Press Releases May 25, 2022

Perkins&Will Washington, D.C. Studio Expands Science and Technology Practice

D.C. Studio welcomes healthcare and laboratory design specialist Steve Wunder as Senior Project Manager/Associate Principal

Washington, D.C.— Our D.C. studio, in an expansion of its Science and Technology (S&T) practice to meet the growth of the life sciences industry, welcomes healthcare and laboratory design specialist Steve Wunder, AIA, as Senior Project Manager/Associate Principal.

Steve comes to Perkins&Will from RTKL, where he led design teams and consultants through master planning, programming, design, and construction administration of major healthcare projects, including a vaccine evaluation clinic for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and an experimental MRI/focused ultrasound facility at University of Maryland Medical Center.

“Steve’s unique experience that combines both healthcare and S&T practices will be key to meeting the needs of our region’s burgeoning life sciences market. His deep knowledge and innovative vision makes him an ideal collaborator in our mission to create great spaces for discovery and scientific pursuit,” said Chris Morrison, Principal and Managing Director of the Perkins&Will Washington, D.C. studio.

Discovery and Application

Steve brings experience in clinical laboratory science and innovative medical facilities such as National Institutes of Health and large healthcare systems to the business of life sciences research and development.

“I’ve always been drawn to the relationship between bench science and clinical science, creating environments that foster both discovery and the application of that discovery in clinical settings,” said Steve. “The team at Perkins&Will excels here, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with a former colleague, S&T Practice Leader Joe Popp in such an extraordinary science and technology practice,” said Wunder.

Steve joins a team that has been responsible for supporting some of the most iconic healthcare institutions and S&T research facilities in the Mid-Atlantic region. They include:

  • A collaboration with Whitman-Walker Health to add a new facility, which provides a holistic model of care including medical, dental, and behavioral health services
  • Multiple projects for the historic Bethesda, Maryland campus of NIH, the nation’s largest medical research agency, including design services for a $150 million renovation, the Porter Neurosciences Research Center, and three cGMP facilities
  • The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Sheikh Zayed Tower and The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children’s Center in Baltimore, Maryland, a 12-story building with adult and children’s beds, operating rooms, laboratories, endoscopy/bronchoscopy rooms, radiology services, pediatric emergency department, two floors of faculty offices, auditorium, and pharmacy.

“Steve has been a trusted and respected colleague in the past, and this reunion gives us a rare chance to partner in supporting our clients’ efforts to innovate and generate life-changing breakthroughs,” said Joe Popp, S&T Practice Leader.

Healthcare Achievements

Steve’s recent projects include campus expansions for Jefferson Health New Jersey in Sewell and Cherry Hill, New Jersey; 50,000+ square feet of laboratory renovations and studies, together with an 8,200 square-foot bio-containment laboratory, for NAIAD; a 5,200 square-foot cooperative research facility for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Bowling Green, Kentucky; a child and adolescent behavioral health unit at TidalHealth in Salisbury, Maryland; and two greenfield community hospitals and the expansion and repositioning of a third for Riverside Health System, 450,000 square feet of healthcare construction.

“Growing up in the Netherlands, my mother lived through Nazi occupation and subsequent liberation by the British and Americans. I grew up seeing reports from the Vietnam war and civil rights protests on the evening news. In so many ways, the struggle to make the world better and to work for others began in response to those family stories and early experiences.”
Steve Wunder, Senior Project Manager, Associate Principal
“I’ve always been drawn to the relationship between bench science and clinical science, creating environments that foster both discovery and the application of that discovery in clinical settings. The team at Perkins&Will excels here, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with a former colleague, S&T Practice Leader Joe Popp in such an extraordinary science and technology practice.”