Before forming HK Associates, Michael and Kathy followed largely independent but parallel career paths, with each making significant contributions to internationally recognized architecture firms in both Canada and the United States: Patkau Architects, Peter Cardew Architects, Acton Johnson Ostry, Lundberg Design, SOM, and Leddy Maytum Stacy. An opportunity to work together with Rick Joy brought them to Tucson, AZ in 2003 where they fell in love with the desert, later establishing HK Associates. HK believes in the power of thoughtful design to enrich life, and views every project as an opportunity to create something meaningful. "Striving for elegance and honesty in design, our creative approach is client and site specific, structuring spaces and moments that are timeless and contextual. For us, architecture is a process of revealing that results in places that reveal. We work closely with our clients to understand their specific needs, constraints and aspirations. From this, we develop a full and deliberate design that holds the potential to offer further insights as the project is realized. Once a work of architecture is inhabited by our clients, it's fullness begins - architecture reveals when the acts of daily life and the cycles of the environment meet the original design intentions."
