Adaeze Cadet, design principal at HOK, provides design leadership for projects in HOK’s Los Angeles studio. She is a member of the firm’s board of directors and design board.
Adaeze brings over two decades of experience as an innovative, successful and dedicated design professional. Her award-winning designs have been recognized and praised by various design publications. She held positions in San Francisco and Dallas before relocating to Los Angeles in 2013.
Adaeze is an active speaker, a mentor to individuals and groups, serves as a juror and is a member of the USC Architecture Guild Board. Her industry involvement extends to the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Southern California chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (SoCal NOMA) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).
00:00–01:32 — Why inclusive design produces better architecture outcomes
01:32–02:32 — From wooden blocks to HOK when architecture is in your DNA
02:32–03:36 — How bias shows up early in architecture education and what to do about it
03:36–04:54 — Why community research before design leads to stronger built environment outcomes
04:54–05:55 — What meaningful community engagement looks like in architecture practice
05:55–08:08 — How the Kedron Children's Village brought wraparound pediatric care to an underserved South LA neighborhood
08:08–09:49 — Why equity in architecture needs to be a measurable framework not a guiding principle
09:49–11:47 — How inclusive leadership in architecture firms produces better design solutions
11:47–13:07 — Why mentorship in architecture still fails women and people of color
13:07–14:28 — Why diversity in architecture is a recruiting problem not a talent shortage
14:28–16:29 — Why architecture diversity outreach needs to start at middle school not college
16:29–17:46 — Why purpose-driven design is the foundation of high performance architecture
17:46–19:10 — How mentorship in architecture firms builds stronger pipelines and better work culture
19:10–End — Who is missing from architecture leadership and why it matters for the future of the built environment
[00:00:00] What if the most powerful design decision isn't what you build, but who you build it with and who gets to influence it along the way? In an industry that prides itself on innovation, equity, and mentorship are often treated as ideals rather than infrastructure. But when they are embedded into the design process itself, they begin to change how work gets done and who gets to participate in the built environment.
This episode explores architecture as a social equalizer through practice, not theory. From a pediatric healthcare project in South Los Angeles, to the systems that influence who enters the profession and how they advance, it examines what happens when purpose, accountability, and people are treated as inseparable from design excellence.
[00:00:46] Welcome to Play with Matches, the podcast igniting bold ideas and redefining what's possible in architecture and design. I'm your host, Tiffany Raffi, CEO of UpSpring. Each episode, I'll talk with the disruptors sparking change at the intersection of creativity and business.
Today we're joined by Adaeze Cadet, a design principal at HOK. With over two decades in practice and leadership roles within the AIA SoCal and the USC Architecture Guild, Adaeze has built a model of leadership that proves design, excellence, equity, and mentorship are deeply connected.
Let's start with where that point of view was formed.
[00:01:32] It's always been in my DNA. Even as a kid, I would nerd out and just be very fascinated how people move through space, experience space, what happens if you move this or that? My kindergarten teacher told my mom, she thought it was odd. I was very adamant about organizing all the kids to use, what was in my five-year-old brain, these giant wooden blocks—they're probably a foot long—and I would make them organize our playhouse in a very specific way before we would play house in it. And the teacher's like, Hmm, that's a little abnormal. You might wanna get her into the arts and sciences.
So from Lego builds to power tool set—it could barely cut foam—and understanding it could be a profession, my eyes just lit up.
I always thought I'd be designing single family homes. As a kid, that's what I would be sketching. Taking the risk to go to a big firm that was doing these large scale projects, being exposed to different types of architectural projects, and that support that I got at my previous firm really helped me see like all these endless possibilities.
[00:02:32] I did have a professor in my first studio tell me that I would never be an architect and that my work was terrible, and that I was like, wait, this is weird 'cause I've always wanted to be this. And I had my first critique where we have outside people look at my project and they loved it. And I was like, oh, so this is just bias. He begrudgingly gave me a B—it was the only B I ever got in studio—but I was like, okay, how do I navigate that?
Just the idea that I thought I could become an architect when all of the images that I grew up were these old white guys—there weren't a lot of women in that space—so even just thinking that could be, and having the support of my parents that are like, yeah, no, it's okay, we'll get you books. I know you don't see yourself in them. But being able to see Paul R. Williams and other folks, and just keeping that drive and determination. And then when I got there, being open to working in different market sectors, looking at leadership roles ahead of me and seeing, okay, do I wanna do that? Maybe I do. Let's try that.
I got exposed to a lot coming up in my career that helped me build in more empathy when I'm in now this leadership role because I've been there.
