Hitting Her Stride: Margaret Cavenagh on Opportunity, Adaptability, and True Balance

By Amy Stone

Based in Chicago, Architect Margaret Cavenagh is Principal of Interior Architecture at Studio Gang. Drawing on her expert observations of how people use space, Margaret designs and develops all interior concepts for the Studio’s public, cultural, institutional, office, and residential projects. Ranging widely in scale and typology, her award-winning work holistically extends building concepts into the interior using layered, flexible programs that expand the Studio’s ethos of material exploration at an intimate scale.

Actively engaged in the field, Margaret has served as a juror for the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Design Awards in Wisconsin and Missouri; lectured at the University of Pennsylvania Women in Design Symposium; and was recently published in Women [Re]Build: Stories, Polemic, Futures, a book of reflections on the renewal of feminist thought in architecture. Margaret holds a Master of Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia (UVA). She was recently appointed to the Dean’s Advisory Board at UVA’s School of Architecture and is currently a Lecturer on Professional Practice for the School’s graduate program.

In her interview with Amy Stone, Margaret talks about her love for interior architecture and her pursuit for balance, advising those just starting their careers to think deeply about the kind of architecture that most interests them.

AS: How did your interest in architecture first develop?

MC: I have wanted to be an architect for as long as I can remember. Sixth grade is where I place it. I found a piece of paper from school asking what I wanted to be when I grew up and my answer was “architect.” I have always been fascinated with space and spatial relationships. As a child, I would rearrange my bedroom and living room to create little vignettes and I always drew this house that was sort of colonial and had a sunken living room—maybe I was inspired by the Brady Bunch.

In high school, I remember getting in trouble with my track coach because I missed practice to see Sylvia Smith, Senior Partner at FXCollaborative, lecture at Dickinson College. My parents encouraged me to go! They were very supportive of me pursuing architecture. I’ve been practicing architecture ever since.

What did you learn in architecture school?

Perseverance and adaptability! In architecture school, you put your ideas out there and literally hang them up for all to see. You have to stand in front of your professors and peers and defend your concept against their critiques. In practice, it’s similar—but instead you’re speaking to clients about a design that meets their goals and aspirations. In both school and in practice, your design won’t always be met with affirmation. You must be flexible and find what’s at the core of your idea.

Where did you start after graduation?

After graduating from the University of Virginia (UVA) with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture, I worked for a sole practitioner for two years. I honestly didn’t know much about the practice of architecture at that point, but I was able to learn so much about design and construction. At that time, everything was done on vellum with ink. It was a fascinating experience. I was there for about two years before attending Washington University in St. Louis to earn my Master of Architecture degree.

“In both school and in practice, your design won’t always be met with affirmation. You must be flexible and find what’s at the core of your idea.”

What did you do next?

Every time I made a change in my career, it was for a drastically different opportunity. After grad school, I moved to Chicago and joined Booth Hansen, an established regional firm. They hired me to make models for two weeks, but I made myself useful and ended up staying for four years.

I left Booth Hansen because a developer in the city was starting an in-house architecture practice offering complete customization of condominiums. We could do as much or as little as each client wanted: from changing hardware sets to creating a custom design for an entire unit. I wore a hard hat, jeans, and boots nearly every day for seven years—riding the skip up the building and working in an unheated office beside the carpenters. It was an extraordinary opportunity to learn high-end residential design and understand how high-rise buildings go together. I had done residential work prior to this position but on site, I was the boss. For the first time in my career, I directed the design; my ideas were being realized.

How did you end up at Studio Gang?

After seven years in that position, I was juggling parenting two small children with a very demanding job. That is when I talked to Jeanne, who had been my colleague years before at Booth Hansen. She had just been awarded the commission for Aqua Tower and asked me to join Studio Gang and help her grow the practice. At that time, Studio Gang had nine employees. I was number ten. We all wore many hats at the beginning. I even helped get the phone system set up and put a medical plan in place. We were really pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We’re now over 130 people in four offices—Chicago, New York, San Francisco, and Paris.

The first projects I worked on were Aqua, the Studio’s first tower, and Maisonette, which is a private residence in Chicago. As the practice grew, we realized the necessity of having an interior architect on the team. Since then, I have led the interior architecture practice, guiding projects from the inside out. What I love about interior architecture is blending space and expressing architectural ideas at a human scale. It’s about what people touch and inhabit—it’s tactile and textural.

The model shop in Studio Gang’s Chicago office. Photography by Tom Harris.

A Studio Gang client meeting. Image courtesy of Studio Gang.

Jeanne (left), Margaret (right), and the Kalamazoo College clients with trees cut for wood masonry exterior. Image courtesy of Studio Gang.

What is it like to work at Studio Gang?

There’s never a dull moment at Studio Gang—it’s an exciting and immersive work environment. The core mission of our work is to move the needle on making cities more livable and sustainable through design at every scale. Right now, I’m working on the US Embassy in Brasilia, a project for Spelman College in Atlanta, and an adaptive reuse project where we’re turning an old power plant into a sustainable new student center for Beloit College.

I feel extremely lucky to have been involved with the growth of the firm in so many ways, including having my kids grow up through this practice and seeing other families in the practice now doing the same. My kids spent a lot of time at the office when they were younger. They were on a first name basis with almost everyone and felt like the model shop was their playroom. It’s great to see colleagues’ families start to experience that!

Where are you in your career today?

