ForrestPerkins Adds to Team, Notes Honors

April 16, 2013  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on April 17, 2013

International design firm ForrestPerkins has recently made several key hires, including veterans Barbara Silverman, Catherine Kiely, Tonya Bellusci and Colletta Conner.

The firm, headquartered in Dallas with offices in San Francisco and Washington, D.C., has also received a number of honors recently. Amanda Perry has been appointed to the Boutique 18,  and ForrestPerkins has been nominated as "Outstanding Architect of 2012" by the North Texas Chapter of the American Subcontractors Association.

 "These designers bring innovative perspectives to the firm," said Deborah Lloyd Forrest, FASID, president of ForrestPerkins, "and I'm delighted with the recent recognition our team has received."

Barbara Silverman, who worked as a studio director and senior associate for ForrestPerkins from 2004 to 2009, rejoined the firm in its D.C. office as director of interior design. One highlight among Silverman's ForrestPerkins' projects is WestEnd25 in DC, where she was project manager and senior designer for the interior architecture and design for the public spaces of this luxury apartment building, which is LEED Gold certified. WestEnd25 received an International Property Award for "Interior Design Apartment USA" in London, England in December 2012.

Catherine Kiely joined ForrestPerkins as a senior designer and project manager in the San Francisco office. Kiely comes to ForrestPerkins from Gensler, where she was a team leader, senior designer and project manager on hotel and multi-residential projects. Her experience also includes four years of working at McCartan - two in San Francisco and two in New York City - where she managed and directed design teams, client relationships and subcontractors. Among Kiely's favorite projects is Mercer Condominiums which, when designed, was one of the first luxury mixed-use, multi-residential properties in Walnut Creek, Cali. Kiely worked on designs for the lobby, unit entries, recreation room, corridors, model units and pool area.

Tonya Bellusci was the principal/owner of Bellusci Design for eight years before joining ForrestPerkins as senior interior designer in its San Francisco office. An award-winning designer, she has more than 14 years of Bay Area, national and international experience in hospitality, restaurant, multi-residential and senior living design. Bellusci's work over the years has included purchasing FF&E for Starwood Hotels & Resorts and designing for the Renaissance San Francisco Stanford Court and JW Marriott San Francisco. Also known for her restaurant designs, Bellusci recently designed E&O Asian Kitchen in San Francisco and District in Oakland.

 Senior interior designer Colletta Conner brings 16 years of project management experience to ForrestPerkins. She's worked with major brands, including Starwood Hotels and Resorts and Hilton Hotels. Over the past six years, Conner was an associate with Montgomery Roth Architecture & Interior Design in Houston, where she ran project teams, acted as purchasing supervisor, conducted client development for future projects and provided staff supervision and development. She's now based in ForrestPerkins' Dallas office.