A M King’s Catherine Knight, AIA, Named a 2024 Forty Under 40 Honoree
Catherine Knight, AIA, Design Leader with A M King, is among the elite group of Upstate South Carolina professionals to be honored in GSA Business Report’s 2024 “Forty Under 40” recognition program. Charlotte-based A M King, with an established presence in the Upstate, is a nationally recognized integrated Design-Build firm focused on the food processing, cold storage and distribution, and industrial manufacturing sectors.
GSA Business Report’s Forty Under 40 Awards recognize success and community involvement of 40 professionals under age 40 who are making their mark on the Upstate from a mix of industry, professional and community sectors.
A registered architect (thus, the AIA designation), Knight has more than 15 years of experience in the design and construction industry. For the past four years, she has been working on the design team at A M King, based in the firm’s Greenville regional office. As Design Leader, it’s Knight’s job to ensure that a given client’s needs are being addressed throughout the design and construction processes – from initial client interface through project delivery. In this role, she works with the other design team members, consulting engineers, and internal Operations colleagues – helping with day-to-day project management and ensuring that a project is moving forward smoothly.
Knight’s work at A M King encompasses new construction, renovations/upfits and expansions. Two of her current Design-Build projects in the Southeast are a pork processing facility located in Virginia and a specialty chemical processing facility in South Carolina. She also works on various manufacturing projects with the company’s on-site facility management teams.
An intentional role model who does what she can to attract more women and minorities into the industry, in 2023 Knight was elected to a two-year leadership position with AIA South Carolina that focuses on that mission. As 2023-2024 Equity Director for AIA South Carolina, she can share her obvious passion for the architecture profession and pass along knowledge to others. She was instrumental in laying the groundwork for a South Carolina Chapter of NOMA (National Organization of Minority Architects) that launched in late 2023 and bringing NOMA’s “Say It Loud Exhibition” to AIA South Carolina’s new Center for Architecture in early 2024. This well-received exhibition highlighted the contributions of BIPOC (black, indigenous, people of color) and women designers, architects, engineers, planners and students, furthering the discussion on equity and diversity in the profession of South Carolina’s built environment.
Through A M King, Knight is actively engaged with Clemson University students in the School of Architecture as well as the Nieri Department of Construction, Development and Planning. In addition, she participates in A M King’s career fairs, firm crawls, design reviews, and serving as a local resource to the student community. Knight and her A M King colleagues regularly serve as “Guest Chef” for Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Carolinas (RMHC) in Greenville, and each December she joins her teammates in supporting the local Salvation Army “Angel Tree Program.” Knight has done a lot of work in the past with Habitat for Humanity, gaining hands-on experience building houses in the U.S. and Mexico.
Knight earned her Master of Architecture, as well as a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a Focus in Architecture, from Savannah College of Art and Design. Knight is currently preparing to take the Design-Build Institute of America’s (DBIA) rigorous exam required to earn the prestigious Design-Build Designated Professional credential. She is also finishing up her Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification along with some hygienic design training scheduled for this spring.
She and the other Forty under 40 honorees were honored at a special awards luncheon on Wednesday, March 13 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Greenville. The award recipients will be individually spotlighted in a special print edition of GSA Business Report (publication date April 15, 2024).
GSA Business Report is a print and digital business media platform operated by SC Biz News.
