Legat Architects applauds April Maifield for three decades of detail-driven leadership and complex project delivery.
Conference calls for hospitality construction projects can be challenging. Different personalities. Conflicting agendas. Tight schedules. Operational debates. The architect leading such calls must be attentive yet assertive, measured yet decisive. This individual must have the skill to balance the needs of everyone from hotel operators and brand ambassadors to city representatives, contractors, and even other architects.
April Maifield, director of hospitality at Legat Architects, has consistently filled those shoes. Maifield, known for her direct and all-in approach, has been the force behind award-winning hotel projects that revive brands and energize their surroundings. She built Legat’s hospitality practice from a handful of renovations at local properties to a portfolio of high-profile new hotels throughout the country.
April Maifield, leader of Legat Architects’ hospitality practice, celebrates 30 years with the firm on May 20, 2026.
This month, Maifield, based in the firm’s Oak Brook, Illinois studio, celebrates 30 years of mastering details and keeping projects on track at Legat.
“Whether she’s analyzing a site or coordinating team members, April approaches her work with intensity,” said Legat President and CEO Jeff Sandberg. “She delivers hotels that not only finish on time and within budget, but they also make a positive mark on their community and respect their brand identity. She’s the one you want running the show.”
Mike Zimmerman, president of Olympia Development, has worked with Maifield on several prominent hospitality projects. “April is among the most detail-oriented and thorough architects in the industry,” he said. “She has an excellent understanding of how building systems affect architectural design and works hard to anticipate potential conflicts from the very outset of the design process.”
Keep reading to get Maifield’s full story, including a Central Iowa connection that dates back to the mid-19th century, her origins at Legat, and a South Side Chicago project that launched her hospitality profile. Also learn about Maifield’s side gig as a National Ski Patroller in Wisconsin.
Don’t Sweat the Drawings
An industrial engineer father and an early childhood professor mother instilled in Maifield a desire to combine the technical with the artistic. She decided to pursue architecture as a student at Crystal Lake Central High School, where she took all the drafting and AutoCAD classes available.
“The school wasn’t air conditioned but the drafting room was, because you can’t have students sweating on drawings,” said Maifield.
During her junior year, she obtained early dismissal to take courses at McHenry County College, which she also attended for one semester after graduating high school. This not only enabled her to rack up prerequisites but also to take more drafting and art classes that would play into her portfolio for her true destination…
Maifield (fourth from right) with graduating class at Iowa State University.
Moving Between Worlds
Maifield’s path to Iowa State University (ISU) traces back to the mid-1800s. Her great great grandfather operated laundromats in Marshalltown and Iowa State College (became ISU in 1959) in Ames. Her great grandfather taught welding at ISU, and Maifield’s grandmother, father, mother, brother, and many other relatives are all grads of the institution.
Trips to Iowa were a cherished part of her childhood. She has many fond memories of spending time at her maternal family’s farm in Harris or attending ISU Cyclones games with her parents.
When the time came to select her college, Maifield could have gone wherever she wanted, and thanks to the many pleasant memories of the campus and its surroundings, she chose ISU.
She began working for an Illinois-based home builder early in her studies at ISU. She would hand draft plans while at school and send them back to him. During her junior year, she joined a local architect’s office specializing in hotels and casinos. Maifield would travel the 45 minutes east from ISU’s Ames campus to Marshalltown several days a week and often on weekends. The relationship would last until she completed ISU’s five-year program.
“I was moving between two different worlds,” said Maifield. “The office had all the latest computers and programs, so I would pound out projects. Then I would get back to the studio and do hand drafting.”
April is among the most detail-oriented and thorough architects in the industry. She is a master problem solver, able to solve complex design challenges to keep the project on track.
Mike Zimmerman, President, Olympia Development
Maifield (sunglasses) and Legat Waukegan studio coworkers visiting Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin home and studio in Spring Green, Wisconsin.
A Familiar Firm in an Unfamiliar City
As she approached graduation, Maifield prepared to return to the Chicago area to kick off her career. She wanted to work downtown, but the cost of living there was out of reach for a recent grad.
While searching the Chicago Tribune, she came across a job opening in Legat Architects’ Waukegan studio 45 miles north of downtown Chicago. Maifield knew little about Waukegan, but she recognized Legat — at the time, the firm also had a studio in her hometown of Crystal Lake.
On May 20, 1996, Maifield walked into the church-turned-architecture studio for the first time as a Legat employee. She dove into healthcare projects and quickly developed a knack for senior living facility design.
Maifield’s journey at Legat would take her to two additional studios before she landed in Oak Brook. She took on mixed-use and multifamily projects and even led several higher education projects during the housing market collapse in 2008/2009.
Since joining Legat in 1996, Maifield has worked out of four locations.
This diversity of projects would become a foundation for her transition to hospitality. Although she had led some smaller hospitality-focused projects, Maifield had not yet managed a high-profile project that would solidify her hospitality reputation. That opportunity came when she was at Legat’s Chicago studio…
Hyatt Place Chicago-South/University Medical Center was a foundational project in Maifield’s hospitality portfolio.
