Jim Prendergast is the partner in the firm who leads the interior architecture practice. He is responsible for developing the firm’s interior architecture talent and expanding the firm’s overall design culture. Jim specializes in the strategic planning and design of workplace environments and has served a broad array of clients. With nearly 30 years of professional experience, he has designed—or overseen the design of—more than 8 million square feet of commercial interiors.
Select recent projects include the new 260,000-square-foot Chicago office of global law firm Baker & McKenzie; the 417,000-square-foot Chicago headquarters for national law firm Jenner & Block; the 7,500-square-foot private investment offices for Northbrook, Illinois-based Prairie Management Group; and the 100,000-square-foot office and digital HDTV broadcast center for CBS 2 Chicago. Select current assignments include a corporate headquarters master plan for Crate & Barrel, office prototypes for a global management consulting firm, and several high-profile headquarters designs for clients in Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Prendergast received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Cincinnati. He started his career in Chicago at ISD, specializing in corporate interior architecture, before joining Perkins+Will. There, he became a vice president and principal, helping to build the third-largest interior design practice in the country, with projects throughout the U.S. and Asia. He joined Goettsch Partners in 2005.
As an innovative designer and progressive thinker, Mr. Prendergast has frequently been invited to present his work at client and professional forums and to lecture as part of university curriculums on design and its impact on client culture and performance. He has further been recognized with many design awards and honors, including election to the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 2012.
Mr. Prendergast is a member of the AIA and a registered LEED Accredited Professional. Outside the office, he sits on the board of directors for DIFFA/Chicago, a not-for-profit fundraising and grant-making foundation that distributes funds to Chicago-area HIV/AIDS service agencies.
