We study some topological and algorithmic properties of a recently defined hierarchical interconnection network, the hierarchical crossed cube HCC(k,n), which draws upon constructions used within the well-known hypercube and also the crossed cube. In particular, we study: the construction of shortest paths between arbitrary vertices in HCC(k,n); the connectivity of HCC(k,n); and one-to-all broadcasts in parallel machines whose underlying topology is HCC(k,n) (with both one-port and multi-port store-and-forward models of communication). Moreover, (some of) our proofs are applicable not just to hierarchical crossed cubes but to hierarchical interconnection networks formed by replacing crossed cubes with other families of interconnection netwo...