Top 100: SmithGroup's Diverse Structure

Just because an event precedes something, doesn?t mean it caused it. (Cubs fans: that one time you didn't wear your lucky hat is not the cause of the team's woes.) But we sense SmithGroup's  success is the result of stretching its diverse architecture and engineering specialties—healthcare, higher ed, workplace, and technology—both federal and private sector, since its founding in 1853.
 

Another key: Lasting relationships with universities and hospitals. Though the firm has 800 people nationwide, we chose to speak with just Chicago principals on Friday, Rod Vickroy, Noel Bryan, Angie Lee, Jens Mammen, and Carolina Lopez, who tell us they're working on everything from state-of-the-art training centers for Microsoft and Deloitte, to an electrical and computer engineering building at Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to a cancer research hospital at Louisiana State. The Chicago office has grown to fifty members, with some, like Noel and Carolina, joining from other offices across the country.

Diversity is also found in employee personalities. (Ever honest, Noel is sure he wouldn't want to work with a bunch of people just like him.) They say the result is a fun office where people dress up for Halloween and host potlucks during lunch hours. They hope to grow their office over the next two years with the help of the GSA Region 5 IDIQ  they were awarded earlier this year.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's Chicago Newsletters
Related Stories

Denver Public Schools' $11M Centennial Hall Purchase Marks Rare Land Sale For ULC

$3B Foundry Park Project Breaks Ground: The Chicago Deal Sheet

Brandywine Plans To Sell $200M Worth Of Properties In 2027

Pennsylvania Reveals Draft Map Of Areas To Benefit From Opportunity Zones 2.0

'We Don't Have To Worry About The Future': Chicago Geothermal Apartment Tower Takes Shape

Cresa Taps Nathan Knowles As Atlanta Market Leader

Developer Of $3.8B Atlanta Project Discloses $19M Accounting Error

Foreclosure Auction Set For Loop Office-To-Residential Conversion

Inter Miami Stadium Subcontractors Sue Over Millions In Unpaid Work

Meet The Women Pushing Boundaries In UK Development

Despite Foreclosure Litigation, Kaufman Astoria Studios Is Bouncing Back

2.1M SF Chicago Office Complex Set For November Sheriff's Auction