HKP Architects Honored in Sustainability Category of Puget Sound Business Journal 2025 Environmental & Sustainability Awards
HKP Architects was honored in the Sustainability Category at the Puget Sound Business Journal’s Environmental & Sustainability Awards recognizing the firm’s leadership in sustainable architecture and for its commitment to improving the sustainability of its own operations.
At the ceremony, the team had the opportunity to hear from keynote speaker, Sally Jewell, former US Secretary of the Interior and champion of many global environmental initiatives. Her message of collaborative work reinforced HKP’s mission of equitable and sustainable design. “Sustainability is a team sport,” Jewell stated in her keynote message about her work at the agency, “all kinds of things come together because people [build] personal relationships…it was a massive effort.”
This award celebrates HKP’s longstanding commitment to sustainable architecture, a core value that has defined the firm for over 70 years. The firm’s approach to sustainability is rooted in collaboration and resilient design for owners, analyzing how to take advantage of natural site features and consider ways to reduce negative environmental impacts. The belief that sustainability starts from the top down, from the sides in, and from the bottom up drives HKP’s foundational commitment to integrated design, ensuring that every element of a project contributes to high environmental performance, human well-being, and long-term resilience. “It’s not enough to have a plan, it needs to be baked into your everyday processes and tracking to transform the work,” says Julie Blazek, partner and sustainability lead at HKP Architects.
HKP’s portfolio includes multiple projects that have achieved LEED and Passive House certification, contributing to 60-70% energy use savings, and over 112,000 pounds of CO2 emissions saved through the firm’s Passive House Design process and carbon-reduction strategies.
The PSBJ’s Environmental & Sustainability Awards recognize individuals and organizations across Washington that are leading the way in innovative environmental stewardship within their communities. As HKP looks toward the future, the firm remains focused on aligning its practice with long-term performance, ecological sustainability, and social equity.
“We are a small, minority-owned firm in a rural area, and we do not often get opportunities for visibility and for projects,” states Blazek. “We are often competing against larger firms, in larger markets, for the same projects. Our goal is to make sure clients who are interested in building better are aware of our expertise and to be able to bring owners along in making their building better for the planet.”
HKP Architects has been providing architectural services to the Pacific Northwest since 1952. The firm focuses on civic buildings and spaces, educational facility planning and design, non-profit and community-oriented projects, and private homes. All of their projects emphasize long-term value for clients through efficient use of space, appropriate use of materials, sustainability, and the benefits of natural light. HKP Architects is a Women Business Enterprise (WBE)-certified firm. For more information, visit our website.