Partners by Design has been too busy to use the office pool table and beer vending machine this year. Projects for the 30 architects and designers in River North range from a nine-building, 1.3M-SF technology campus for Navistar along I-88 to creative build-outs of all sizes. Ron Carlson (second from left) founded the firm in '93 with Sheila Murray (fourth from left), but they didn't name the firm after themselves because they wanted to give everyone the opportunity to grow into a partner position and have firm identity. Today PBD is the area's largest stand alone interior architecture/design firm. Scott Becker, Erika Carey, Tom Rowland, Enza Parrella, Michael Berger, and Karyn Wanaski have since joined, rounding out the multi-generational office.

PBD also recently completed the HQ relocation for AHA, 118k SF on five floors on Wacker Drive, and the build-out for OfficeLinks, an upscale hoteling office on the 84th floor of Willis Tower. While they began in exclusively tenant improvements, PBD diversified, including working with new buildings (such as the Navistar campus). Two to ten members work on each project, doing everything from initial programming and planning to hanging the artwork.