What exactly constitutes “research” for design practices? Why is it important? How is it relevant? How is it applied to the work we do? These are the questions that currently are asked by many within the design community. Research is a systematic investigation into existing knowledge in order to discover or revise facts or add to knowledge about a certain topic. In design, we take an existing condition and improve upon it with our design solutions. During the design process, we constantly gather and evaluate information from different sources and apply it in novel ways to solve our design problems, thus creating new information and knowledge. Perkins+Will Research Journal documents research relating to all aspects of the architectural and design practice. Architectural design requires immense amounts of information for inspiration, creation, and construction of buildings. Considerations for sustainability, innovation, and high-performance designs lead the way of our practice, where research is an integral part of the process. The themes included in our journal illustrate types of projects and inquiries undertaken at Perkins+Will and capture research questions, methodologies, and results of these inquiries.