Starting out in the construction business, who or what empowered you? My high school architecture teacher always encouraged girls to consider a career as an architect. Starting my freshman year I learned hand sketching, how things are put together, and how architecture helps you understand the world around you. In college, the faculty was wonderful. They pushed me to sit in the front of the room and to be just as competitive as my male classmates. My first job out of college was with Margulies Perruzzi (MP). I started as an intern and after less than a month, they offered me a full-time job. MP is a very supportive community.
What tips or advice would you offer to other women who are considering entering the construction industry? Step outside of your comfort zone. How? By believing in yourself and having confidence in what you are doing. I make sure I am knowledgeable about a topic and have the research to back it up so I can bring something thoughtful to the discussion. Learn how to take feedback. No one is perfect at everything and we can all learn new things. Share your ideas and your process. It’s a collaborative industry and no one stands alone. The best work is going to come from a team and we all bring a different perspective to the design process.
When you’re not busy, what is your go to book or podcast to help you unwind? The pandemic has definitely brought reading back into my life. I’m currently reading everything by the author Kristin Hannah. I finished up The Nightingale, a fictional story about two sisters in WWII France as well as The Four Winds, a story about the Great Depression in the Great Plains. I learn a lot from the podcast Armchair Expert. Hosted by Dax Shepard, they interview celebrities, journalists, and academics and it “celebrates the messiness of being human.”
What tips or advice would you offer to other women who are considering entering the construction industry? Always be prepared, do your research, and have fun. When women know their worth and show confidence on a jobsite, nothing can stop them.
Starting out in the construction business, who or what empowered you? I am lucky that I attended a university, Colorado State University, that had Construction Management as a major. This allowed the Interior Design major to be integrated, so from the beginning we were taking construction classes in addition to interior design courses. The university always treated us the way interior designers should be treated, as intellectuals. Many times, in the field, we are looked down upon, as if we can only select finishes or fabrics. We are required to know so much more than that: building systems, codes, construction standards, contract administration, design application, professional practice, and project coordination.
From a young age, Jenna Meyers, IIDA, NCIDQ, LEED AP knew she wanted to do something creative and took every art class offered at her high school. During her senior year, she took an interior design course and fell in love with the subject, going on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts in interior design.
Ten years ago, Jenna moved to Boston and joined New England architectural and interior design firm, Margulies Perruzzi (MP). As a senior interior designer, Jenna brings 15 years of extensive design experience to the MP team, contributing her strengths in design development, programming, project management, and coordination. As a workplace studio leader, she specializes in working closely with clients to create custom-designed spaces, reflecting their unique brand, mission, and culture.
Recently promoted to senior associate, Jenna heads up the workplace studio at MP and helps develop the firm’s workplace strategies. MP’s most recent report, Volume 5 Workplace Strategy Report: Embracing the Hybrid Workspace, affirms the logic of transitioning from a traditional to hybrid model. A survey of 8,600 people across multiple business sectors revealed that 44% of workers plan on being in the office three days a week, and 25% plan on two days. Only 9% responded that they would return to a pre-pandemic office presence.
Jenna says she enjoys mentoring designers at MP and believes we fail if we don’t teach the next generation. Her advice to anyone interested in a career in interior design is “Enjoy the process, learn how to listen, and make yourself valuable.”
Janet Morra, a principal and partner at Margulies Perruzzi, an architectural design firm, said much more will be required to make buildings “healthy and safe,” now that it appears a post-pandemic return to work may be possible, perhaps by this coming fall. “All the things we’ve been talking about over the past year have to be acted on,” Morra said of health-and-safety planning for office buildings. “And the time to act is now.”
“No one really knows how much space will be needed,” said Margulies Perruzzi’s Morra. “It’s anyone’s guess. This is all new. There’s going to be a lot of experimentation.” As the workplace dust settles, Morra said she expects office-building owners, as well as corporate tenants, to start measuring and touting the health-and-safety standards of individual facilities, possibly using the relatively new “WELL Health-Safety Rating” system, similar to the well-known LEED rating system that measures the sustainability levels of facilities. “I think it’s going to gain traction,” Morra said of the WELL Health-Safety Rating system. “Many employers are definitely looking for ways to get employees back into buildings. This may be one of the ways.”
Caitlin Greenwood, AIA, IIDA has always been surrounded by strong women and has been inspired by many since launching her career as an architect. Tapping into this support system, whether it be family, colleagues, friends, industry partners, or even competitors, has resulted in a network of women who encourage each other to drive their careers forward.
Caitlin’s advice for young females interested in design and construction is, “There will be times that you are the only female in the room; use that to inspire you and push you further…”
According to the CBRE Q3 Cambridge Lab MarketView report, “the impact of COVID on office market demand has resulted in nearly every building owner evaluating whether a portion or all of their buildings can be converted to lab.” From a design perspective, these lab conversions pose an interesting set of challenges, particularly in an industry like life sciences where researchers might be doing anything from theoretical research on how to make a new salad dressing to developing prototypes for gene therapy.
By Imran Khan, Associate Principal and Director of Science at Margulies Perruzzi.
We have news to report. The data is in on business trends for the annual Interior Design Rising Giants, the 100 largest firms after our top 100 Giants. However, there’s a catch: It’s 2020. Which means our entire world is in various stages of flux—actually, upheaval may be a better word. No one knows what will happen next week, let alone next year. So while these new numbers can give you a fine idea of what kind of year the Rising Giants had in 2019, all bets are off on guessing how the design industry and the economy overall will weather the rest of 2020 and beyond.
