Clark & Enersen is pleased to announce that Principal and Architect Kate Hier, AIA, NCARB, EDAC, WELL AP is one of 30 recipients of The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Young Architects Award 2024. This national level award is given to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and made significant contributions to the architecture profession early in their careers. Winners were selected by a six-member jury consisting of distinguished AIA members from across the country.

“I am honored and humbled to have received this recognition from the AIA,” Kate says. “It is an award that reflects brightly upon my mentors, colleagues, clients, and fellow industry leaders who have been true partners to me over the last fifteen years. The future is ripe with opportunity at the intersection of architecture and science, and I feel very fortunate to be a part of the incredible work that Clark & Enersen is leading across the country.”

Kate joined Clark & Enersen as an intern in 2009 and through her intellectual curiosity and devotion to achieving design excellence, she quickly became recognized as an upcoming leader in the industry and firm. Within six years of graduation, she had already been promoted to a principal and the firm’s board of directors, the youngest in its history.

As a leader of our firm’s Science & Technology market sector, Kate leads design of science, research, and learning spaces at higher education institutions across the nation. Her work has included the planning and design of facilities dedicated to medical education, veterinary health, equine medical research, and translational medicine research. Additionally, she has designed diagnostic laboratories, simulated learning environments, a first-of-its-kind precision agriculture facility, engineering and ag buildings, business incubator spaces for biotech startups, BSL-3 containment spaces, vivaria, and the nation’s only federal quarantine unit. She has also assisted universities in the pursuit of numerous grants for the National Institutes for Health, the National Science Foundation, and Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence. Her ability to understand complexity in the processes and requirements of scientific, medical, and veterinary fields outside of architecture has impacted many institutions and scientific efforts affecting positive health outcomes for humans and other species.

Kate attributes her success to the tremendous amount of opportunities provided, ongoing support, and knowledge gained through strong mentorships while being employed by Clark & Enersen. In addition to project leadership roles where she is typically the lead design architect and a laboratory planner, Kate manages architectural team members and firm workload across multiple offices. She co-chaired the firm’s strategic plan initiative in 2018 and co-led the re-branding of the company in 2019, and she has served on a variety of task forces and committees. Each of these initiatives is focused on strengthening the foundation of our firm through depth in talent, expertise, and partnership; the integration of disciplines, offices, and thought; and growing through investment in people, opportunity, and culture.

In addition to being an integral part of the firm, Kate has also become a thought leader, presenting at more than 20 national and international conferences that focus on higher education, laboratories, and science-supporting architectures. She is also on the board of directors for the Association of University Research Parks – an international organization that represents more than 700 research parks and innovation districts around the world. A lifelong learner, Kate is always in pursuit of research, literature, and additional architectural credentials that help her bring new perspectives to projects. In Kate’s words, “I never tire of the work of an architect, because the work of my clients – scientists, veterinarians, physicians, and teachers – never ceases to advance and result in new discoveries. Architecture, too, must always be innovating.”

Visit the AIA website to learn more about the award and how Kate’s many accomplishments resulted in her being honored as a recipient.