Leonardo Gonzales Sangri

Director of Education, PrincipalHKS, Inc.

hksinc.com

Over the last fifteen years, Leonardo has dedicated his career to the design of educational environments in both the K-12 and Higher Education realms. Grounded in his belief that educational spaces are of paramount importance in the successful future of our society, he has worked passionately to create unique learning environments that are memorable for the students and teachers who experience them. As a talented conceptual thinker, he is able to analyze big-picture parameters and make connections amongst seemingly unrelated notions to uncover hidden potential in project challenges. In his role of regional design director of Education at HKS, Leonardo leads project teams in the conceptualization and implementation of design for a wide range of projects. From this role, he has also partnered with clients to go beyond the status quo, and design with a vision for the future of the industry. Whether it is imagining Personalized Learning labs or building community through connective student commons; Leonardo’s efforts are aimed at advancing the building typology in education and creating spaces that enable new pedagogies and support progressive educational opportunities. Leonardo has been a speaker on these topics most notably at the Association for Learning Environments winter conference in 2015, at the 2017 Florida Educational Facilities Planners Association and ACN Conference in London, England.