Founded in 1853, the Smith -VetarOup Architecture/Engineering firm continues to flourish with 20 offices in all the United States, 1,500 employees and a presence in the Midwest that goes back to the first days of the firm.
The longest -running architecture/engineering company in the country is not a totally owned subsidiary, was founded as an architectural practice in 1853 in Ohio by Sheldon Smith, which moved the firm to Detroit in 1855. Engineering was added to its services in the early 1900’s by Smith’s grandson, Fred Smith. It advanced rapidly in the 2000’s and the firm, after passing through a couple of mergers that extended their reach to the east and west coasts and a couple of name changes, returned to their Smithgroup Moniker in 2018.
Respond to changing needs
In expanding its services to meet the constantly evolving needs of its customers, the firm based on Detroit has seen its income grow at the Midwest and national level. Their Midwest income increased to $ 104 million by 2024, ranging from $ 90.7 million by 2023. His national income increased to $ 440 million last year, from $ 362 million last year.
Roxanne Malik, a management partner, says the signature’s national income has tripled over the last ten years, which attributes to its emphasis on understanding and achieving the goals of its customers.
“The engine of how we have come to where we are is really focused on solving the biggest challenges of our client, whether it be energy consumption or the use of space [or other challenges]”, Says Malik.
Although he has welcomed growth, Malik says that Smithgroup’s success is not a matter of promoting revenue, but on expanding their commitment to clients and resolving their needs, which can go beyond traditional architecture.
“It has really been the resolution of these bigger challenges [of clients] And make us more capable of providing the additional services that our customers are looking for, “he says.
The services currently offered by the firm include campus planning, civil engineering, energy and environmental planning, health strategy, historical preservation, technology and communications, laboratory planning, mobility, programming, structural engineering, innovation and technology, research and sustainability.
Its basic markets are health care, education, science, technology and workplace. The smallest markets include urban design and cultural or museum work.
“What keeps us really vital is that we have a good mix between these different markets,” says Malik. “So, as it occurs and flows, we can really balance our workload.”
“Smithgroup is an expert in combining a high design with practical and pragmatic execution.”
—Jason Harris, head of the main design of infrastructure and corporate citizenship, General Motors
Energy consumption is a hot area, according to Malik, which says customers ask Smithgroup to reduce their energy footprint, which promoted the company to add services aimed at this need.
“We have formed a group called Impact, which is our integrated team of multidisciplinary performance analytics,” says Malik. “They help customers ask the right questions and then create a master plan to solve their energy challenges.”
The firm has also created a group of better construction challenges that works with developers and educational institutions to understand their assets and propose solutions to minimize their energy consumption.
Tim Tracey, director of the Midwest Region, says that having experience in various services has promoted its regional growth. Another pillar of the success of the company is the emphasis on creating long -term relationships with customers.
“As we have been here so long, we have worked with customers for a long period and we can do several different projects for the same client,” he says.
Smithgroup took advantage of his multiple disciplines to design services in the Metropark class of the Toudeo Clade class, including a space for outdoor concerts. The park was built on 300 hectares of underused land along the Maumee river in Toledo.
Image courtesy of Toledo Metroparks
Historical collaboration
One of these long -term relationships is generally engines: a collaboration that has more than a century.
Firm’s recent work with GM focused on various projects through its technical center campus in Warren, Mich.
Jason Harris, head of the main design of infrastructure and corporate citizenship for GM, says that the varied areas of expertise of Smithgroup are an advantage.
“Smithgroup demonstrated an excellent combination of technical experience, professionalism and collaboration from the entire multi -year transformation program on the GM Global Technical Center Campus,” says Harris. “Its ability to manage the requirements of complex projects and to coordinate efficiently between various stakeholders in the stakeholders was essential to promoting the program.”
He claims that Smithgroup worked alongside the leadership of the GM program and higher leadership “to create the vision of new spaces built or transformed, including the creation of new office workplace guidelines and a new global design study.”
Harris adds that “Smithgroup is an expert in combining a high design with practical and pragmatic execution”.
Smithgroup designs helped gain support for the community for the Glass Glass metropark, which now attracts thousands of visitors.
Image courtesy of Toledo Metroparks
Toledo Metropark
Another project that entered the various areas of expertise of Smithgroup is the Glass City metropark of $ 38 million, a 70 -hectare urban green space in Toledo, which also includes a 9,500 -square -meter restaurant and a support building, a 5,000 -foot event installation, nature -themed play areas and a 1,000 -foot skate skating skateboarding path. Roll called Ribbon.
Tracey says that the project, which is located at the site of an old coal power plant on the Maumee River, was an “opportunity to bring our integrated design team [and not only do] The place of place, but the architecture of the landscape and the design of the buildings to the lighting and the interiors. “”
The project showed that “our teams are able to challenge each other among the disciplines,” he says. “The spirit of the project was really exciting for me.”
“To fully appreciate where we started this project, you need to know that there were many other proposals that came and spent over the last 30 years,” says Dave Zenk, executive director of Metroparks Toledo. “None of them materialized. When the park system had the opportunity to transform the riverbed, we knew we had to think big. It was when we contacted Smithgroup.”
Zenk says there will be no small plans. “It couldn’t be just a park,” he says. “To involve the community and the collaborators, we first had to inspire them. The Smithygroup designs brought the Wow factor we needed to distinguish this project from anything that our region had experienced.”
The park opened in 2023 and had one million visitors in the first 18 months.
“The domino effect of public and private investment in the park and improvements in the vicinity have exceeded what most people expected,” says Zenk.
In addition to these projects, the Smithgroup (A Detroit, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Madison, Wis. And Milwaukee)
Another example of the firm’s recent work is the multicultural center of the State University of Michigan, which was completed in January 2025. Another is the $ 68 million community project by Martin Luther King, a 85,000 -square -meter recreation and health center in Racine, Wis. A previous project reformed the Casa Edsel and Eleanor Ford a Gros Pointe, Mich.
Waiting
Tracey says that even when Smithgroup has grown up, “he has tried to stay very agile so that we can respond.”
“We don’t try to build different types of projects,” says Malik. “We are trying to create relationships with different clients who take us to different types of projects and where we can help them.”
