The HiLo Lab (High-Low) is directed by Associate Professor Blair Satterfield. Satterfield (above right) teaches design studios and coordinates design media courses at UBC SALA. He is currently the Chair of Architecture. Outside SALA, Satterfield is a co-founding principal with Marc Swackhamer of the research design collaborative HouMinn Practice. HouMinn has innovated in fabrication and collaborative design for over two decades. HouMinn’s work has been featured in publications, including Dwell and Fast Company, and has garnered prestigious awards such as the 2022 ACSA National Design Award, 2020, 2014 & 2008 R&D Award from Architect magazine, Core77 Design Award for Environments, and the Best in Environments award from ID Magazine. Satterfield has extensive professional experience, and has served as design director in multiple firms, where he led projects honoured with multiple AIA awards and national (USA) SARA design awards for architecture and urban design. HiLo Lab is an extension of the work of HouMinn Practice.
HiLo Lab is affiliated with its sister research arm, LoDo Lab, located at the University of Colorado Denver and led by Marc Swackhamer. Marc and Blair collaborate in the work of both HiLo and LoDo, positioning both as institutional arms of HouMinn Practice (and vice-versa). SALA professor Thena Tak (LILO Office) recently joined HiLo to collaborate on a proposal for the Canada Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Biennale.
Prior to joining the faculty at UBC SALA, Satterfield taught at Rice University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Houston, where he helped direct the development of products for the University of Houston Green Building Components initiative.
Faculty, Student, and Staff Researchers
HiLo Lab was established as an interdisciplinary collaborative that enlists contributors based on need and area of research. Each of these individuals have contributed greatly to the success of the HiLo Lab.
Current HiLo Team:
- Marc Swackhamer, Associate Director HiLo, Professor and Chair, Architecture, CU Denver Architecture, Director LoDo Lab & Co-founding Principal of HouMinn Practice
- Thena Tak, Project Lead, Founder and Director LILO Office
- Stuart Lodge, Associate Project Lead (above left)
- Jon Ackerly, MARCH Candidate 2022
- Graham Entwistle, Workshop + Digital Fabrication
Sister Labs and collaborating entities
University of Colorado, Denver – LoDo Lab.
HouMinn Practice
HiLo Emeritus Members
- Riley Baechler
- Derek Mavis
- Parker Albanese
- Rachel Killoh
- Alex Preiss
- Joshua Potvin
- Lisa Kusaka
- Alena Paven
- Sébastien Roy
- Jason Heinrich,
- Neal Qiongyu Li
- Christopher Torres
- Claire Saksun
- Thomas Gaudin
- Ashley Eusebio
Other HiLo Contributors
- Dr. Chadwick Sinclair, Professor UBC Materials Engineering
- Dr. Alla Sheffa, Professor UBC Computer Science
- Matthew Hayes, M.Arch Candidate and LoDo Research Assistant, CU Denver
(image by and courtesy of Gabriel Lascu)
Sister Organizations
The University of Colorado Denver LoDo Lab was established in 2020 and operates as a collaborative centre of design at UCD. Director Marc Swackhamer describes the lab as an educational hub, teaching, and research laboratory working between architectural design and biology. LoDo Lab is a collaborative partner and sister lab for HiLo Lab. Hello LoDo!
HouMinn Practice (pronounced “human”) is an award-winning and internationally published architecture and design collaborative noted for innovative research. HouMinn is built on the idea that collaboration with experts outside the discipline of architecture results in work that is more rigorous and resonant with a wider group of people. By reaching beyond architecture, to both experts and ideas, unlikely juxtapositions of seemingly unrelated voices result in novel design solutions. HouMinn was founded in 1998 by Blair Satterfield and Marc Swackhamer. Today, HouMinn stands on the shoulders of an expanding collaborative network of design professionals and students who contribute a vital knowledge of architecture, construction, fabrication and craft to all of our projects. Hello HouMinn!