Gary Wheeler, FIIDA, FASID, has dedicated his entire career to improving the quality of work and life through design. This passion has led him to his new role as Global Director of Interior Design and Workplace Strategy for HDR. Working alongside the firm’s architectural design, engineering and innovation groups, Wheeler will help propel this area of HDR’s practice into exciting and unchartered directions, providing greater opportunities for the firm to facilitate the human impact of our clients’ work in the healthcare, science, education, corporate and civic markets.
“Gary will shape and drive the strategy for establishing a leading world-class interior design practice for HDR,” noted Doug Wignall, president of the architecture group. “I am confident that his impressive talent, tremendous insight, and global perspective will strengthen and advance our practice. Gary’s addition to the executive management team is a critical component in our ability to further embrace design excellence, creativity and innovation as the tools to craft a sustainable future.”
“I am invigorated by the possibility to build and grow a global interior design practice,” added Wheeler. “I am especially excited about the ability to partner on an equal basis with colleagues from architecture, engineering, and strategy – I’ve always been a champion of a collaborative process, and it’s clear that HDR embraces this same philosophy.”
Most recently, Wheeler has served as co-founder of WHEELERKÄNIK in London, England. His design and consulting work has transformed the environments of companies such as Apple, Time Warner, JP Morgan, Sony Mobile, American Express, Fidelity London and Alibaba in the United Kingdom. He’s known for creating beautiful and innovative corporate workplaces, homes and retail spaces in Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East. He will relocate from London and be based in HDR's Manhattan office.
The significance of Wheeler’s contributions to the practice of interior design has been recognized through numerous design awards. He is also a recipient of the IIDA Lifetime Achievement Award, and is a board member of both the Design Futures Council and the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers (IFI). He is a past president of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame in 2000.
