HOK UK revenue growth reached £20.9 million in 2025, a 28 per cent rise on the £16.4 million recorded the previous year, as the London-based practice swung from a £688,000 pre-tax loss to a pre-tax profit of £898,000, according to accounts filed at Companies House for the period ending 26 December 2025 and published on 8 September.
A strategic report attached to the accounts attributed the turnaround to ‘higher levels of project activity’ in architecture and planning and ‘the successful execution of a diversified portfolio of work’. The directors stated that the firm maintained ‘a strong financial position throughout the year, supported by positive trading performance, healthy liquidity and disciplined financial management.’
HOK UK revenue growth driven by international work
The strongest contributor to HOK UK revenue growth was international billings. Work categorised as ‘rest of [the] world’ climbed from £8.6 million in 2024 to £12 million in 2025, the largest single increase across all geographic segments. UK project turnover rose from £6.7 million to £7.9 million, while ‘rest of Europe’ remained stable at just under £1.1 million.
Managing principal Daniel Hajjar said: ‘As well as maintaining a strong project pipeline in the UK, we have a growing portfolio of international work, which further helps us navigate market cycles.’ He added that ‘significant capital’ was ready to be deployed into regeneration and development, and that strong political will to build existed in the UK and other markets, cautioning that this would convert into activity ‘once there is greater clarity around project financing and deliverability.’
Headcount stood at 113 employees for 2025, down three on the prior year, comprising 92 technical staff and 21 administration and management staff. In the practice’s AJ100 listing this year, HOK reported 27 qualified architects.
A portfolio spanning lab science, residential and arenas
The accounts period encompassed a wide range of completed projects. HOK delivered three floors of new offices for Arup at One Centenary Square in Birmingham, and topped out The Wilderly, a 25-storey residential tower at Elephant Park in London. In Stockholm, the practice completed a major refurbishment of the 1989 Avicii Arena.
In June, the firm completed Merlin Place, a 12,900m² speculative laboratory building for Kadans Science Partner in Cambridge North. That commission sits alongside a further project of national infrastructure significance: according to HOK’s 2025 year-in-review, the practice and WSP were chosen to design the National Biosecurity Centre for DEFRA, supporting national preparedness and advanced research. A laboratory project of that scale, commissioned by a government department with biosafety and resilience at its core, underlines the breadth of technical expertise HOK’s UK team is drawing on.
In the sports sector, HOK’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, hosted matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup this summer.
Hajjar framed the breadth of sectors as a deliberate hedge: ‘Our strong performance in 2025 underlines the benefits of our multidisciplinary practice, with specialist expertise in sectors such as healthcare, sports, entertainment and science, meaning we are more resilient to any downturn in the commercial or residential markets and can offer clients insights and expertise based on our experience across all building typologies.’
Carbon commitments alongside commercial recovery
The financial recovery comes as HOK pursues its longer-term sustainability commitments. According to HOK’s about page, the practice has been carbon neutral since 2022 and is dedicated to achieving net-zero emissions in the projects it designs by 2030. For a practice with a growing international portfolio spanning laboratory, sports and residential typologies, that 2030 design target carries real technical weight: each project type presents distinct embodied carbon and operational carbon challenges, from the process-energy intensity of biosafety laboratories to the large-span structures of entertainment venues.
The year also marked a wider milestone. HOK’s 2025 year-in-review records the firm’s 70th anniversary, noting seven decades of work shaping cities and the public realm. The practice was founded in St Louis, Missouri, in 1955 and established its London office in 1987.
The DEFRA National Biosecurity Centre commission, alongside the Merlin Place laboratory and the AJ100 practice’s widening international billings, points to where HOK’s UK pipeline is being built: technically demanding, publicly significant projects where multidisciplinary depth carries a commercial premium.