[00:03:36] That early curiosity shaped by encouragement, challenged by bias, and strengthened through exposure, helped form a strong point of view.
As Adaeze stepped into larger and more complex work, her focus expanded beyond form to questions of impact: who architecture serves, whose voices are centered, and how intention is shaped through leadership and listening.
[00:03:57] It's just always been fascinating to know that you could create something that people have these unique experience in, and how you do that could influence if it's a good experience, a bad experience. And it really starts from a good beginning to the project, and understanding that every building we build—no matter what type—it is affecting the community around it, and it's affecting the ecosystem that we're building for as well.
I know some architects get very excited to just go and start proposing these ideas, but you really have to slow down and understand the problem and the challenges and who it's affecting, and then from there, build some creative solutions that really start to celebrate that community that we're building for and in.
It's a lot of research at the beginning. A lot of just asking questions of the ownership. Who are we designing for? Who are those stakeholders? How are they gonna be working? And then understanding the design challenges that they're trying to solve for, and being open to proposing ones that maybe our clients haven't even thought of.
[00:04:54] We love doing community engagement meetings. It's really good to also understand the organizations that already exist within communities. And you can start to understand what's important to them even before you kick off the project, 'cause we need to hear what they're saying instead of just proposing this great idea we did in a vacuum.
But keeping that open dialogue really helps the community feel like they have buy-in in a project while still achieving the objectives of the owner.
We were doing a mixed use project, and it was really clear that the community needed some outdoor space as well to just come and be able to work alongside this mixed use development. And then also seeing where we could fit in a little bit of space for a community room, which wasn't originally in the program. Just taking the time to understand that it allowed our team to propose some ideas that the client hadn't even thought of to help strengthen that project. And then it also became an asset for the users of the building as well that they could use that space too.
[00:05:47] So looking for those little nuanced opportunities and thinking outside the box really helped to enrich the whole project.
[00:05:55] These ideas aren't abstract. They're grounded in practice, shaped through real relationships in real neighborhoods where listening is a prerequisite to good design. Over time, that approach moved from mindset to method.
One project in particular brings that strategy into focus: the Kedron Children's Village Pediatric Hospital in South Los Angeles.
[00:06:17] That's a really, like, pet project of mine because it's an underserved community. Really began with knowing a little bit about the background within the Kedron Health System. It's a health system that was started by the community, for the community.
It came up around the time of the Watts Uprising, and so helping the community understand what their needs were and knowing that they needed to start to lay that groundwork for themselves. The idea behind Kedron is it has wraparound services, so it provides primary care, transitional housing support, job placement, as well as behavioral health to work on the whole person.
[00:06:51] And this village is really tailored to focusing on children with behavioral health needs, helping not only the children cope with it, but also the families learn how to give the right tools to their kids. It's really building that community just in the services they provide.
And they have a space now, but it's really getting too small. So they really needed this ground up building, and this is their first ground up building ever. So we wanted to design based on their needs, knowing they have this continuum of care that they're providing but also be able to reflect the community in the design and the aesthetics. So I think it leveraged all of my experience in past years of being creative with these design solutions, coming up with a strong concept, which is this idea of this quilt wrapping the building in the comfort of care they're gonna get; also being able to express the fact that this is a diverse community, so the quilt kind of have the scraps coming together to create this beautiful space of comfort where we're creating more beautiful support for these families in the community. And just hearing the community talk about it and our outreach, they're just so excited to be able to have this service right where they need it, so that they don't have to travel long distances to get this much needed care.
And it's in a residential community as well, so we're playing with scale. All these different things that we have to get into the right balance when we're designing all of our projects.
[00:08:08] What Kedron made clear for Adaeze is that equity has to be something teams can define, test, and revisit over time.
I feel like over time, the way that people look at what the word equity means has gotten a little muddied.
[00:08:21] Fundamentally, you're trying to create something where you have to acknowledge that there are inequities first and where they are, and then think about strategies on how to improve those inequities, which need to be adjusted for each person, because ultimately you really want people to feel that you're able to give them a space to thrive.
One of the ways we approach that within HOK is we have this framework called Designing for Equity. There's workshops in the beginning to really understand the project and the problems. It's looking at the spectrum of people in the building and thinking about ways to make that more equitable, whether it's the elevator that's close to also the stairs, so you have a choice to take the stairs versus the elevator.
[00:09:00] That also starts to play into what we're thinking about as we're laying out the design. It's setting up a framework to really understand where these inequities lie and coming up with creative design solutions to raise the design performance of the whole building and space. We really wanna work with the stakeholders to understand what their success metrics are. Then we can go back after the building is occupied, and check ourselves, check the work and understand did this design intervention actually improve the equity that's happening in this space? Did we get the metrics that we were shooting for? And that comes back to us in the form of data that we can then use to help improve that or even take that knowledge into our next project.
