HOK Planning Group, a division of Hellmuth,

HOK Planning Group, a division of Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, Inc. (HOK), one of the world’s largest architecture firms with more than 1,800 employees worldwide, has formed the New Urban Studio. The studio is led by three experienced new urbanist designers: Mauricio Castro and Colin Greene, formerly with Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company, and David San Roman, formerly with Dover Kohl & Partners. Greene says the studio is pursuing projects both as an independent unit and in collaboration with other branches of HOK. The formation of the New Urban Studio marks one of the first times a major architecture firm has created a unit dedicated to new urbanist work. “There are now so many opportunities out there, too many for the smaller, new urbanist firms to handle,” Greene says. “As part of a worldwide firm like HOK, we will be able to deliver the same high-quality design typical of a smaller firm, but with greater efficiency.” The studio is currently working on an infill project in San Jose, California, and a development connected to a baseball spring training center in Vero Beach, Florida, and has conducted a feasibility study for the downtown development agency in West Palm Beach, Florida. u