Sheryl Milardo

Sheryl, head of Centerbrook’s Library and Product Resources Department, is unique in the office. No one contributes to as many projects or researches new products as thoroughly. For example, innovations which increase energy conservation and end-user wellness. More than 80 percent of the firm’s jobs – whether great or small, academic or corporate, residential or cultural – require her advice, aesthetic acumen, and her product knowledge and research. Her duties entail assisting the architectural staff in sourcing solutions for finishes and design systems – everything from acoustic, flooring and lighting products, to highly sustainable structural and building envelope materials.

Sheryl joined Centerbrook in 1985 after graduating from SUNY New Paltz with a bachelor’s degree in Italian language, literature, and art history. She spent the next six years in Italy, where she worked as a teacher and translator. Sheryl was fortunate to take a couple of architecture classes at the University in Florence, which enhanced her desire to work in the profession.

“I was always interested in art and design growing up. I loved to draw,” she says. “My mother subscribed to Better Homes and Gardens and I’d pour over the houses, examining the architectural plans to see how everything was arranged. Both parents contributed to my interest in design, art and architecture. I learned from their appreciation for fine quality, perfected handcraft and detailed construction.”

Sheryl has been fortunate in her career to not only work at a place that carries craft and quality as its mantra, but also play an essential role in that effort.

“The great thing about my job is that I’m always learning new things. There are continuously new products and systems and technologies to evaluate, and Centerbrook is doing a wider variety of projects now than ever before.”

• Coordinates the Centerbrook Lunch & Learn program on innovative products
• Favorite projects have involved historic preservation, renovation, and sustainable design
• Organizes Centerbrook’s annual holiday gift effort for foster children
• Has taken graduate level fine arts courses at Wesleyan University
• Enjoys being ‘lost’ in gardening and working on projects in and around her house
• Is still enamored with the Italian language and all of its eloquence