It starts to create this nice cycle of enrichment of the future projects going on because we're taking the time to collect that data and check our work after the building's been occupied.
[00:09:49] Projects like Kedron test how values are put into practice. Once equity becomes something you design, it starts to shape more than buildings. For Adaeze, those same principles that guide her work also guide how she shows up as a leader, creating space for others to contribute, grow, and belong.
I didn't have a lot of role models that looked like me. When being a woman in the male dominated field, you tend to be a little bit more passive, generally.
[00:10:15] It took me a minute to find my voice. Now that I'm on the board and now that I'm a part of this leadership group, I really wanna make sure that I'm leading with empathy and trying to understand people's backgrounds, what motivates them. There's not a one-size-fits-all leadership model that I prescribe to.
I know my role and I take that responsibility seriously to be able to provide that information, to provide that new way of looking at it. Because ultimately it, it enriches our whole culture as a company that we're able to have a space where people feel that greater sense of belonging.
I've been on teams where it feels like it's just very top down. Like they just bequeath on high and you just have to produce, and that never felt good to me. In like team meetings. I'll see someone who's on the quiet side and I'll just ask them, Hey, do you have any ideas? What do you think about this? Throw out your ideas so that we can talk about it, be objective, and really get to those best design solutions for the clients and the community.
[00:11:07] I wanted to trickle down. I want people to take that on as a way to pull more people up, pull more people into the conversation, and empower people to be their best version of themselves. Doesn't matter if the idea comes from me, it comes from our IT guy, It comes from someone with 20+ years of experience.
It's about creating a collaborative environment. It doesn't need that be that one person that's offering that idea, and it's not this precious thing that I created. It's okay for us to be critical of our work, to talk about it in a way that really helps to make sure the best ideas rise to the top, and then being able to support the team with a clear direction on how to get it done.
[00:11:47] Leading with empathy inside an organization is one way to create belonging, but Adaeze’s perspective was formed long before she held a leadership role. Looking back, those gaps around mentorship became a turning point, shaping her sense of responsibility to others coming up behind her.
It was tough to find mentors within architecture.
[00:12:05] There's a bit of a bro culture at my old firm. I would see them taking other people out that look like them. I could see them being supported, but not taking the time for the women and the people of color in the studio. I did look outside of those walls and get inspiration from my mother, who's a successful businesswoman in her own right. Learn about the corporate space.
I got a lot of inspiration, too, from the way that Beyonce has evolved over the years, in her life story. She's literally always striving to be the best she can, so I need to match her work, drive, energy, and do my research.
And then I did develop a lot of peer mentorship, which I also think is very valuable. Talking with people that were on the same level, understanding their experiences helped me figure out, is it something I want to, or let me try this. Maybe not. I do feel like I learned from one of my colleagues early on the value of getting licensed. I'm glad I did that process. It is very tedious, very time consuming, but it really has helped to catapult my career.
[00:13:07] So it's been a mixture of people within the industry, outside of the industry, some unexpected folks. I think that's why I'm so passionate about making sure that other people in the industry that may not feel quite as accepted have someone that they can call and send an email to and give them the mentorship I wanted when I was younger.
And then being a part of the USC Architecture Guild Board, it's an even more direct way for me to influence the curriculum that's happening out of USC. I'm very much the person that's lie you're looking for retention of the more diverse students. Then what does your curriculum look like? How are these students seeing themselves in what you're teaching them? It's hard to stay if you can't see yourself in the work that you're being taught. What are you doing to help bring people and welcome them into it?
Also, the flip side, seeing what these students are making, it's like mind blowing. I would be embarrassed to show them my portfolio at this point, because the level of technology and creativity, it just keeps going up and up.
[00:14:02] Being able to see the young folks that are getting into the career and their excitement about it are like, wait, you can do this? You can make that? Then I get reinvigorated and that helps me continue that excitement with my own work.
Adaeze’s path makes one thing clear: talent wasn't absent, access was. The question shifted from why does the industry struggle with diversity to where it chooses to look? In that reframing, the challenge becomes far less mysterious and far more actionable.
[00:14:29] People will often say they're struggling to find diversity. If you keep looking in the same spot and not finding diversity, I can guarantee you, you will not find it. That's how that works. So I encourage people to look in different places.
You can't keep going to the Harvards of the world and expecting to automatically see now half the population is made up of diverse people, it won't be. So I encourage people to go to the state schools. There's so many talented people that come outta state schools, including myself. You can look at HBCUs to find that talent and be more engaged in those types of communities and in the communities that you're looking to get more of that diversity from.
