Perkins&Will has named Kimberly Cook, an award-winning designer with 25 years of experience in designing healthcare interiors, Associate Principal in the Midwest Region Health Practice. Cook understands the importance of providing interior design that responds to client needs and positively impacts the health and well-being of patients.
Cook is returning to Perkins&Will, where she began her career in the Chicago and Minneapolis studios, at a time of expansion of the global architecture and design firm’s healthcare practice. She joins a team committed to delivering highly sustainable patient- and caregiver-centered design with her expertise in healthcare interiors, a specialty that continues to gain wider recognition.
“I’m thrilled to be back at Perkins&Will, where I can work with an integrated team to create inspired interiors for our health clients,” says Cook, “Good design can significantly impact patients’ health and wellbeing for the better. The interior building environment should not only support patient care and staff work but should also inspire all those within.”
Cook’s work is influenced by a sense of place, nature, and sustainable materials, and she has a particular interest in uniting mental health and the human experience with interior design. That has informed her prior work on such award-winning projects as the Shepperd Pratt Behavioral and Mental Health Hospital in Baltimore, MD; the Mount Sinai Medical Center (Skolnick Surgical Tower and Hildebrandt Emergency Center) in Miami Beach, FL; and the Bayhealth Medical Center Sussex Campus, in Milford, DE.
“We are thrilled to welcome back Kimberly,” says Lindsey Peckinpaugh, Chicago studio managing director and principal. “Kimberly brings deep understanding of the evolving healthcare market and a keen appreciation of the value that interiors play in the healing process for patients and families and in creating a caring work environment for staff.”
A graduate of Iowa State University, Cook has a strong interest in archeology, and has been involved in The Institute for the Study for Ancient Cultures West Asia & North Africa at the University of Chicago. She also loves adventure travel, including hiking and scuba diving, and has recently accomplished her goal of visiting the locations of all seven wonders of the ancient world.
