Centerbrook, CT Centerbrook Architects & Planners has hired René Brakels and Cassie Archer to the architectural staff.

 Brakels joins Centerbrook with a diverse background of 15 years in the architecture industry that includes positions in his home country of The Netherlands, Ireland, Latvia and New York. Most recently he served as a job captain at RGB Architects in Providence. Brakels earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Architecture in The Netherlands, where he is a licensed architect.

 Archer, who grew up in Nigeria and England, comes to Centerbrook from Kenneth Boroson Architects in New Haven, where she was a senior job captain. After graduating from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Architecture, Archer began her career as a designer in California.

Both Brakels and Archer joined Centerbrook in February and have hit the ground running on Quinnipiac University projects.

“We look for well-rounded people who have a spark. We were delighted to find René and Cassie who are full of energy, care about people and are driven to excel at the craft of building,” said Centerbrook principal Jim Childress, FAIA. “They are already proving to be great additions to our staff.” 

Centerbrook currently has designs under construction in Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, New York and Texas, and active projects in seven states, Canada and China.

Centerbrook Architects & Planners is a firm conceived in 1975 as a community of architects working together to advance American place-making and the craft of building. A collaborative firm with an exceptional history of building, Centerbrook is known for inventive design solutions that are emblematic of its client and their traditions. Centerbrook’s designs have won 380 awards, including the Architecture Firm Award, a distinction held by only 36 active firms nationwide.