Global planning, engineering, architecture and interiors firm Leo A Daly has hired hospitality-industry veteran Mark Pratt, AIA, as global hospitality practice leader. In this role, Pratt leads strategy and business development for the firm’s internationally renowned hospitality design group.
Pratt has devoted a 34-year career to working with developers, hoteliers and municipalities to envision and realize hospitality projects that meet and exceed their business and placemaking goals. His expertise is comprehensive, covering all phases of planning, design and construction across the spectrum of hospitality, including luxury, full-service, boutique, resort and convention center hotels. He joins Leo A Daly from Walsh Group, where he was VP, COE (Center of Excellence) leader and national director of hospitality.
He has been involved in hundreds of hospitality projects both in the U.S. and internationally. As a principal for VOA Associates, now Stantec, he was responsible for building the company’s commercial hospitality practice from $2.5 million in fees to more than $18 million in five years.
“LEO A DALY is dedicated to helping our hospitality clients create unforgettable guest experiences through exceptional design. We are thrilled to have Mark lead our global hospitality practice, leveraging a wealth of design talent, experience and creativity to shape the future of hospitality,” said Steve Lichtenberger, AIA, president of Leo A Daly.
Pratt succeeds Pat Miller, who over the last 21 years led Leo A Daly’s hospitality practice to become one of the top ranked in the industry. Miller will continue to serve the firm as a senior hospitality advisor, consulting on strategy, brand and talent development and client service.
“Pat Miller put Leo A Daly on the hospitality-design map. Her reputation for outstanding client leadership, talent development and high design will forever be embedded in our firm’s DNA. These are also things Mark believes deeply in, which, along with his own reputation for innovation and thought leadership, make him a great fit to lead Leo A Daly’s hospitality practice,” said Ignacio Reyes, AIA, director of business development.
“Focusing on design is the core principal that we at Leo A Daly used to build our hospitality practice. I believe Mark’s leadership in hospitality design will continue this tradition into the future,” said Pat Miller.
Pratt is a registered architect and member of the American Institute of Architects with an architectural engineering degree from Purdue University. He sits on the advisory boards of Boutique Design and ASFONA.