At the Women's Leadership Summit this year, a workshop I attended had charts indicating career phases based on age. I was looking at the options: early career, mid-career, and late career. 50 years old was indicated as “late career” and I thought, ‘Hey! Wait a minute!’ If you think about how many architects practice their whole life, especially men, that seems like mid-career to me. There are so many more opportunities still to come and so many more projects to build. In your thirties, you’re just a beginning as an architect. After getting licensed, paying off student debt, buying a home, and starting a family, you are just getting your feet under you. By the time you’re in your fifties, you know what you’re doing and what you like. You have convictions.

Outside the office, I teach the M.Arch Professional Practice class at UVA. Ila Berman, the Dean of the School of Architecture, invited me to return to my alma mater to completely reinvent the course in a way that would show students what it means to be a practicing architect and how exciting this profession is. One of the reasons I love teaching this course is because I feel like I’m just hitting my stride. I want to share that excitement with my students.

“Adaptability and changeability have the potential to make the design very rich.”

Looking back, what have been some of your biggest challenges?

While it can be a challenge to figure out how to balance quality family time with work, there are many positive aspects that come with that. My kids get to see that their mom works hard and really loves her job. They see the energy and joy it brings me and I hope this inspires them to find a career that makes them feel the same way. That’s so important. The moment that my children were born, my desk stopped being neat and clean and I stopped making lists. Everything is kept in my head and I may be resolving design issues when I am washing dishes or taking a shower or driving home. It’s a balancing act, but I think I’ve done a pretty good job of it. They might disagree though [laughs].

Then, there are challenges you face throughout the design process. You may have moments where progress seems like an unattainable ideal, or maybe it's a material you want to use but can’t totally figure out that detail. When you resolve it and can see it in situ, the hard work in built form, it’s very satisfying. I don’t shy away from those challenges—they sometimes lead to our best work. Sometimes the challenges are budgets, or clients not seeing eye-to-eye with your vision. I’ve learned a truism over the years: "practice repeat mistake avoidance.” You can learn from everything and the challenges you face aren’t usually insurmountable.

Margaret and her family in Antelope Canyon.

What have been some of the biggest highlights?

One highlight for me professionally is the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership, designed for Kalamazoo College in Michigan. We started the project by researching local construction methods in Michigan and the Midwest region. We focused our research and readings on social justice work done in the past. We discovered that a lot of that work previously occurred in back alleys or basements and this was an incredible opportunity to be transparent, literally. We developed the central interior space to work for two people to speak one-on-one but also for large groups to gather. The building needed to be open and free of walls while also being intimate. The entire life of the project has been a highlight for me—from putting together the RFP/RFQ, to finishing models in the back seat of Jeanne’s car as we were driving to Kalamazoo, to selecting the furniture, and finally returning for opening day in 2014.

Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership by Studio Gang. Photography by Steve Hall of Hall+Merrick Photographers.

Maybe your childhood dream of having sunken living room came true in that project with that sunken fire pit in the center. I was really impressed with the beautiful detailing on that project, especially the wood masonry.

Who are you admiring right now?

I admire people like Lina Bo Bardi. What an amazing architect with many lives in a single career. To protect her own life, she left Europe and went to Brazil. She used raw and brutal concrete in new and beautiful ways, designed homes and furniture, and did groundbreaking things for women in the practice of architecture.

Outside the field, I admire friends who are becoming politically active for the first time. They are diving in and getting signatures so that people can be on the ballot. They’re tapping into unknown territories. Also, Greta Thunberg. Wow! Her perseverance and dedication to creating change that addresses one of the biggest threats to the future of our planet is very admirable. I see some of that drive and focus in my daughter.

What is the impact you would like to have in or on the world?

I don’t know if I can answer this succinctly. I believe there is a necessity for balance, professionally and personally. With balance comes diversity and support for individuals’ interests and creativity—and we value this at Studio Gang. It is a matter of seeking out the best skills and interests in everybody and using that to explore and advance our work. We understand it won’t be the same for every person.

The corollary to that is being able to step away and create balance for yourself through something like a sabbatical or taking personal time. At Studio Gang, we’ve worked hard to formalize a family leave policy that works for different kinds of families. It has been one of my missions to advocate for diversity, opportunity, creativity, and balance because we realize there is no one way of doing anything. We revel in the fact that we derive so much knowledge and expertise from a diverse group of voices and we take advantage of that.

“In a client meeting, you should be able to convey an idea in a couple of pencil strokes. Be comfortable doing that.”

What do you wish you knew when starting out that you know now?

So many things [laughs]. How do you choose one? Architecture is an iterative process. We call it option making. We iterate at all scales, from hardware selection to the entire exterior concept of a building. If I could give my 18-year-old self some advice for getting the most out of architecture school, I would say explore option-making and test ideas at all scales. As a young student, I would hit on something and stick with it through the end. Adaptability and changeability have the potential to make the design very rich. You iterate through drawings, sketching, communicating again and again, and with each iteration you get closer to the solution.

What advice do you have for those who are just starting out in their careers?

Get off your computer and learn to draw and sketch! Get out of the comfort zone of Rhino and push yourself. In a client meeting, you should be able to convey an idea in a couple of pencil strokes. Be comfortable doing that.

Also, think about what kind of architecture you want to do. Even if you don’t know entirely, look inward and think about what is interesting to you. Maybe it is urban design, smaller scale interiors, or residential. Seek out firms with values that align with yours, rather than just applying to every firm within a 50-mile radius. Not all firms will be a perfect fit. You want to find a place where you can root yourself and stay for a while.