Annual competition gives voice to Philadelphia-area architecture and interior design students, inviting them to engage in local development trends through creative design solutions.
The results are in for the 2024 HOK Futures Design Challenge. Now in its eighth year, this year’s program challenged university students to design a new environmental education center at Cobb’s Creek Park, a recreational greenway and watershed in West Philadelphia that serves as a connecting point between the local community, natural resources and surrounding urban area.
With a growing need for environmental reconnection in our urban society, the competition asked students to design the education center with expanded programming to encourage sustainability, ecology, healthy eating, agriculture and active lifestyle choices in connection to the watershed.
HOK Futures is open to third-, fourth- and fifth-year undergraduate students and all graduate students in the architecture or interior design programs at seven Philadelphia-area universities. First place winners took home $5,000 per team and the opportunity to intern with HOK’s Philadelphia studio. Second and third place teams won $4,000 and $3,000, respectively.
“This year’s HOK Futures proved, once again, that Philadelphia is producing the designers and thinkers who will shape the built environment of tomorrow,” said Sherri King Parente, senior regional practice leader at HOK’s Philadelphia studio. “We had so many fantastic entries, selecting just six finalists was no easy task.”
Winners of the interior design competition were:
- First place: Teagan Robinson and Sarah Green of Drexel University
- Second place: Emma Veronsky and Erin Cornella of Drexel University
- Third place: Sinduja Balan and Vibha Belle of Drexel University
HOK Futures 2024 – First place winner for interior design by Teagan Robinson and Sarah Green of Drexel University
Winners of the architecture competition were:
- First place: Sharlene Yulita of University of Pennsylvania
- Second place: Chendou Zhu and Ruihua Yang of University of Pennsylvania
- Third place: Jonathan Bonezzi and Ryan Lane of University of Pennsylvania
HOK Futures 2024 – First place for architecture by Sharlene Yulita of UPenn
Special thanks to this year’s jurors and HOK Futures’ generous partner and sponsors, without whom the awards program would not be possible.
This year’s jurors included:
Interior jurors:
- Tim Casper, project manager of capital projects, for Comcast
- Marilyn Simeone, interiors program manager for Princeton University Office of Capital Projects
- Candon Murphy, materials resource manager, HOK
Architecture jurors:
- John MacCallum, senior project designer, HOK
- Isabel McDevitt, strategic advisor, The Enterprise Center
- Todd Woodward, principal, SMP Architects
- Bryan Young, principal, Young Projects
This year’s partner and sponsors included:
- Event Partner: McGrory Glass
- Rittenhouse Square Sponsors: Milliken; Interface; Glen Gery (Brickworks Philadelphia Design Studio); Equitone (Universe Corp); McKeon; Shildan; Facility & Design Resource
- Washington Square Sponsors: Bentley; Duet Design Partnership; Shaw; Steelcase; Corporate Interiors; USG; Harmon; Intech; Mohawk; Designtex; Rulon; CFI Workspace; Arborite & Laminart; Construction Specialties (Jopson Associates); Vode Lighting (Illuminations); Transwall; Diversified Group; VS1 (Innovation Glass); Daltile; Humanscale