SmithGroup, one of the nation’s leading architecture, engineering and planning firms, will now operate at SmithGroupJJR.
The name change reflects the creation of a single brand, bringing together SmithGroup and JJR, LLC. Formerly a SmithGroup subsidiary, JJR is an award-winning specialist in landscape architecture, planning, urban design, civil engineering, and environmental science.
“We have always been one company in culture and ownership,” said SmithGroupJJR President & CEO Carl Roehling, FAIA, LEED AP. “By merging our two brands, it’s now loud and clear that we’re together – increasingly multi-disciplined and fully integrated.”
SmithGroup and JJR have been together for more than 40 years. SmithGroup merged with JJR (then known as Johnson, Johnson & Roy) in 1970 to add landscape architecture and planning services. Since then, JJR has been a subsidiary of SmithGroup while continuing to operate as its own brand, retaining the JJR name.
“The new SmithGroupJJR name will help our clients realize the full extent of our services and capabilities,” Roehling explained. “We are one of a few multi-disciplinary design firms that offer this range of integrated services.”
Owners are increasingly opting to use multi-disciplinary firms to solve their project challenges. Having a myriad of design and planning services--from master planning to architecture to multiple engineering disciplines to landscape architecture--provided by a single, integrated firm allows owners to benefit from the creativity and heightened quality that such collaboration brings.
JJR’s expertise now becomes one of SmithGroupJJR’s practices, which focus on the firm’s significant client markets. The firm’s four primary practices--Health, Learning, Workplace and Science & Technology--will now be joined by a fifth, called the Campus, Community & Waterfront practice.
Fred Klancnik, PE, F.ASCE, who has served as president and CEO of JJR since 1999, becomes the leader of the new practice. He believes the name change is good news for clients.
“The specialized services that we are well known for nationally and internationally, such as campus and waterfront development, will now become more readily available to SmithGroupJJR clients throughout all offices,” Klancnik stated. BD+C
Related Stories
| Apr 5, 2013
Bangkok gets a leaning tower, that may topple
A seven-story apartment tower under construction in Bangkok has started to tilt and is on the verge of toppling.
| Apr 5, 2013
Snøhetta design creates groundbreaking high-tech library for NCSU
The new Hunt Library at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, incorporates advanced building features, including a five-story robotic bookBot automatic retrieval system that holds 2 million volumes in reduced space.
| Apr 5, 2013
'My BIM journey' – 6 lessons from a BIM/VDC expert
Gensler's Jared Krieger offers important tips and advice for managing complex BIM/VDC-driven projects.
| Apr 5, 2013
Commercial greenhouse will top new Whole Foods store in Brooklyn
Whole Foods and partner Gotham Greens will create a 20,000-sf greenhouse atop one of the retailer's Brooklyn supermarkets. Expected to open this fall, the facility will supply produce to nine Whole Foods stores in metro New York City.
| Apr 5, 2013
Projected cost for Apple's Campus 2 balloons to $5 billion
Campus 2, Apple Inc.'s proposed ring-shaped office facility in Cupertino, Calif., could cost $5 billion to build, according to a report by Bloomberg.
| Apr 5, 2013
Extreme LEGO: Wondrous micro city built out of 200,000 blocks
Master LEGO builder Mike Doyle unveils his latest creation, an out-of-this-world micro city that celebrates peaceful alien contact.
| Apr 3, 2013
AIA CES class: Sealant repairs that last – hybrid sealants for building restoration
It is hard to talk about restoration without talking about sustainability. This two-hour interactive online course discusses the role that restoration can and does play in the arena of sustainability, and specifically the role that sealants play in sustainable design and repair.
| Apr 3, 2013
Construction spending up 20% since 2011, growth will continue, says Gilbane report
The monthly rate of construction spending is up 20% in 24 months and increased in 18 of the last 24 months, which is a good leading indicator for new construction work in Q3-Q4 2013, according to Gilbane's latest Market Conditions in Construction report.
| Apr 3, 2013
5 award-winning modular buildings
The Modular Building Institute recently revealed the winners of its annual Awards of Distinction contest. There were 42 winners in all across six categories. Here are five projects that caught our eye.
| Apr 2, 2013
6 lobby design tips
If you do hotels, schools, student unions, office buildings, performing arts centers, transportation facilities, or any structure with a lobby, here are six principles from healthcare lobby design that make for happier users—and more satisfied owners.
