SmithGroupJJR, the oldest architecture and engineering firm in the U.S., has opened an office in Shanghai, China.
The 160-year-old SmithGroupJJR, known for its award-winning designs and integrated services, will focus on several of China’s biggest growth markets: research and development, healthcare, continuing care/retirement communities, and higher education.
The new office follows a number of significant projects SmithGroupJJR has designed in China in recent years, serving Chinese clients and U.S-based companies expanding their operations to China. In Changchun, the firm designed the new 468,000-square-meter (5.0 million square feet) automotive research and development center for First Automotive Works, China’s leading manufacturer of passenger cars and commercial trucks and buses. Now under construction, the project will be completed in 2015.
Continuing care/retirement community design is another area of expertise successfully brought to China by SmithGroupJJR. Starting construction this fall in Shanghai is the 21-story ZhongShan Park, a continuing care retirement community SmithGroupJJR designed for the Vcanland Senior Living Group.
Leading SmithGroupJJR’s China operations is Russ Sykes, a 28-year veteran of the firm. Sykes is dividing his time between Shanghai and the SmithGroupJJR office in Detroit, Mich., where he’s spent most of his career.
“Many of our China-based clients, like First Automotive Works, traveled to the U.S and sought us out for our specialized design expertise,” Sykes said. “Now, with the new office, our clients in Shanghai have direct access to our services. Simultaneously, they benefit from the alliances we’ve established and our understanding of how to work in China,” Sykes added .
SmithGroupJJR President & CEO Carl Roehling believes the growing healthcare market in China will help the firm succeed.
“Clients are requesting the level of design expertise we possess,” Roehling said. “For the growing healthcare market in China, there is a need for firms that excel in healthcare design and the advanced technology used in hospitals. We have that expertise,” he added.
SmithGroupJJR is ranked as the10th largest healthcare design firm in the world by the 2013 edition of World Architecture 100, published by Building Design magazine. In Shanghai, SmithGroupJJR designed Shuguang Hospital for Shanghai Traditional Chinese Medical University. The firm’s U.S. clients include the National Institutes of Health, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Stanford University Medical Center, and Kaiser Permanente.
SmithGroupJJR’s China office is located in the Puxi area of Shanghai. The address is Suite A409, Tomorrow Square, 399 W. Nanjing Road, Shanghai, 200003. The phone number is 86 21 2308 1188.
About SmithGroupJJR
SmithGroupJJR is the oldest continually operating architecture and engineering firm in the U.S., founded in 1853. The firm consistently ranks top 10 in the U.S in the primary client markets it serves: healthcare, science & technology, higher education and workplace. A leader in sustainable design, SmithGroupJJR has completed 91 LEED certified projects to- date. The firm’s U.S. offices are located in Ann Arbor, MI; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Detroit, MI; Madison, WI; Los Angeles, CA; Phoenix, AZ; San Francisco, CA; and Washington, DC.
Related Stories
Building Owners | Feb 4, 2021
The Weekly show, Feb 4, 2021: The rise of healthy buildings and human performance
This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders from Brookfield Properties, NBBJ, and UL about healthy buildings certification and improving human performance through research-based design.
AEC Tech | Jan 28, 2021
The Weekly show, Jan 28, 2021: Generative design tools for feasibility studies, and landscape design trends in the built environment
This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders from Studio-MLA and TestFit about landscape design trends in the built environment, and how AEC teams and real estate developers can improve real estate feasibility studies with real-time generative design.
Multifamily Housing | Jan 27, 2021
2021 multifamily housing outlook: Dallas, Miami, D.C., will lead apartment completions
In its latest outlook report for the multifamily rental market, Yardi Matrix outlined several reasons for hope for a solid recovery for the multifamily housing sector in 2021, especially during the second half of the year.
Modular Building | Jan 26, 2021
Offsite manufacturing startup iBUILT positions itself to reduce commercial developers’ risks
iBUILT plans to double its production capacity this year, and usher in more technology and automation to the delivery process.
Multifamily Housing | Jan 20, 2021
Abandoned Miami hospital gets third life as waterfront condo development
The 1920s King Cole Hotel becomes the Ritz-Carlton Residences Miami in the largest residential adaptive reuse project in South Florida.
Multifamily Housing | Jan 14, 2021
The Weekly show, Jan 14, 2021: Passive House innovations, and launching a design studio during the pandemic
This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders about innovations in Passive House design, and the challenges of building a design team and opening a new design studio during a pandemic.
Multifamily Housing | Jan 8, 2021
Student housing development in the time of COVID-19
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, many college and university residences were completed in time for classes, live or virtual. Here are 14 of the best.
AEC Tech | Dec 17, 2020
The Weekly show: The future of eSports facilities, meet the National Institute for AI in Construction
The December 17 episode of BD+C's The Weekly is available for viewing on demand.
Multifamily Housing | Dec 16, 2020
What the Biden Administration means for multifamily construction
What can the multifamily real estate sector expect from Biden and Company? At the risk of having egg, if not a whole omelet, on my face, let me take a shot.
Giants 400 | Dec 16, 2020
Download a PDF of all 2020 Giants 400 Rankings
This 70-page PDF features AEC firm rankings across 51 building sectors, disciplines, and specialty services.