Lawrence Adams Appointed VP of ForrestPerkins

Architect Will Release His Second Book on Hotel Design This Fall

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. May 04, 2012

Washington, DC - May 3, 2012 - Lawrence Adams , AIA, who recently joined ForrestPerkins as Vice President, is a global authority on hotel and resort design. Mr. Adams co-authored Hotel Design, Planning and Development with Richard Penner and Stephani Robson. This highly-anticipated book is due to be published this fall by Routledge in the United Kingdom and W.W. Norton in the United States. It follows the original 422-page edition of Hotel Design, Planning and Development that Mr. Adams co-authored with Walter Rutes and Richard Penner and which was published in 2001 by Architectural Press. Both tomes were written for architects, designers, developers and hotel executives as comprehensive and professional guides for hotel and resort design and development.

"Lawrence Adams has managed and directed the design of large-scale development projects at major architectural and planning firms over the last 35 years," says Stephen Perkins, AIA, ISHC, principal and co-founder of ForrestPerkins. "He also served as adjunct faculty at New York University for nine years teaching graduate level courses on Hotel Design and Development."

Deborah Forrest, FASID, principal and co-founder of ForrestPerkins, adds, "The New York Four Seasons Hotel, on which Lawrence collaborated with I.M. Pei; the Chambers Hotel, which he partnered with the Rockwell Group to design; and the RIGHA Royal Hotel, which is now called The London, are among Lawrence's significant projects." Mr. Adams lived in New York City for 23 years, where he worked at his own eponymous firm as well as others, before being recruited to be Vice President and Director of Design at Perez, APC in New Orleans, Louisiana. He most recently worked at Mathes Brierre Architects, one of the oldest architectural firms in the US, where he was Senior Vice President for eight years.

"I have known Stephen Perkins and Deborah Forrest for years. I've watched with great admiration as they have grown ForrestPerkins into a classic, wonderful, luxury hospitality design firm. When the opportunity came for me to join them, I jumped at the chance," says Mr. Adams, who is based in ForrestPerkins' Dallas office.

Over the last several years, Mr. Adams became interested in the intersection of luxury hospitality and luxury senior living. He has been involved in the design of a number of senior living properties and sees the two specialties as interrelated, given the affluent and large population of baby boomers. So, in addition to Mr. Adam's direction of some of the firm's important hotel and resort projects, he will lead the firm's new focus on this growing segment. "Luxury senior living as a practice area dovetails naturally with our luxury hotel and luxury multi-residential practice," Forrest says. "We are excited about the potential for significant growth in all three segments, both here in the US and abroad."

One of Mr. Adams' greatest strengths is in designing luxury hotels. "I particularly love the early stages of design, when we pull together all the different influences and establish a great direction for a project." Of course, the architect also delights in seeing a project built and completed. "It's rewarding to stay in a hotel you've designed and to see other people enjoying the hotel or resort, too," says Mr. Adams, who is certified by NCARB. He is also a registered architect in New York, Massachusetts, Kansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Among the many highlights in his long career, in 2001, Hospitality Design magazine honored Mr. Adams with its Gold Key Award for his work on the Chambers Hotel. In 1993, the New York State AIA recognized him in its Solar Energy Competition for his work on the SUNY Solar Parking Lot, establishing that Mr. Adams was ahead of his time.