Bradford Perkins (architect)

By 2015, Perkins Eastman had become the largest architecture practice in the New York City area (ranked by number of architects) and the 16th largest in the world (ranked by previous year's revenues).

Perkins Eastman began a period of rapid growth starting in 1994, beginning with the opening of its first regional office, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and eventually growing to about 700 employees by 2007. During this period, Perkins remained Chairman and CEO yet still oversaw a number of projects. Among those where Perkins served as Principal-in-charge include the Manhattan campus of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, the TKTS Booth in Times Square, the comprehensive master plan for Hanoi, Vietnam, the national headquarters and testing center for Consumers Union, and dozens of senior living and multi-family residential projects.

In 1981 Perkins left Perkins + Will to join the practice of Eli Attia, which subsequently was named Attia & Perkins. The firm carried out a variety of projects including the new NYC headquarters for Republic National Bank on Fifth Ave. (today the New York HQ of HSBC), Canterbury Green in Stamford, Connecticut, and several other large developments. At the end of 1983, Perkins bought out Attia's interest in the firm and reorganised the practice as Bradford Perkins and Associates. The firm's name changed again, in 1985, to Perkins Geddis Eastman, when Barbara Geddis and Mary-Jean Eastman became partners. One of the more notable projects at this time was a Victorian-style "mutual housing" complex, comprising 70 one- to three-bedroom residential units, in Stamford, CT. By 1988 the firm had approximately 50 employees and was becoming well known for being "liberal in its use of flexible work flexible work schedules and parental leaves." In 1991, Geddis stepped down at which point the firm became Perkins Eastman.

In 1977 Perkins joined Perkins + Will as a Senior Vice President and Managing Partner of the firm's offices in the Eastern U.S. (White Plains, New York, and Washington, DC). He directed a wide variety of projects, including a multi-year study for HUD to determine the modernisation needs and priorities of the national public housing stock, in addition to many architectural, planning, and research assignments both in the U.S. and overseas,

While studying at Stanford and in the ensuing years following graduation, Perkins worked as a management consultant for clients in the architecture and construction industries, including the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He also served as the President of Omnidata Services, a computer software and service bureau based in New York City, from 1972-1973. In 1973 Perkins joined the London-based architecture and planning firm Llewelyn Davies as the firm's Managing Partner of the New York, Toronto, Houston and Caracas offices, a post he held until 1977. From 1976-77 he also served as the Managing Partner of the joint venture firm Llewelyn-Davies Davis Brody. During his time at Llewelyn Davies, Perkins worked on various projects including the master plan for the American University of Beirut; master plans for town-scale projects in Ontario, Trinidad, Iran, Egypt, and several U.S. states; the new headquarters for the ARCO Chemical Company (formerly part of the Atlantic Richfield Company); an expansion of Corning Glass Work's headquarters; and New York City's bid to host the 1984 Summer Olympics.

Brad Perkins was born on January 13, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lawrence B. Perkins, Sr., FAIA (1907-1997) and Margery Isabella Blair Perkins (1907-1981), and was raised in the nearby suburb of Evanston, IL. Perkins attended Cornell University where he studied architecture, ancient history, and eventually graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Latin American History in 1967. Afterward Perkins enrolled in Stanford University where he received his MBA, in 1969.