Perkins&Will Appoints Next Generation Leadership in Chicago Studio, Names New Chief Marketing Officer

Architect Lindsey Peckinpaugh takes on the role of Managing Director of Perkins&Will’s Chicago studio after four years with the firm. She joined through the 2017 merger with Sink Combs Dethlefs, a national leader in sports, recreation, and entertainment architecture. It was Peckinpaugh who built and managed Sink Combs Dethlefs’ successful Chicago practice, which focused on community recreation centers and events, athletic, and performance facilities at colleges and universities. During that time, she developed a reputation for building consensus and championing inclusive, diverse teams.

A passionate advocate for diversity, representation, and stakeholder engagement, Peckinpaugh leads several projects in and around Chicago that are designed to bring communities together. Her clients include the Village of Oak Park, Illinois, with whom she has partnered to design a net-zero-energy, multi-generational community and mental health services center, and the City of Columbus, Indiana, with whom she is working to transform an abandoned shopping mall into a comprehensive community health and wellness center. She is an active member of Perkins&Will’s Justice, Equity, Engagement, Diversity, and Inclusion (J.E.D.I.) Council, contributing to the firm’s inclusive culture, and she’s actively engaged in her hometown and university communities, as well. In 2020, she won a Volunteer of the Year Award from Crossroads YMCA and an Outstanding Alumni Award from Ball State University, where she serves as a guest lecturer and sits on the Architecture Professional Advisory Board at the R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning.

Peckinpaugh’s experience working with clients to create places that prioritize well-being, equity, and resilience—core components of the firm’s Living Design framework—is particularly noteworthy, as clients across every market sector are seeking these project outcomes.

“Lindsey is a natural leader. She impresses me, our colleagues, and our clients every day with her clarity of communication, strategic thinking, compassionate teamwork, and finesse in managing complex projects,” says Gina Berndt, principal and former Managing Director in Chicago, now Perkins&Will’s Chief Marketing Officer. “If there’s anyone who can successfully lead our practice into the future, it’s Lindsey.”

Over his 25-year career at Perkins&Will, architect Bryan Schabel has designed projects for clients in the K-12 and higher education, science and technology, corporate and commercial, and residential sectors. A protégé of Ralph Johnson, one of architecture’s most celebrated designers, Schabel has spent much of his career collaborating with and learning from Johnson; both have a penchant for thoughtful planning and programming as a core element of good design.

Schabel’s work has been recognized with 30 national and local AIA design awards. These include the nationally celebrated Ryan Fieldhouse and Ryan Walter Athletic Center at Northwestern University; The Contemporaine, a glass and exposed concrete mixed-use residential building; and Bowling Green State University’s College of Business.

Currently, he is working on the Damen Green Line Station in Chicago’s Near West Side neighborhood, whose residents have historically been underserved, as well as a socially inclusive, net-zero-energy community center in the Village of Oak Park, Illinois—a project he co-leads with Lindsey Peckinpaugh.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Bryan for a quarter of century—that’s a long time!—and so I can attest to his skills as an excellent designer, a strong leader, and a consummate professional,” says Ralph Johnson, principal and now Co-Design Director of the Chicago studio. “I look forward to continuing to collaborate with Bryan on projects locally, nationally, and internationally.”

For more than 30 years, Gina Berndt has been a nationally known leader in design and placemaking. Her reputation for building successful interdisciplinary teams and trusted long-term relationships has earned accolades from colleagues and clients, alike. From her role as a Managing Principal of The Environments Group—an interiors practice she co-founded in 1991 that merged with Perkins&Will in 2008—to leading the Chicago studio of Perkins&Will for the past nine years, Berndt has achieved success for her clients through a unique combination of design skill, business savvy, and love of storytelling.

“Among her many talents, what makes Gina a standout is her undeniable grasp of the power of brand and storytelling, and how both provide value to our clients,” says CEO Phil Harrison. “When clients work with us, they get excellent design. They also get the support of passionate, creative storytellers who can help take their projects to the next level—and to the right audiences. There’s no better person to lead those storytellers than Gina.”

Berndt serves on the Perkins&Will board of directors and chairs the firm’s marketing board. Under her leadership, Perkins&Will has been recognized as a “Most Admired Firm” by Interior Design; one of Architectural Record’s Top 300 U.S. Architectural Firms; an AIA Chicago “Firm of the Year”; and a Fast Company “Brand That Matters.”

Berndt is an active member of the Chicago business and civic communities. Passionate about advancing the architecture and design industry, she is particularly interested in how design can address homelessness. She is a board member of All Chicago, which works to prevent and end homelessness; a trustee for the Chicago Architecture Center; and an executive committee member of the Chicago Central Area Committee, which is dedicated to shaping Chicago’s growth, equity, and quality of place.