Cavenagh joins Perkins&Will with 32 years of experience in architecture and interior design, having partnered with clients in the public, private, cultural, institutional, corporate, and residential sectors. For two decades, she served as a design principal at one of the nation’s leading Chicago-based firms, where she helped grow the practice from 10 employees to 140, and played a key part in securing some of that practice’s most significant commissions. This is especially pertinent as she steps in to lead one of Perkins&Will’s largest and most prolific studios.
“Becoming managing director for Perkins&Will’s founding studio is both an incredible honor and a responsibility I take to heart,” Cavenagh says. “The firm was built on the belief that ideas and buildings should always serve the broader goals of society, and this design legacy motivates me. I’m grateful that, under Lindsey’s leadership, the Chicago studio has established a strong foundation for an inclusive, design-driven culture. I’m here to build on that—to inspire, empower, and create spaces that truly uplift and move people.”
Cavenagh is a well-established figure in the Chicago design community, with a portfolio that includes the Media Production Center for Columbia College Chicago; the Powerhouse at Beloit College, a transformation of a former coal-burning plant into a student union; the ARCUS Center for Social Justice Leadership in Kalamazoo; and the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock. Earlier in her career, she worked for a prominent Chicago developer on several of the city’s high-rise construction projects.
“Chicago has always been an incubator for new ideas, risk-taking, and innovation, particularly in design,” she says. “I’m excited to keep that energy flowing into our workplace at Perkins&Will.”
Cavenagh is an active member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). She holds a Master of Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia (UVA), where she is chair of the School of Architecture’s Dean’s Advisory Board. She is also currently a lecturer in UVA’s graduate program.
