2020 Design Excellence Awards | Meet the Jurors

MEENA KRENEK, IIDA, ASID, LEED AP
INTERIOR DESIGN DIRECTOR, PRINCIPAL
PERKINS AND WILL | LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

Meena Krenek is an inspiring, award winning designer who has transformed her client’s companies, strengthening their corporate cultures through experiential design. She considers space and form at many scales while understanding the importance of interior environments that are human-centric. She has a keen ability to embed herself in her client’s needs and develops tailored design responses that positively influence their business drivers and employee engagement.

Since joining Perkins+Will in 2005, Meena has focused on integrating both architectural and interior design to create solutions that cross boundaries, encourage emotional connections with space, and prioritize health, wellness and human energy. She has worked in the New York, Atlanta, and now Los Angeles Perkins and Will Studio as an Interior Design Director. Her strength is creating interior architecture that tells a story and encourages the end user to embark on a unique brand journey every day. Her interior design leadership at Perkins+Will fosters innovative thinking for provocative design exploration.

“At a very basic level, what people crave is community, connection, and a sense of belonging. If we don’t provide this is our designs, we are not doing justice to the people who spend their time in these spaces.”

Unilever – Perkins and Will, Photography by Garrett Rowland

Red Bill – Gensler, Photographed by Garett Rowland

Shaw Contract Group – Perkins and Will. Photographed by Nigel Marson

McKinsey & Company – Perkins and Will. Photographed by Nigel Marson

Carter’s, Inc – Perkins and Will. Photographed by Nigel Marson

VERDA ALEXANDER, FOUNDER, ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
STUDIO O+A | SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

As the co-founder of Studio O+A, the San Francisco design firm responsible for groundbreaking offices at Facebook, Microsoft, Yelp, Slack and many others, Verda Alexander has spent 28 years in the design industry redefining workplace. Verda’s vision has shaped the company from its earliest days. Combining a multi-disciplinary career with a passionate commitment to improving lives through design, her contribution to a project is to question received wisdom, test basic assumptions and look beyond conventional solutions to a more creative path.

Verda’s early expertise in landscape architecture and fine arts continues to inform her interiors work today. Her experimental projects for O+A, from pop-up installations on the future of workplace to a mobile design lab partnering with communities across California, have consistently opened new doors of exploration in the company’s approach to more mainstream projects.

Food for Thought Truck, Studio O+A – Photographer: Elexa Henderson

Slack, Studio O+A – Photographer: Garret Rowland

Slack, Studio O+A – Photographer: Garret Rowland

Slack, Studio O+A – Photographer: Garret Rowland

Slack, Studio O+A – Photographer: Garret Rowland

ALEAH CARR, SENIOR INTERIOR DESIGNER, PROJECT MANAGER
MACKENZIE COLLIER INTERIORS | PHOENIX, ARIZONA

Aleah worked her way to the top of the ranks of our team as Interior Designer and Project Manager, serving as the primary contact for clients and contractors and overseeing project details on over 150 residential and commercial projects since 2014. She has cultivated the ability to anticipate the needs of all parties from clients to contractors to vendors and orchestrate an organized and efficient project. With style, creativity, and originality that is all her own, she’s our go-to girl for out-of-the-box ideas.

Aleah graduated from Arizona State University’s Interior Design program, one of the nation’s most challenging, competitive and widely-respected CIDA accredited academic programs. Specializing in AutoCAD and SketchUp, Aleah brings a unique, tech-savvy form of concept development to the team. Outside the office, if she’s not stuck with her nose in a book, you can find her curating her collection of indoor plants or hanging out in nature.

Lemonade Insurance – Scottsdale, AZ: Photos by Roehner + Ryan; @roehnerryan

Sonoran Luxe – Fountain Hills, AZ

Highwood Haus – San Francisco, CA: Photos by Gillian Walsworth for Dwell Magazine

Equality Health – Phoenix, AZ: Photos by James Stewart

Urban Phoenix Warehouse Office