70-year-old architecture firm changes leadership

Portland-based ZGF has elevated two of its leaders to new roles.

Sharron van der Meulen, previously managing partner of the Portland office, is now managing partner of the entire firm. Solvei Neiger, previously a partner in the Portland office, is now managing partner of the Portland office. Both women stepped into their new roles at the beginning of this year.

The previous managing partner of ZGF, Ted Hyman, stepped down after 10 years in the role. He now dives deeper into projects and connections with clients as a partner in the Los Angeles office.

ZGF is 70 years old and has a total of approximately 750 employees, including 17 partners, in seven offices in the U.S. and Canada. The firm is dedicated to sustainable design and addressing climate challenges.

Van der Meulen has served ZGF for 35 years.

“When I first joined ZGF, we had one office in Portland,” she said. “I think I was the 65th employee there.”

She has focused her career on interior architecture for many types of projects, including health care, workplace, cultural and higher education. Most recently, she has been the lead interior architect for the Portland International Airport main terminal expansion .

Van der Meulen said her role as managing partner of the firm is the same as any partner role: first and foremost, doing great design work; providing the best service to clients; being 100 percent focused on sustainability and climate change; and creating welcoming and inspiring experiences for the occupants of the buildings ZGF designs.

“Those goals are really universal for the people that work at ZGF and certainly for the partners and managing partners,” she said.

Van der Meulen’s new role is slightly different from other managing partner roles in that she is also focused on overseeing business aspects. Those include human resources, finances, and marketing.

ZGF’s Portland office now has more than 200 employees. Neiger is responsible for the office’s operations and strategy. She joined the firm in 2002 and has 34 years of experience in health care planning and design.

A focus for the Portland office, Neiger said, is being vested in the city’s downtown core. ZGF occupies four floors of Twelve | West, in the city’s West End.

“We feel it’s important to be here downtown to really help support the businesses, to help support the city, to be a part of the city,” Neiger said.

ZGF has maintained its headquarters in Twelve | West since 2009. The firm’s lease came up for renewal during the COVID-19 pandemic, and officials looked at three alternatives downtown but ultimately chose to stay. The office was renovated in summer 2023.

In addition to the PDX main terminal project (van der Meulen has been working on that for nearly 10 years), ZGF recently designed the PAE Living Building . Also, the firm designed the Columbia Memorial Hospital expansion in Astoria; construction of that project is set to begin later this year.

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