Jonce Walker, LEED AP, Certified Sustainable Building Advisor, and Fitwel Ambassador, has officially joined HLW as Director of Sustainability and Wellness, operating out of the firm's New York City office. Bringing a strong background in place-based urban design to the team, Walker's portfolio spans more than 14 years of high performance sustainability work across a wide array of project typologies including airports, institutional buildings, multi-family residential, commercial high-rise and interiors, master planned communities, and higher education facilities. Under Walker's purview, HLW will strengthen its commitment to bringing calculable, holistic sustainability solutions to all levels of design.

"As HLW continues to hone our vision for a sustainable future, we sought leadership that would unite our capabilities to fight climate change while championing an integrated design process and ethos that prioritizes wellness, health, and human comfort," said Lee Devore, Associate Principal at HLW's New York office. "Jonce uniquely understands our dedication to ecological performance, as well as our endless pursuit of regenerative spaces, and we look forward to seeing the impact of his expertise in all areas of our practice."

As Director of Sustainability and Wellness, Walker will oversee the coordination of an integrated design process that bridges the firm's service offerings, while reinforcing HLW's pledge to the AIA 2030 Commitment –– an industry framework that standardizes tracking capabilities for firms to log their progress toward achieving carbon-neutral construction in the next 10 years. Utilizing his experiences in both the public and private sectors, Walker will be responsible for weaving sustainability into each stage of the design process, working closely alongside the firm's technology team, NEXT, to create client-facing data visualization and biometric analysis tools to better communicate the overall impact of new and ongoing projects.

"I was immediately drawn to HLW's detail-oriented nature and the scale of its international footprint, and I am thrilled to be joining the team in this important capacity," said Walker. "HLW is known in the industry for working with clients that take bold risks, and I look forward to the exceptional opportunity to encourage those organizations, as well as my team internally, to continue pushing the boundaries of what's possible in terms of sustainability, resilience, and wellbeing at both the human and the community level."