[2] While at Stanford and following graduation, Perkins worked as a management consultant for clients in the architecture and construction industries, including the American Institute of Architects (AIA).
During his time at Llewelyn Davies, Perkins worked on various projects including the master plan for the American University of Beirut; master plans for town-scale projects in Ontario, Trinidad, Iran, Egypt, and several U.S. states; the new headquarters for the ARCO Chemical Company (formerly part of the Atlantic Richfield Company); an expansion of Corning Glass Work's headquarters; and New York City's bid to host the 1984 Summer Olympics.
[citation needed] During this time Perkins also served as a faculty member of City College of New York (CCNY) and was a regular contributor for Architectural Record.
The firm's projects included the new NYC headquarters for Republic National Bank on Fifth Ave.[3] (today the New York HQ of HSBC) and Canterbury Green in Stamford, Connecticut.
One of the more notable projects at this time was a Victorian-style "mutual housing" complex, comprising 70 one- to three-bedroom residential units, in Stamford, CT.[4] By 1988 the firm had approximately 50 employees and was described in a publication as "liberal in its use of flexible work schedules and parental leaves.
[citation needed] Perkins Eastman began a period of rapid growth starting in 1994, beginning with the opening of its first regional office, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and eventually growing to about 700 employees by 2007.
[15] Perkins served as Chairman of the Board of Helen Keller International (HKI), a not-for-profit that focuses on blindness prevention and nutrition in underdeveloped areas around the world.