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Perkins Eastman and Dougherty Announce Intent to Merge

  • 04/18/18

New York, NY – Top international design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman and California-based firm Dougherty are pleased to announce the intent to merge their practices. The merger will significantly build upon the established practices—particularly K12 and higher education design—of both firms and diversify their combined expertise, particularly in California. The combined firm will total over 1000 employees, adding enhanced resources, client value, and opportunities for employees. The merger is planned to be effective May 1, 2018.

Erich Burkhart FAIA, Executive Director and Managing Principal of Perkins Eastman’s San Francisco office, says, “Perkins Eastman has had a longstanding commitment to expand on the West Coast. Dougherty’s respected and highly-regarded architectural design practice here in California naturally aligns with Perkins Eastman’s plan to diversify the firm’s expertise in the region, enhancing our client relationships, and providing growth opportunities for our valued employees.”

Betsey Olenick Dougherty FAIA, LEED-AP, Dougherty’s founding principal, furthers: “The merger of Dougherty with Perkins Eastman represents the perfect alliance of a highly respected international design firm with a regional hands-on studio. Both firms share a common cultural commitment to personal service, quality, technology advancement, sustainability, and community-based quality of life projects.”

Both firms were founded with similar beliefs—that architecture can have a direct and positive impact on people’s lives, achieved through close collaboration with the client and community. In particular, the award-winning K-12 and higher education portfolios of both firms reflect a commitment to the planning and design of high-performance environments that enhance educational outcomes for students and function as the centers of their communities. The merger will strategically position the combined firm to better address the requirements—and opportunities—of 21st-century high-performance educational and other civic environments.

About Perkins Eastman

Perkins Eastman is an award-winning 1000-person global design firm networked across 15 locations.  The firm was founded on the belief that design should enhance the human experience in the places where people live, work, play, learn, age, and heal. Perkins Eastman’s portfolio comprises work in a wide range of specialized project types: Primary & Secondary Education, Higher Education, Civic & Cultural, Healthcare, Hospitality, Large Scale Mixed-Use, Office & Retail, Planning & Urban Design, Residential, Science & Technology, Senior Living, Sports & Exhibition, Transportation & Infrastructure, and Workplace. For more information visit www.perkinseastman.com.

About Dougherty

As Dougherty approaches its 40th year of regional practice, it is most appropriate to secure an exciting and promising merger with Perkins Eastman to offer to our clients and our staff the broad array of resources available through PE’s international presence, reputation, and portfolio. Dougherty’s goal is to offer the best of both – the depth of resources and talent of Perkins Eastman with the personal service and intimate studio culture of Dougherty. Both firms share a compatible portfolio, a dedication to sustainable design, a commitment to our communities, and the joy of providing a creative studio-based environment for our respective clients and staff. As this transition takes place, the www.dougherty.us website content as well as Social Media formats will merge with Perkins Eastman’s online presence.

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