SmithGroup is an international architectural, engineering and planning firm. Established in 1853 by architect Sheldon Smith, SmithGroup is the longest continually operating architecture and engineering firm in the United States that is not a wholly owned subsidiary. As of 2025, SmithGroup ranks #7 among the top 100 architecture engineering firms according to Building Design + Construction, with offices in 20 cities around the United States. The firm serves a range of clients, including cities, commercial, higher education, healthcare, science & technology, and cultural markets.
History
SmithGroup was founded in 1853 by Sheldon Smith, a self-taught architect. He opened an office in Ohio, and his first credited project was a hotel in Sandusky, Ohio later that year. In 1855, Smith moved the firm to Detroit. Smith's son Mortimer became a partner in the firm in 1861, and took over for his father after the latter's death in 1869. Mortimer's son Fred joined the firm in 1881, and led the firm after Mortimer's death in 1896. In 1996, Smith, Hinchman and Grylls merged with the Washington DC firm of Keyes, Lethbridge & Condon and in 1998 they merged with Stone Marraccini & Patterson of San Francisco and Los Angeles. In 2000, Tobey + Davis, Reston, Virginia, joined Smith, Hinchman and Grylls.
In 2000, the firm changed its name to SmithGroup.
Notable staff
Notable architects and engineers from the firm include Wilfred Armster, C. Howard Crane, David DiLaura, Rainy Hamilton Jr., Robert F. Hastings, Julius Goldman, William Kapp, Wirt C. Rowland, Rosa T. Sheng and Minoru Yamasaki.
Gallery
<gallery mode = packed>
File:Dtw1.jpg|Edward H. McNamara Terminal Detroit Metropolitan Airport
File:Guardianbuilding.jpg|Guardian Building, Detroit, Michigan
File:Brock Environmental Center.jpg|The Brock Environmental Center
</gallery>
Notable projects
{| class="wikitable"
!Project
!Location
!Completion
Date
!Architects
!Note
|-
|
Central United Methodist Church
|Detroit, Michigan
|1866
|
|
|-
|
Detroit Opera House
|Detroit, Michigan
|1868
|
|
|-
|Ford Piquette Avenue Plant
|Detroit, Michigan
|1904
|
|
|-
|
Dodge Main Factory
|Detroit, Michigan
|1910
|
|
|-
|
Central Power Plant,
University of Michigan
|Ann Arbor, Michigan
|1914
|
|
|-
|
Fyfe Building
|Detroit, Michigan
|1919
|Amedeo Leone
|
|-
|
Hilberry Theatre
|Detroit, Michigan
|1917
|Field, Hinchman and Smith
|originally the First Church of Christ Scientist
|-
|
Yost Ice Arena,
University of Michigan
|Ann Arbor, Michigan
|1923
|T. J. Hinchman
|formerly, Yost Field House
|-
|J. L. Hudson Department Store and Addition
|Detroit, Michigan
|1946
|
|Demolished in 1998
|-
|Bankers Trust Building
|Detroit, Michigan
|1925
|Wirt C. Rowland
|
|-
|The Players Clubhouse
|Detroit, Michigan
|1925
|William E. Kapp
|
|-
|Buhl Building
|Detroit, Michigan
|1925
|Wirt C. Rowland
|
|-
|Mistersky Power Plant
|Detroit, Michigan
|1925
|Amedeo Leone
|
|-
|Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church
|Indian Village, Detroit
|1926
|Wirt C. Rowland
|
|-
|Meadow Brook Hall
|Rochester, Michigan
|1926
|William E. Kapp
|
|-
|Parke-Davis Administration Building
|Detroit, Michigan
|1926
|Amedeo Leone
|1967
|
|
|-
|National Institutes of Health Research Laboratories
|Bethesda, Maryland
|1968
|
|
|-
|Kmart Corporation International Headquarters
|Troy, Michigan
|1969
|
|
|-
|Harper Hospital in the Detroit Medical Center
|Detroit, Michigan
|1970
|
|
|-
|Hart Plaza
|Detroit, Michigan
|1978
|
|including the Dodge Fountain designed by Isamu Noguchi
|-
|Joe Louis Arena
|Detroit, Michigan
|1979
|
|former home of the NHL Detroit Red Wings
|-
|IBM Corporation Manufacturing and Engineering Complex
|Tucson, Arizona
|1979
|
|
|-
|Defense Intelligence Agency Headquarters
|Washington, DC
|1984
|
|
|-
|Eli Lilly and Company Biomedical Research Center
|Indianapolis, Indiana
|1984
|
|
|-
|Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
|Urbana, Illinois
|1989
|
|
|-
|Chrysler World Headquarters
|Auburn Hills, Michigan
|1996
|
|
|-
|Comerica Park
|Detroit, Michigan
|2000
|
|home of the MLB Detroit Tigers
|-
|Phelps Dodge Corporate Headquarters
|Phoenix, Arizona
|2001
|
|
|-
|Chesapeake Bay Foundation Headquarters
|Annapolis, Maryland
|2001
|
|the first building in the United States to earn a LEED Platinum certification
|-
|Edward H. McNamara Terminal Detroit Metropolitan Airport
|Romulus, Michigan
|2002
|
|
|-
|University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay Genentech Hall
|San Francisco, California
|2002
|
|
|-
|Ford Field
|Detroit, Michigan
|2002
|
|home of the NFL Detroit Lions
|-
|Consumers Energy, Corporate Headquarters
|Jackson, Michigan
|2003
|
|
|-
|Discovery Communications World Headquarters
|Silver Spring, Maryland
|2003
|
|
|-
|Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch
|Detroit, Michigan
|2004
|
|
|-
|Visteon Village, Corporate Headquarters
|Detroit, Michigan
|2004
|
|
|-
|Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Molecular Foundry
|Berkeley, California
|2006
|
|
|-
|National Academies Building
|Washington, DC
|
|
|
|-
|Chandler City Hall
|Chandler, Arizona
|2010
|
|
|-
|GateWay Community College, Integrated Education Building
|Phoenix, Arizona
|2012
|
|
|-
|Brock Environmental Center
|Virginia Beach, Virginia
|2014
|
|
|-
|University of Illinois, Electrical and Computer Engineering Building
|Urbana, Illinois
|2014
|
|
|-
|University of Pennsylvania, Stephen A. Levin Building
|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
|2016
|
|
|-
|Museum of the Bible
|Washington, DC
|2017
|
|
|-
|DC Water Headquarters
|Washington, DC
|2018
|
|the first building in the United States to use a wastewater heat recovery system for heating and cooling
|-
|University of Texas at Dallas Engineering Building
|Dallas, Texas
|2018
|
|
|-
|California Pacific Medical Center - Van Ness Campus
|San Francisco, California
|2019
|
|
|-
|University of Michigan Museum of Natural History
|Ann Arbor, Michigan
|2019
|
|
|-
|California Institute of Technology - Chen Neuroscience Research Building
|Pasadena, California
|2020
|
|
|}
References
Further reading
External links
- SmithGroup company website