BOSTON – April 4, 2022 – Margulies Perruzzi (MP), one of New England’s most innovative architectural and interior design firms, announced today the promotions of Tim Bailey, AIA, LEED AP BD+C; Derek D’Amico, AIA, LEED AP; Cynthia Gibson Murphy, AIA; Paul McIntire, AIA; and Nathan Turner, AIA, LEED AP to associate principal within the firm.
“Since our founding 34 years ago, the firm has grown in both size and capabilities. We work with clients in the Workplace, Real Estate, Healthcare, and Science markets and design projects of varying sizes, stages of development, and complexity,” said Dan Perruzzi, AIA, LEED AP, principal, and senior partner at Margulies Perruzzi. “We are proud to celebrate our continued growth as we take the next steps toward the future. We have elevated five very deserving professionals to associate principal. All have demonstrated the qualities necessary to not only run the firm, but to also lead it by continuing to grow and develop our capabilities.”
Tim is an award-winning architect whose leadership plays a critical role in the design of real estate and workplace projects across the firm. An advocate for high-performance office and life science buildings, repositioning, creative office space, experiential design, brand awareness and sustainable development, Tim leads large and integrated projects, providing expertise on the design of the building and the interiors. His work bridges the shared interest of both building owner and user, achieving both parties’ project goals. His project experience and service to his local city planning board allows him to bring first-hand knowledge of the public approval process to each development project. As an adjunct professor of architecture, Tim teaches aspiring architects about the profession in a way to give back to the profession that has been his life-long desire.
Derek is responsible for daily interaction with clients and daily supervision of large design projects. Derek has more than 25 years of experience and specializes in solving design and technical problems to keep projects on schedule and budget. He provides design services for all phases of a project from schematic design to construction administration for large corporate and life science clients.
As an architect and project manager with over 20 years of experience, Cyndy is known for her attention to detail on every project. Her personal project portfolio spans all four of the firm’s design studios and encompasses projects of all scales. Her passion for quality, service, and teamwork is noted on every project. She has also designed and specified lighting on multiple large-scale projects, producing well-lit spaces with energy consumption below code requirements. Cyndy has been a regular mentor to junior staff and shares her love for the industry both by teaching graduate architecture classes at Roger Williams University (RWU) and supporting staff development at MP.
Paul has more than 30 years of architectural experience working on commercial, office, institutional, and multi-family projects. As a senior architect, Paul is responsible for leading teams in developing the design direction of projects, from the early conceptual stages through construction documentation. Paul is facile in utilizing multiple visualization techniques, such as 3D model building, realistic renderings, virtual reality, rendering videos, and post-production. Paul believes that creating clear rendering visualizations is analogous to making a promise. The more an architect is versed in the multiple facets of the building process, the more genuine and feasible that promise becomes. As a self-described ‘compulsively curious’ person, Paul’s architectural design development is influenced from his background in art, music, and sculpture.
With over 20 years of experience, Nate has been involved with the planning, design, and construction of projects ranging in complexity across multiple sectors. His experience within the Real Estate Development, Workplace, Science, and Healthcare studios at Margulies Perruzzi has contributed to award-winning projects centered on client needs. He takes great pride in capturing a project’s essence from its initial conceptualization and implementing a workable design solution. He is known for his ability to strategize and communicate with others while leading teams through all stages of a project. During the summer months, Nate is the office softball coach for the firm’s team, and he has been playing and coaching for 20+ years, winning two championships along the way.
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.
