Insights from a Fit Out Awards Judge: Kay Sargent discusses HOK's focus

By April Lara

June 12, 2024

Kay Sargent

In this Q&A, I spoke with Kay Sargent, Director of Thought Leadership for Interiors at HOK, a global design firm focusing on sustainable, inclusive, and technologically advanced spaces.

Sargent, also a judge at The Fit Out Awards, offers insights into HOK's approach to fit-out projects, revealing how the firm prioritises these elements to create workspaces that meet their clients' needs.

Can you share an example of a recent fit-out project by HOK that showcases a particularly innovative approach? How did it impact the end user's experience?

HOK is proud of the incorporation of diversity principles into many of our projects in recent years. When we see through a different lens, we become a stronger organization. Creating a positive social impact is integral to how we do business and speaks to the importance of inclusion, equity and diversity. True innovation starts with designing for inclusivity and opening environments and experiences to more people with a wider range of abilities; an environment that truly reflects who people really are.

ARUP - One of Birmingham’s most sustainable buildings, One Centenary Way (1CW) is home to Arup’s new office in the city. Arup's Birmingham office is the second largest in the UK, and one of the firm's largest globally with over 900 employees working on complex, multidisciplinary engineering and development projects across the world.

Designed at a different time in the evolution of Sustainable Office Design and built on a complex site – directly above the A38 Queensway tunnel that runs through the centre of Birmingham – 1CW’s initial design didn’t fulfil Arup’s corporate agreement towards Zero Carbon operations.

Through close collaboration with the developer, 1CW was transformed into the sustainable building it is today through re-designing the 2016 highly efficient and EPC A Rated gas fire boilers, to instead allow for Air Source Heat Pump provision and SMART Gateways on the main landlord plant.

The first building in the Paradise development to have all-electric heating, Arup’s Birmingham office at 1CW includes SMART sensors to enable dynamic monitoring and future learning around utilisation, comfort and energy use throughout the three floors that Arup has taken within the building.

Embodied carbon has been minimised during the fit-out through a natural and recycled material pallet that has been incorporated into elements of the design. The office is on target to achieve WELL Building Platinum Certification, with a series of flexible workspaces specifically designed to support neurodiversity, wellbeing and inclusion.

Every decision we make can increase or decrease barriers to participate in society. It is our collective responsibility to lower these barriers though inclusive products, services, environments, and experiences. Putting people first through inclusive design brings everyone together. Everyone has limitations and designing for people with disabilities results in designs that benefit ALL people universally.

How does HOK leverage technology to streamline and enhance fit-out projects for your clients?

HOK works collaboratively with clients to leverage web-based design and document coordination platforms to facilitate tasks that explore ideation. We use creative digital collaboration tools such as Conceptboard to brainstorm, evaluate materiality, and understand our clients’ needs/tastes. These are flexible, powerful tools that are accessible and allow for the rapid exchange of ideas and concepts and can be tailored to suit various use cases.

HOK also leverages real-time survey and experiential tools to explore and gather meaningful insight into our clients’ preferences. These include, but are not limited to, tools such as PollEV (gathering real-time feedback of likes, dislikes, and data point capture) and Mirra/Yulio (easy deployment of mobile AR/VR design experiences).

Similarly, HOK has robust procedures for managing and tracking QA/QC throughout the entire design process. We have built our own custom dashboards and processes leveraging Smartsheet to track all elements and stages of the process from conceptual design to construction; this allows us to monitor project health while identifying potential risks.

Lastly, we manage and coordinate project files using Trimble Connect which allows us to perform audits and require transmittals of receipt when sharing files of critical importance.

Can you elaborate on how sustainability translates into the fit-out projects your firm undertakes, and how do you see sustainable practices impacting the future of the fit-out industry?

At HOK we approach every project with health, well-being and sustainability in mind. We believed in sustainability before it became fashionable.

Today, we’re on track to achieve a carbon neutral design portfolio by 2030. Our basic specifications are already compliant with internationally recognized standards, and we build upon this platform to incorporate client-specific goals. We have also partnered with Delos, a wellness real estate and technology firm, to help integrate health and wellness into the spaces and places we create for clients.

Beyond aesthetics, functionality plays a major role in successful fit-out projects. From your perspective as a judge, what are some key elements HOK prioritises when evaluating entries that demonstrate exceptional functionality?

The pandemic has given us an opportunity to rethink something we have taken for granted for decades – the way we work. We have a chance to rethink work, the places we do so and redefine the true purpose of what those spaces could and should be. Attracting and retaining talent now hinges on an employer's ability to meet the diverse needs of their employees while enabling their teams to do their best work, regardless of location. To be successful going forward, organizations must reposition the workplace as a destination that enhances how people work.

At HOK, we believe in research- based solutions and know that the best results can only occur through an inclusive and collaborative process. We empower our project teams with the tools and understanding of how to create a highly collaborative project delivery environment, which includes new ways of working in the post-pandemic era. And we are continuously working towards streamlining the design process to provide best-in-class solutions in a timely manner to help our clients respond to the needs of the day.

The Fit Out Awards is known for recognising a wide range of project types. Does a particular category within the awards resonate most with HOK's design philosophy, and why?

Since HOK is a multi-sector, multi-discipline design firm, we are capable of providing a wide range of integrated design services, hence we embrace a holistic design philosophy - “HOK's mission is to deliver exceptional design ideas and solutions through the creative blending of human need, environmental stewardship, value creation, science and art. This is what motivates and unites us.”

The Fit Out Awards UK await your entries. Download the entry guide here. Meanwhile, the Fit Out Awards IRE is open for registration. Register now.