Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture is an architecture firm and design firm based in Chicago. AS+GG was founded in Chicago in 2006, by Adrian Smith, Gordon Gill, and Robert Forest when they left the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP (SOM). Taking their experience on large, mixed-use projects, Smith, Gill and Forest have decided to focus on design of high-performance, energy-efficient and sustainable architecture on an international scale.

Adrian Smith's departure from SOM has been widely reported. And Mr. Smith has several projects still under construction that were designed while at SOM including: Burj Dubai, Dubai, Broadgate Tower, London, England and Trump International Hotel and Tower, Chicago, and with Gordon Gill and Robert Forest: Nanjing Greenland Financial Center, Nanjing, China. Gordon, while at SOM, designed the award winning Virginia Beach Convention Center, Virginia Beach, Virginia. He also designed the Pearl River Tower,Guangzhou, China with Robert also working on the project.

According to the AS+GG website, they are working on several projects. One of these in Chicago is located at Franklin Point, four blocks south of the Sears Tower and reportedly at an estimated cost of $1.6 billion.

Though the start up of their firm appears to have had some rough moments (Smith had to pay $250K of salaries out of his own pocket to cover one rough spot), they have been commissioned for at least one ground-breaking building. Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture has been chosen over SOM, Norman Foster, Atkins, and Helmut Jahn to design and build the Headquarters of Masdar City, a zero energy, zero carbon, zero waste city in the United Arab Emirates.

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture (AS+GG) has grown substantially since its inception in November 2006 with only 7 employees. At the end of one year the firm employed 35. And as of April 2008 there are over 70 employees at AS+GG.

Current projects

• Development at Franklin Point, Chicago
• Masdar City Headquarters

References

External links

• Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture official site