MP has a long-standing tradition of Friday afternoon “snacks” where the entire office gets together to socialize, discuss projects, decompress and sometimes even vent about the stressful days. Our “beer thirty” often continues well into the evening where the laughter from great conversations among colleagues is amplified with cold drinks and the waterfront view of the city skyline from our roof deck.
But what happens when the world shuts down and hanging out on a Friday is no longer an option? Well let me start by telling you, it isn’t the same as human interaction. Look at this photo of us from the spring, the beginning of Covid-19; we are all so naïve. In a daily effort to keep sane and maintain connections, I had virtual meet and greets, coffees, and face-times. Then we all got exhausted. As some of you may already know, I am a social person, and I was over it.
Zoom fatigue is real. What is the last thing any of us want to do at the end of a long week? Sit on another call. But sometimes it may surprise you that yet another call marking this long-standing tradition, turns out to be just the thing you needed that week to help get you through. So keep going. Keep snacking virtually; and keep playing cards against humanity, drinking games, Pictionary and trivia with your coworkers because a good laugh is worth everything right now.
The first “snack” back in person is going to be one for the books, and we have that to look forward to when we pop online Friday afternoons until then. Someday the pandemic will end, we will be back to normal, and as Dan Perruzzi puts it in our daily email check ins – we are one day closer to that.
Architecture firm bolsters design team to serve the burgeoning life sciences market in Boston
Margulies Perruzzi(MP), one of New England’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, announced the expansion of its Science Studio with the addition of Imran Khan, AIA, LEED AP as associate principal and Sarah Attia, LEED AP ID+C as an interior designer.
As an associate principal, Imran will be responsible for leading the overall direction of the Science Studio, including managing and recruiting staff, overseeing projects, and developing new client relationships. In her role as interior designer, Sarah will provide design, technical detailing, and space planning services from concept development through construction documentation for MP’s science clients.
According to the 2019 Industry Snapshot from Mass Bio, Boston is the number one hub for life sciences in the world. Massachusetts is home to a thriving life sciences community, the most highly educated workforce in the U.S., and universities and hospitals that are global leaders in biotech research. Over 12.4 million SF of commercial lab space has been added to Massachusetts in the last 10 years, an increase of 70%. Additionally, investment in the industry has again reached an all-time-high, with $4.8 billion of venture capital (VC) investment in Massachusetts biopharma companies in 2018.
“Boston’s life sciences employment growth has not only outpaced overall job growth at a pace of nearly four to one in the last year, but the region has also recorded the largest five-year employment growth out of any top life sciences cluster in the U.S.,” said Daniel Perruzzi, Jr., AIA, LEED AP, principal and senior partner at Margulies Perruzzi. “We are excited to welcome Imran and Sarah to our design team. They bring a broad range of skills and experience designing a variety of laboratory, technology, and healthcare projects, and they understand our firm’s focus on creating high-quality design and workplace strategies that support our clients’ business goals.”
Whether they are working on the next drug targeting a life-threatening disease, advancing immunotherapy, designing a new medical device to promote faster healing, science companies are focused on delivering important discoveries designed to improve the quality of life. Offering an integrated approach to design, Margulies Perruzzi’s design process parallels the scientific process: gathering data, observing conditions, proposing and testing solutions, and then deploying designs that improve the working environments for employees.
With an inspirational Science portfolio, Margulies Perruzzi specializes in life sciences, medical devices, research and development (R&D), and manufacturing. Margulies Perruzzi has worked with a wide range of industry leaders, including Siemens, Nuvera Fuel Cells, Millipore Sigma, Philips, Metabolix, Boston Scientific, and many others.
With over 25 years of experience with design firms in the Boston area, Imran has planned, directed, and monitored all aspects of technically complex, multidisciplinary projects such as the design for a mixed-use biotechnology R&D laboratory and office building for EMD Serono; the design and construction of a Manufacturing Science & Technology (MSAT) Pilot Plant; and a health sciences simulation laboratory suite at Northeastern University.
“Our goal is to leverage design to transform spaces in order to help our clients achieve their missions of improving people’s lives,” said Imran. “As designers, we are always seeking ways to improve the built environments through creative and strategic planning solutions. With a great team of people who truly care about the quality of their work, our process is dynamic, motivating, and productive enabling lifelong partnerships with our clients.”
Imran holds a Bachelor of Science in architecture from Northeastern University and he has served on the MArch Thesis Faculty at Boston Architectural College since 2007. A registered architect in four states, he is a member of the AIA, BSA, and USGBC as well as a LEED accredited professional.
Sarah Attia, LEED AP ID+C ~ Interior Designer
With nearly 15 years of experience, Sarah has a deep and varied portfolio of science and technology, commercial, hospitality and healthcare projects. She excels at all aspects of the design process and has exceptional programming, space planning, code analysis, and technical skills, including interior detail development.
Since beginning her career in interior design, Sarah has worked at several Boston-area architecture and interior design firms as a designer, interior architect, and project manager. In these roles, she contributed her extensive interior design skills for projects in the pharmaceutical, R&D, healthcare, corporate, hospitality, and higher education markets.
Sarah received a Master of Arts in Interior Architecture from the New England School of Art and Design at Suffolk University in Boston and holds a Master of Law from Tel-Aviv University in Israel. She is a LEED accredited professional and a member of the IIDA New England Chapter.
About Margulies Perruzzi
As one of New England’s top architectural and interior design firms, Margulies Perruzzi (MP) designs Workplace, Healthcare+Science, and Real Estate projects that inspire and nurture human endeavor. More information may be found at http://mparchitectsboston.com.
