Press Releases February 16, 2023

Colline Hernandez-Ayala joins Perkins&Will’s Atlanta Studio

The architectural design leader will focus on urban multifamily and mixed-use redevelopment

ATLANTA—Colline Hernandez-Ayala joins Perkins&Will’s Atlanta studio to lead its Urban Multifamily/Mixed-Use practice in the U.S. Southeast. In her leadership role as a principal, Hernandez-Ayala will focus on planning and design for mixed-use residential development projects—a specialty she has honed over the past three decades.

Hernandez-Ayala is known for her collaborative work style and ability to build consensus among the diverse stakeholders involved in each project. Her design solutions seek to deliver dynamic and inclusive communal living experiences that reflect the urban environment and embrace the existing physical, historical, and social context of each site.

Successful completed projects range from small urban infill work to large-scale planned unit developments which include affordable housing, market rate and mixed-income residential, senior living, and workforce and student housing.

“Perkins&Will has a long tradition of advocating for and creating the kind of human-centered designs that value architectural innovation, sustainability and positive placemaking. This aligns with my personal design philosophy. I am excited to join the Atlanta studio at a time when the built environment is rapidly changing here and across the Southeast.”

A native of Washington, D.C., Hernandez-Ayala is a graduate of Syracuse University’s School of Architecture. She began her career in Chicago as an architectural designer working on high-rise commercial structures followed by several years developing her skills at two prominent minority owned firms. Later, she and two colleagues founded JH Design Group, which focused on affordable housing, retail and commercial projects.

A married mother of two, she is a member of the National Organization of Minority Architects, African American Real Estate Professionals, and the Urban Land Institute, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority (a community service organization), and sits on the Advisory Board for the School of Architecture at Syracuse University, her alma mater. In recognition of her various career successes, she was honored in 2017 with the school’s Chancellor’s Citation for Distinguished Achievement in Architecture.

“As Atlanta and other urban centers across the country continue to evolve, there is an increasing need for smart, human-focused design solutions that embrace each community’s unique attributes and history. Colline has built her career on delivering these types of creative, contextually based solutions and we are excited to see the impact she will make here in Atlanta and across the Southeast.”

David Dymecki, Principal and Managing Director of Perkins&Will’s Atlanta studio

Colline Hernandez-Ayala joins Perkins&Will’s Atlanta Studio

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