Partners: network

Theodore Davis, Michael Medici, Michael Nolan, Rebecca Nolan

Firm Notes

This very large architectural, landscape, engineering and planning firm has been headquartered for many years in Detroit, MI. The origins of the SmithGroup began in 1853, when Sheldon Smith founded the firm in Detroit, MI. The business was renamed "Field, Hinchman and Smith" in 1903 and to "Smith, Hinchman and Grylls" four years later. It became one of Detroit's two largest architectural firms (along with that of Albert Kahn Associates) under the latter name, designing many downtown skyscrapers during the 20th century.

In 2000, Smith Hinchman and Grylls rechristened itself as the "SmithGroup" and renamed itself again to "SmithGroupJJR" in 2011, to include the name of Johnson, Johnson and Roy (JJR), the important Ann Arbor-based landscape architecture firm with which it merged in 1971.

In 2005, the firm the firm totaled 752 employees, including 210 architects, 50 interior designers, 100 engineers, and 120 other professional staff. By 2020, the firm had 1,300 emplyees and 12 offices in Ann Arbor, MI, (201 Depot Street, Second Floor, Ann Arbor, MI 48104), Boston, MA, (00 High Street, Suite 1800 Boston, MA 02110), Chicago, IL, (35 East Wacker Drive, Suite #900, Chicago, IL 60601), Dallas, TX, (5910 North Central Expressway, Suite #1765, Dallas, TX 75206), Denver, CO, (899 Logan Street, Suite #508, Denver, CO 80203), Detroit, MI, (500 Griswold Street, Suite #1700, Detroit, MI 48226), Los Angeles, CA, (550 Sout Hope Street, Suite #1950, Los Angeles, CA 90071), Madison, WI, (44 East Mifflin Street, Suite #500, Madison, WI 53703), Milwaukee, WI, (233 North Water Street, Suite #502, Milwaukee, WI 53202), Phoenix, AZ, (455 North 3rd Street Phoenix, AZ 85004), Pittsburgh, PA, (1 PPG Place, 31st Floor, Pittsburgh, PA 15222), San Diego, CA, (225 Broadway, Suite #1320, San Diego, CA 92101), San Francisco, CA, (301 Battery Street, 7th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111), Shanghai, China, (41F Raffles City Centre, Suite #4103, 268 Xizang Middle Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai China, 200001), and Washington, DC, (1700 New York Avenue, NW Suite #100, Washington, DC 20006).

The Washington, DC, office opened in the 1950s and the firm established its Pheonix office in 1977. The first branch outside of the US in Shanghai began operations in 2013. SmithGroup founded its Denver office following a 03/2019 merger with local campus planning consultancy, Paulien and Associates.

PCAD id: 1325