also a sound investment for the client."
HOK's customers run the gamut as well. Besides that basket of eye-catching projects in London,...