Perkins+Will, an interdisciplinary, research-based architecture and design firm, announced the addition of Chi Lee, AIA, LEED AP, to its Austin studio.  Chi, who joined in April, is the Austin studio’s Corporate, Commercial, and Civic (CCC) Practice Leader.

Chi has over a decade of experience designing buildings for corporate and commercial clients.  After graduating from Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science, Chi began honing his skills as an architect with boutique firms focusing on retail, corporate, and commercial projects, as well as luxury residential work. Throughout that time, Chi managed and delivered over $5 billion worth of critical facilities projects for notable clients such as Microsoft, Bank of America, Healthcare Corporation of America, and United Airlines.

Most recently in the Austin area, Chi has added other notable clients and projects to his portfolio, including Central Health Master Plan, the SXSW Headquarters, Third + Shoal Office Building (home to Facebook and Bank of America), Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility, the Planning Development Center for the City of Austin, and 600 Guadalupe, which is a vertical mixed-use development poised to be the tallest building in Austin upon completion.   

“We are thrilled to have Chi join our team.” said Stephen Coulston, principal at Perkins+Will.  “His impressive experience and commitment to community involvement is a perfect match for our firm and our Austin studio, and we look forward to growing our practice with him on board.”

Currently, Chi is working on a number of large, complex developments in downtown Austin, as well as programs that will help strengthen the firm’s presence in the Austin community — something he has been passionate about throughout his entire career.  

Established in 2013, the Austin studio recently expanded with the acquisition of lauckgroup, a regional interior design firm noted for awarded-winning projects such as Dropbox, Yeti Flagship Experience Store, Galvanize, and Cirrus Logic. Chi joins Perkins+Will as it prepares to consolidate the firm’s two Austin locations into a single workspace on the East side in the coming months.