[00:15:05] So it really isn't as complicated as people make it seem. It's a choice. You need to be aware of the choice you're making.
We design buildings for everyone. Everyone is going through these spaces. So the more diverse your team is, the better your work will be because you're getting all these different points of views that really enriches the design. So it's a win-win from everybody, and I encourage the industry to make better choices.
I think fundamentally it needs to shift away from a college pipeline and go younger. Yes, we experience buildings, but a lot of people don't genuinely know that an architect is involved in it. And what an architect actually doesn't.
[00:15:43] I can't tell you how many people will ask me like, oh, I have X and Y plumbing issue. Do you know how to fix that? I don't know how to fix it. That's not my job. I can design it in a way that's interesting. I can make the space more efficiently.
SoCal NOMA has a great program, their Project Pipeline Program where they're reaching out to school kids that are in the mostly in the middle school to high school range. They get access to what architects do, and it just helps them with design thinking and problem solving. That may catapult them into architecture, but it may take 'em down a different path. But that exposure young is really what we need to be doing more of as an industry to get more people involved and understanding what we do, the value we add, and how it can be a viable career choice.
[00:16:29] By this point, Adaeze has described equity as something you design for, measure, and lead through. And beneath those decisions is a sharper conviction. Without purpose, architecture may function, but it doesn't truly work.
I don't understand how you could have good design without it being purpose-driven. They're not mutually exclusive, and good design is purpose-driven.
Now, when you think about the purpose, is the purpose the architect's ego? Maybe that's not the best. But the purpose could be more rooted in how it's affecting the community, the end-user, the functionality of it, and when you have those positive points where you're really using that to define your purpose, I do think it leads to better design.
[00:17:11] It's something that when you bake in that purpose, you feel it from the exterior all the way down to the doorknob. We ever walked into a space and it feels very uncomfortable, I would argue that has a lack of purpose, a lack of structure. And so knowing that every project should have a strong purpose really influences and affects more positive design.
For me, my purpose is rooted in the community. Knowing that these buildings are affecting the community, you build in more empathy in the design, and you end up with a much stronger design outcome that's better for everybody.
[00:17:46] If purpose is what gives design its meaning, mentorship gives it longevity. Investing in people isn't an add-on to the work. It's a mechanism through which values are transferred, standards are raised, and the future of the profession is shaped.
The level of return you get on that investment of just slowing down to take the time to talk to these young minds, letting them know what could be, and exposing to the things that they never thought could be, and then knowing that inclusive leadership continues to foster that process.
[00:18:19] I want the folks behind me to be even stronger leaders than myself. And the way I do that is sitting next to them and showing them why this is important and teaching them to fish instead of just fish on a platter. And it creates this positive ecosystem of sharing and growing and strengthening each other and becoming better and better.
So there's such a value-add to having that inclusive leadership that, to me, is also rooted in mentorship. You are mentoring these professionals and helping them live out their greatest dreams, and it's just as exciting for me to be a part of that story as it is to have my own successes on other projects.
It takes a little bit of time, but it's really important, and you'll get it like a hundred fold back to you. To be able to get that enrichment and to be feeding that really sustains us and our industry really needs that.
[00:19:10] What this conversation ultimately challenges is the idea that equity and mentorship sit outside the core work of architecture.
Adaeze makes clear that when those values are treated as optional, design suffers. When they are treated as infrastructure, innovation accelerates. Her leadership points to a different measure of success for our industry. Not just the quality of the spaces we produce, but the systems we build around people, who's supported early, who's given access, who's trusted with responsibility, and who's still missing from the room.
For firms and brands shaping the future of the built environment, this isn't a question of intention, but of design, of whether we're willing to build cultures and pipelines with the same rigor we bring to buildings themselves. Because the future of architecture will be defined by who is empowered to lead, to belong, and to stay. And that future is being designed right now.
Thank you for joining us for this episode of Play With Matches. We hope this conversation inspires you to push a little further, imagine a little bigger, and to keep igniting the ideas that move our industry forward.
To hear more conversations like this one, follow Play with Matches wherever you get your podcast.
Play With Matches is part of the SURROUND Podcast Network.
You can find show notes and full transcripts at surroundpodcasts.com. This show is produced by UpSpring. A huge thank you to our guests, our audio editing team Make a Scene Productions, and to the UpSpring who helped make this episode possible: Brittany Lloyd, Eleanor Ling, and Marcus McDermott.
Thank you so much for listening. Until next time.
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