Perkins&Will Opens New Studio in San Antonio, Expanding its Southwest Presence
The full-service design studio will bring the firm’s global resources to one of the country’s fastest-growing cities
SAN ANTONIO—Global architecture and design firm Perkins&Will has opened a studio in San Antonio in response to growing demand from clients in the U.S. Southwest. This addition augments the firm’s presence in Texas—joining studios in Dallas, Austin, and Houston—and strengthens the regional network that includes studios in Denver and Monterrey, Mexico.
The firm’s newest studio will be led by Adrianna Swindle, who heads cultural and civic as well as corporate and commercial practices; and health practice leader, Omar Cantu. The studio will also deliver local services in urban design, workplace, and higher education.
“We couldn’t be more excited to officially put down roots in San Antonio,” says Tom Reisenbichler, Southwest region director. “With many projects here over the years, this studio has been a long time coming, and we have significant new work already in progress. Perkins&Will and San Antonio are a great fit. We see a strong appetite here for placemaking—for the kind of design-driven, sustainable, human-centric spaces that our firm is known for.”
Why San Antonio?
“This is a vibrant, multi-faceted economic center with a rich cultural heritage and a growing economy,” says Swindle, a life-long San Antonian. “We each have personal ties to San Antonio. It’s a joy to use our design excellence, technical expertise, research, and global resources in service of this community. This studio is an opportunity to contribute beautiful, sustainable spaces that help our clients and the community thrive.”
Already the seventh most populous city in the United States—and the country’s largest Hispanic-majority city—San Antonio is among the nation’s top ten metro areas for growth. With a strong and increasingly diversified economy, it also landed for the first time among the top 10 U.S. real estate markets to watch in a 2024 report by the Urban Land Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Its proximity to the Austin and Houston studios also makes the city a strategic location, supporting nimble coordination throughout the state and deepening on-the-ground expertise in Central Texas. This also strengthens the regional network including the largest Perkins&Will studio, Dallas, and the studio in Monterrey, Mexico—San Antonio’s recently minted collaborator in economic development.
Building on a Legacy
Perkins&Will has worked on a number of projects in the city over the years, historically focusing on healthcare and education sectors. The local portfolio includes the University of Texas at San Antonio Student Center, Methodist Texsan and Methodist Westover Hills hospitals, a renovation and expansion of the historic Thomas Jefferson High School, and the award-winning University Hospital Sky Tower, one of the largest hospitals in the country to earn LEED Gold.
Building on the firm’s presence in San Antonio’s design landscape, the studio is well-positioned to contribute to the city’s growth across several markets, offering comprehensive design services with a focus on sustainability and community well-being. With a full-time, dedicated presence, studio leadership is also keen to invest in the area’s design community.
“The civic-minded nature of this city is evident, and the focus on people and community resonates with our values,” says Cantu. “Nurturing local talent is part of our work promoting design excellence.”
Swindle, a Distinguished Alumna of the University of Texas at San Antonio and co-founder of the AIA San Antonio Chapter Latinos in Architecture (LiA) Committee, is herself a long-time advocate for the development and visibility of local designers, also having served as the San Antonio AIA board president in 2021.
The new studio is located in the heart of San Antonio’s Historic Pearl neighborhood, just north of downtown at 303 Pearl Parkway.
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About Perkins&Will
Perkins&Will, an interdisciplinary, research-based architecture and design firm, was founded in 1935 on the belief that design has the power to transform lives. The firm is committed to creating a better, beautiful, more equitable world through Living Design, an approach that integrates environmental, social, and design considerations to advance ecological health and well-being. Architizer named Perkins&Will the world’s “Best Sustainable Firm” in 2023, and Metropolis named it “Firm of the Year” in 2022 for its industry leadership in advancing climate action and social justice. Fast Company named Perkins&Will one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in Architecture three times, and in 2021, it added the firm to its list of Brands That Matter—making Perkins&Will the first architecture practice in the world to earn the distinction.
With an international team of more than 2,500 professionals, Perkins&Will has 30 studios worldwide, providing integrated services in architecture, interior design, branded environments, urban design, and landscape architecture. Partners include Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects; Portland; Nelson\Nygaard; and Pierre-Yves Rochon (PYR). For more information, visit www.perkinswill.com.
