Centerbrook Announces 2014 Travel Grants

CENTERBROOK, Conn. -- Paolo Campos, Peter Cornell, Melissa Kops, and David O’Connor are recipients of Centerbrook Travel Grants for 2014. The grants are awarded to staff members who “best exemplify selfless devotion to the successful execution of a building's design.”

Each honoree receives a paid leave of absence and a stipend to visit, research, and photograph a place of architectural interest anywhere in the world. Upon returning, the sojourners share their adventures with the office through an illustrated presentation. Since the inception of the program in 1987, Centerbrook has awarded 90 travel grants.

Paolo Campos is a Senior Architect who earned his Bachelors and Masters in Architecture from Yale University. He joined Centerbrook in 2006 and has contributed to numerous projects at Quinnipiac University, including the Crescent and East View Residence Halls, the Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Engineering, as well as a STEM building at the Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School in Missouri. He also designs and builds furniture for his home.

Peter Cornell is a Centerbrook Associate, LEED BD+C, who received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Virginia and his Masters from Columbia University. He joined the firm in 2006 and has contributed to diverse projects here, from the Yale Peabody Museum master plan and the LancasterHistory.org Museum and Library, to Bedford Square, a mixed use development in Westport, Connecticut, and Keystone Academy in China.

Melissa Kops is a Centerbrook Associate, LEED BD+C and Living Future Accredited Professional, who earned a Bachelor in Art History at the University of Chicago and her Masters in Architecture at the Rhode Island School of Design. She joined Centerbrook in 2007 and has contributed to diverse projects, among them: Keystone Academy in China, Green Haven Cohousing in Connecticut, and athletic facilities at Yale. The chair that she designed and built for the first “Centerbrook Chair Workshop” was judged the best by the firm’s four Partners.

David O’Connor is a Centerbrook Associate, LEED BD+C, and earned his Bachelor and Masters in Architecture from the Caribbean School of Architecture at the University of Technology in St. Andrew. He joined Centerbrook in 2006 and has contributed to academic, cultural, and corporate projects, among them the national headquarters of Health Care REIT, Inc. in Ohio, the Ambulatory Care Center for the University of Connecticut Health Center, the Addison Gallery of American Art in Massachusetts, Yale’s Kroon Hall, and a residence hall at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut.