Challenging convention.
And ourselves.

OUR APPROACH TO RESEARCH & INNOVATION

With our clients

The scope of our research and innovation is broad—from the insights that drive our clients’ future business, to mapping the technological and social changes that will inform unique, inspiring design solutions. For us, each project is an opportunity to develop and apply new knowledge through exploration.

For example, we apply the deep contextual observations of an anthropologist to understand how office workers engage with each other and the physical environment. We track user activity to help our designers understand how people really use space, allowing them to design environments that increase productivity and satisfaction. We shadow nurses in care units and analyze response times to identify bottlenecks that may inhibit efficiencies, and redesign workflows and spaces to make their jobs easier. As a research-based design firm, we believe in continuous learning and improvement. To test our hypotheses and the effectiveness of our design solutions, our DIG team regularly conducts pre- and post-occupancy evaluations of how buildings actually perform. We measure the effectiveness of design attributes, such as noise levels, access to natural light, and views to nature, along with personal variables such as life/work balance, job satisfaction, wellbeing, and productivity.

Not only do we challenge our clients to rethink what type of spaces they need, we go beyond incremental improvement to develop transformational solutions—and sometimes the right answer doesn’t require space at all.

OUR APPROACH TO RESEARCH & INNOVATION

Within our industry

At the core of our work is belief that advancing the state of our industry is not only an opportunity but also a responsibility. We are both practitioners and leaders, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and inspiring others to do the same. In our fast-changing, complex world, our challenge is more significant than ever: we need to develop empathy for each individual who inhabits our buildings; we need to understand mega-trends in culture and technology to shape how buildings are likely to progress in the future; and we need a deep awareness of the social and environmental impact of the built environment.

We give back to our clients and communities as we continue to grow and learn. Our team members are active participants in industry organizations, using their expertise to influence design education, enhance the design process, and improve building performance on a wider scale. In collaboration with our clients, we frequently present at industry conferences, workshops, and publish original research. We also encourage our clients to learn from one another.

Each year, we collaborate with a team of client advisors representing our diverse market sectors to delve into the latest trends and pressing issues. We leverage these valuable insights to craft innovative design interventions that push the boundaries of what's possible and advance the state of the art.

OUR APPROACH TO RESEARCH & INNOVATION

Within HGA

Our goal is to use every project as a platform to develop and apply new knowledge through exploration. This goal is embedded into our process. From materials research to pre- and post-occupancy evaluations, we uncover unexpected insights, systematically capture what we learn, and translate it into informed design solutions.

Micro-Grants for Macro Ideas: Our internal micro-grant program encourages exploration of new ideas from cross-disciplinary teams of impassioned individuals with a common curiosity. They present proposals around everything from social movements to sustainable materials, which are then voted on firmwide. Winning concepts are funded for investigation and discoveries are shared across the firm and applied to our projects.