HOK

The Courtyard 3 Connector at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) unifies previously fragmented connections between Terminals 2 and 3 while centralizing dispersed executive and operational teams to improve the traveler journey and support faster, more coordinated decision-making.

Located above the connector, the new HOK-designed Airport Integrated Operations Center serves as a centralized, 24/7 hub bringing together security, operations, airlines, facilities and customer care.

Featured in Airport Improvement Magazine, the 22,000‑sq.-ft. center supports cross-team integration, communication and faster response times while helping SFO manage growth, improve efficiency and elevate the traveler experience. At the heart of the center is a shared hearth space that displays with real-time data and a live audio feed of the airport’s control tower.

“This focus on collaboration from the team helped resolve some of the differences in working environments that we were going through,” said Chris Gardini, project architect in HOK’s San Francisco studio. “All the different groups have different ways of working, but we wanted to have one spot where they could freely collaborate and not worry about bothering their neighbors.”

The project was delivered through Progressive Design-Build with HOK as design architect and architect of record in a joint venture with MEI Architects, and Hensel Phelps as general contractor.

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New York City is replacing Rikers Island, a remote complex long criticized for inhumane conditions. The Borough-Based Jails (BBJ) program establishes a citywide network of four modern, humane and neighborhood facilities—one each in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens—located near courts, counsel and services.

Now topped out in Brooklyn, that mandate takes the form of a 15-story, 712,150-sq.-ft. and 1,040-bed, facility designed to be smaller in footprint, safer in daily operation and fairer in access.

Guided by a design vision the team calls ‘sculpted by light,’ our response conceives it as an exemplary civic building that contributes to its public realm. This approach, part of HOK’s ‘Justice and Dignity by Design’ philosophy, evaluated every decision for its ability to uphold dignity and lower stress. The result is a facility that serves the city while belonging to it.

Our design-build partnership with on the project, scheduled for completion in 2029, brought constructability into design decisions from the start. The integrated team’s discipline protected the core of the architectural vision—daylight access, clear circulation and the public realm—while keeping the design intact through value engineering.