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 21 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. At this time, Fred brought in two University of Michigan College of Engineering graduates, Henry G. Field and Theodore H. Hinchman, Jr. The firm's name was changed to Field, Hinchman & Smith in 1903.

In 1907, H.J. Maxwell Grylls, a British-trained architect, joined the firm, and the name changed to Smith, Hinchman and Grylls (SH+G). In the 1920s, Smith, Hinchman and Grylls, and architect Wirt C. Rowland, designed some of Detroit’s most notable skyscrapers. In 1945, Minoru Yamasaki, American architect best known for designing the original World Trade Center, joined the firm as Director of Design.

Later years saw Smith, Hinchman and Grylls merge with other firms. In 1971, the firm merged with Johnson, Johnson & Roy (JJR), expanding the firm’s capabilities in landscape architecture, civil engineering and environmental science. 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.

Additional growth took place in 2009 with the acquisition of Dallas-based F&S Partners, the 2018 acquisition of Boston-based TRO and Denver-based Paulien & Associates in 2019.

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

Notable projects ProjectLocationCompletion

DateArchitectsNoteCentral United Methodist ChurchDetroit, Michigan1866Detroit Opera HouseDetroit, Michigan1868Ford Piquette Avenue Plant Detroit, Michigan1904Dodge Main Factory Detroit, Michigan1910Central Power Plant,

University of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan1914Fyfe BuildingDetroit, Michigan1919Amedeo LeoneHilberry TheatreDetroit, Michigan1917Field, Hinchman and Smithoriginally the First Church of Christ ScientistYost Ice Arena,

University of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan1923T. J. HinchmanOriginal Smith, Hinchman & Grylls building plan sheetsformerly, Yost Field HouseJ. L. Hudson Department Store and Addition Detroit, Michigan1946Demolished in 1998Bankers Trust BuildingDetroit, Michigan1925Wirt C. RowlandThe Players ClubhouseDetroit, Michigan1925William E. KappBuhl Building Detroit, Michigan1925Wirt C. RowlandMistersky Power Plant Detroit, Michigan1925Amedeo LeoneAmerican Institute of Architects applicationJefferson Avenue Presbyterian ChurchIndian Village, Detroit1926Wirt C. RowlandMeadow Brook HallRochester, Michigan1926William E. KappParke-Davis Administration BuildingDetroit, Michigan1926Amedeo LeoneMichigan Bell (now AT&T)

Detroit-Columbia Central Office BuildingDetroit, Michigan1927Wirt C. RowlandKelvinator Administration Building Detroit, Michigan1927Amedeo Leoneknown as Plymouth Road Office Complex (PROC)League of Catholic Women BuildingDetroit, Michigan1927Country Club of Detroit Grosse Pointe Farms, MichiganAmedeo LeoneSchool and convent buildings,

Saint Paul Catholic ChurchGrosse Pointe Farms, MichiganMusic Hall Center for the Performing ArtsDetroit, Michigan1928William E. KappIntramural Sports Building,

University of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan1928Theodore J. HinchmanPenobscot BuildingDetroit, Michigan1928Wirt C. RowlandGuardian BuildingDetroit, Michigan1929Wirt C. RowlandCurrent home of SmithGroup's Detroit officeDenby High School Detroit, Michigan1930Wirt C. RowlandPershing High School Detroit, Michigan1930Wirt C. RowlandDetroit Public Library Detroit, Michigan1932Rackham School of Graduate Studies,

University of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan1938Pease Auditorium,

Eastern Michigan UniversityYpsilanti, Michigan1941GM Tech CenterWarren, Michigan1955[Architect of Record]1001 Woodward Detroit, Michigan1965the former First Federal BuildingWhiting Auditorium Flint, Michigan1967National Institutes of Health Research LaboratoriesBethesda, Maryland1968Kmart Corporation International HeadquartersTroy, Michigan1969Harper Hospital in the Detroit Medical CenterDetroit, Michigan1970Hart PlazaDetroit, Michigan1978including the Dodge Fountain designed by Isamu Noguchi Joe Louis ArenaDetroit, Michigan1979former home of the NHL Detroit Red Wings IBM Corporation Manufacturing and Engineering ComplexTucson, Arizona1979Defense Intelligence Agency HeadquartersWashington, DC1984Eli Lilly and Company Biomedical Research CenterIndianapolis, Indiana1984Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUrbana, Illinois1989Chrysler World HeadquartersAuburn Hills, Michigan1996Comerica ParkDetroit, Michigan2000home of the MLB Detroit TigersPhelps Dodge Corporate Headquarters Phoenix, Arizona2001Chesapeake Bay Foundation HeadquartersAnnapolis, Maryland2001the first building in the United States to earn a LEED Platinum certificationEdward H. McNamara Terminal Detroit Metropolitan AirportRomulus, Michigan2002University of California, San Francisco Mission Bay Genentech Hall San Francisco, California2002Ford Field Detroit, Michigan2002home of the NFL Detroit LionsConsumers Energy, Corporate HeadquartersJackson, Michigan2003Discovery Communications World HeadquartersSilver Spring, Maryland2003Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit BranchDetroit, Michigan2004Visteon Village, Corporate Headquarters Detroit, Michigan2004Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Molecular FoundryBerkeley, California2006National Academies BuildingWashington, DCChandler City HallChandler, Arizona2010GateWay Community College, Integrated Education BuildingPhoenix, Arizona2012Brock Environmental CenterVirginia Beach, Virginia2014University of Illinois, Electrical and Computer Engineering Building Urbana, Illinois2014University of Pennsylvania, Stephen A. Levin BuildingPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania2016Museum of the BibleWashington, DC2017DC Water HeadquartersWashington, DC2018the first building in the United States to use a wastewater heat recovery system for heating and coolingUniversity of Texas at Dallas Engineering BuildingDallas, Texas2018California Pacific Medical Center - Van Ness CampusSan Francisco, California2019University of Michigan Museum of Natural History Ann Arbor, Michigan2019California Institute of Technology - Chen Neuroscience Research BuildingPasadena, California2020

References

Further reading

External links SmithGroup company website