A Breakthrough on Chicago’s South Side
In 2010, Maifield took the reins as architectural project manager for the hotel portion of Harper Court, a mixed-commercial development in Chicago’s Hyde Park.
Because the six-story hotel was part of a larger public-private partnership development, it posed several challenges: It would be built on an underground parking garage designed by the master developer, and it would be adjacent to a 12-story office building that was going vertical at the same time. It would become the prestigious South Side neighborhood’s first new hotel in 50 years, so many eyes were on it. And most daunting: the project needed to consider the needs of a complex mix of key players ranging from Hyatt Hotels, the University of Chicago, and the City of Chicago to engineers, architects, consultants, and general contractors.
Maifield consistently assembled involved parties, kept communications open, and resolved conflicts. She also created a design that modified Hyatt’s prototype design to meet the demands of Hyde Park, while still respecting the Hyatt Place brand.
The first new hotel in the revered Hyde Park neighborhood in 50 years, Hyatt Place Chicago-South/University Medical Center earned the praise of the design and sustainability communities.
The resulting 83,000-square-foot Hyatt Place Chicago-South/University Medical Center, completed in June 2012, stands as the gateway to Harper Court. The hotel went on to win multiple awards including “Project of the Year” nods from ENR Midwest and the Construction Industry Service Corporation (CISCO). It also became the first Hyatt Place in the world to achieve LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The credential highlights the facility’s environmental performance and operational efficiency. Additionally, Tripadvisor named it the most eco-friendly hotel in Chicago’s South Side.
Maifield (second from left), Mike Zimmerman (left), frequent interior design partners Natalie Sheedy (fourth from left) and Marcie De La Rosa (sixth from left), and other members of the original Hyatt Place Chicago-South/University Medical Center team at the 2019 BDNY Gold Key Awards for the Hyatt Place – Hyatt House East Moline Quad Cities project.
Olympia Development served as hotel developer for the project. “April was a fearless champion for the design vision throughout the construction phase, helping owner and contractor make the right decisions as the plan met reality,” said the organization’s President Mike Zimmerman. “She is curious and innovative, ready to explore new construction technologies and expand her approach to design. Most of all, April is a master problem solver, able to solve complex design challenges to keep the project on track.”
Hyatt Place Chicago-South/University Medical Center became the springboard for other prominent hospitality projects led by Maifield. Examples include Hyatt Place Cleveland/Westlake/Cocker Park in Westlake, Ohio, the dual-brand Hyatt Place | Hyatt House East Moline Quad Cities, and Hyatt Place Chicago/Wicker Park.
One of her most notable hospitality projects, however, was a retrofit that transformed a century-old warehouse into Element Moline. The public-private partnership project met preservation requirements from the National Park Service, captured Element’s eco-friendly image in the brand’s first adaptive reuse project . . . and its first property in Illinois. The hotel won a “Best Hotel Focused Service” award in the revered BDNY Gold Key Awards competition.
Maifield led a project that converted a 100-year-old warehouse into Element Moline. The design resurfaces some of the original building’s features.
Maifield recently received a 35-year service award from the National Ski Patrol. The photo above shows a training exercise.
A Second Family on the Slopes
The Mountain Top at Grand Geneva Resort & Spa has 20 naturally divided downhill ski runs, making it one of the best ski resorts in Wisconsin. Hit the slopes on a Friday winter night, and you might just see April Maifield there.
But Maifield is no mere recreational skier — she is an alpine patroller and slope leader with the National Ski Patrol. A recipient of the 35-year service award, she considers her skiing colleagues a second family.
Maifield joined the organization in high school. She did the initial training for outdoor emergency care and maintained her certifications ever since. She has assisted resort guests who have cuts, sprains, bumps and bruises, and more serious injuries that require advanced emergency medical services.
Over 30 years, Maifield has earned the trust of coworkers, clients, consultants, contractors, and many others in the industry.
A Coach and a Quarterback
Hand drafting. AutoCAD. BIM. 3D visualization. The tools that architects use have rapidly evolved over the last three decades. Throughout that time, April Maifield has kept up with technological advancements to not only deliver efficient projects but also to keep pace with early-career professionals.
“Having a project manager who knows extensively about drawing programs is immensely beneficial in staffing accurate time, accomplishing goals, and being able to work as a team,” said coworker Michael Keslinke. “It allows her to act as both coach and quarterback on her project teams.”
Maifield’s ability to adapt to technologies exemplifies the flexibility that has defined her career at Legat.
Another example: when COVID-19 brought hotel construction to a standstill, she maintained strong client connections, established new contacts, and wrote several articles about hospitality design. When the market recovered, she regained momentum and secured several new hotel commissions.
Maifield’s unique combination of design prowess, patience, and directness has earned the respect of many. Firm leadership regularly applauds her ability to coordinate large projects with a small team. Clients, consultants, and product representatives appreciate her attentiveness. And emerging professionals value Maifield’s contributions as a mentor.
April Maifield brings the principles of hospitality to every project she leads … and every interaction she makes.
Contact us with your facilities challenges or to share your experiences with April Maifield.
