Dallas architecture firm opening OKC office
Firm has designs on Oklahoma City
By Richard Mize
Real Estate Editor
Oklahoma City construction is so hale and hearty it's attracted a Dallas architecture firm that already has strong connections to Integris Health.
HKS Inc. has worked with Integris Health for 21 years, and other clients across Oklahoma, and has opened an office at 5600 N May, Suite 100.
Bob Cline, 61, is director and senior project manager of the office, which will have a staff of 10 by the end of the year. The Hollywood, Calif., native has 35 years in the design industry, the past 10 with HKS leading projects in aviation, education and healthcare.
"We are committed to Oklahoma City and know that our local presence makes a big difference to clients,” Cline said.
But isn't design work all computer-aided now? Don't cell phones and e-mail do the trick for communication?
Not always, said Chris Burnett, president of Oklahoma operations for Conway, Ark.,-based Nabholz Construction, which is working as construction manager with HKS on an expansion and remodeling of Integris Canadian Valley Regional Hospital in Yukon.
The digital world is great, but sometimes it still helps to look someone in the eye, said Burnett said, whose company has offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
"We operate in both realms,” Burnett said. "You really just can't beat a face-up meeting with an engineer or architect to work out a problem with design.”
In addition to the work in Yukon, HKS has done design work for more than 80 Integris projects, including additions and renovations, office buildings and parking garages at locations such as Grove General Hospital in Grove and Integris Baptist Medical Center and Integris Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City.
"Integris Health and HKS have enjoyed a long-time professional relationship and we are very pleased they have made the decision to establish an Oklahoma office,” said C. Bruce Lawrence, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Integris Health, in a news release. "Having a local presence will further enhance Integris Health's ability to move forward with our strategic initiatives more efficiently and with faster results.”
Oklahoma City has plenty of room for another architecture firm, but some firms already here will lose talent to the newcomer, said Dick Anderson, executive vice president of the Associated General Contractors-Building Chapter.
"The market's still hot. It's still strong,” Anderson said, noting that HKS is probably eyeing architects at local firms that do a lot of healthcare design. "Eventually, what's going to happen is they're going to have to raid their studios.”
Construction continues strong in the Oklahoma City area, although contractors are still slogging through soggy job sites from record rainfall this year. Work is steady at the drawing boards, too, said Richard Semtner, president of the American Institute of Architects Central Oklahoma Chapter.
"There is a limited number of architects available in Oklahoma City, and there's a lot of work,” said Semtner, a project architect at Rees Associates Inc. "That's a significant size firm for Oklahoma City, 10 people.”
Most architecture firms here are small partnerships, he said, with somewhat fluid memberships. Rees Associates, C.H. Guernsey & Co. and Benham Cos., with professionals sticking around for decades, are the exception, he said.
HKS plans to further develop its healthcare design practice, but also tap into education, government, commercial and hotel-entertainment development, said Craig Beale, director of the HKS healthcare group.
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