HOK has made changes to its Interiors group leadership team to support growth and provide development opportunities.
Enrico Caruso, previously the director of design for Interiors in London, has moved to Ottawa to lead the design development of the Centre Block Rehabilitation project.
Sarah Oppenhuizen, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, who had been director of Interiors in Chicago, has relocated to San Francisco to head the Interiors team there.
Evelyn Wilwerding, AIA, LEED AP, has been promoted from project manager to replace Oppenhuizen as director of Interiors in Chicago.
Caruso, based in Centrus’s Ottawa office, has taken on a new assignment as lead designer overseeing the design development of the interiors for the new Parliament Welcome Centre and the rehabilitation of Parliament’s Centre Block. He will collaborate with HOK’s Annegret Hayward, principal-in-charge, and Diya Al Malah, senior project architect, to maintain the team’s design intent through the project’s completion.
“Being responsible for developing the beautiful scheme designed by the Centrus team led by HOK’s Riccardo Mascia, Peter Ruggiero and Jonathan Zee is a tremendous privilege,” said Caruso. “The scale and complexity are staggering. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be part of such an important and lasting project.”
Born and raised in Montreal, Caruso has spent more than half his life in London, his adopted hometown. “I did not identify as British but would call myself a Londoner,” he said. “I’m looking forward to working again in Canada.”
Oppenhuizen is sharing the role of Interiors director in San Francisco with Tambra Thorson through the end of March. After that, Thorson, who has 40 years of experience as an interior designer, will transition to a senior project designer or consultant position and work as needed on a project basis.
“Tambra and Daniel Herriott, director of design for interiors in the studio, have built a strong team here,” said Tom Polucci, HOK’s global director of Interiors. “Sarah is going to be a great fit, and we’re thrilled to have her in San Francisco.”
“It’s a luxury to have this overlap with Tambra as I familiarize myself with the team and projects in San Francisco,” said Oppenhuizen. “It’s a fantastic opportunity to work with such a talented group and return to the West Coast, where I have lots of family.”
Since interning with HOK’s Los Angeles studio in 2005-2006 while earning her Bachelor of Architecture degree at the University of Southern California, Oppenhuizen has worked in five HOK offices. One year after joining the St. Louis studio in 2007, she relocated to San Francisco for 10 months as part of the team designing the Hamad International Airport Passenger Terminal Complex in Doha. Three years after returning to St. Louis, Oppenhuizen transferred to the Washington, D.C., studio in 2008. She subsequently moved to Chicago in 2016 to work as a project manager and in 2019 was promoted to director of Interiors.
“Our people keep me motivated every day,” said Oppenhuizen. “We have a phenomenal group of passionate, talented designers and thought leaders committed to delivering the best possible work to all different types of clients.”
Wilwerding, who joined HOK’s Chicago studio in June 2022 as a project manager, is the new director of Interiors there. She specializes in designing environments that consider people’s psychological needs and enhance their experience in a space. With more than two decades of experience in architecture and interior design, Wilwerding has collaborated on projects across multiple markets, including legal, corporate, science and technology, nonprofit, residential and adaptive reuse.
“I’m passionate about the exploration of people’s phenomenological encounters with architecture and how great design can engage all the senses,” said Wilwerding.
“Evelyn has quickly become an integral part of our Chicago team and is deeply embedded in the local marketplace,” said Polucci. “She will be a fantastic leader.”