Introduction

Memphis is a city full of potential. Businesses of all sizes and all industries are attracted to it for various reasons. That includes firms like Gresham Smith, who create innovative solutions and solve problems in their community.

Though originally started in Nashville, Gresham Smith has been in the Memphis community since 2003 and is a member of the Greater Memphis Chamber’s Board of Advisors. They won a huge Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) project with the Tennessee Department of Transportation. At the time, this was the largest project of its kind. From message boards to cameras on the interstate, Gresham Smith was charged with the design, construction oversight and maintenance of the elements.

“That was the impetus for starting and opening the Memphis office,” said Greg Dotson, State Transportation Leader – West Tennessee.

From there, they moved into another decade-long project—the Sanitary Assessment and Rehabilitation Project (SARP10)—with Public Works, further solidifying their future in Memphis.

Notable Projects

As Gresham Smith expanded their Memphis footprint, they ventured into new industries in the Greater Memphis market. Any Memphian knows one of our largest industry clusters is in Healthcare.

“They [Methodist Healthcare] had an opportunity in Olive Branch to build a new hospital,” David Zegley, Project Executive and Senior Architect at Gresham Smith explained. “We reached out… they were intrigued by the idea.”

This idea was to create a healthier, more sustainable hospital, including measures like using geothermal heat pumps to cool and heat the hospital.  A project like this is ambitious and requires dedication and passion from the team, but all this led to Methodist Healthcare being the first LEED-Gold in-patient healthcare facility in the country.

Awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a LEED Gold (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) healthcare project is a healthcare facility that benefits “people, planet, and profit,” as stated on the USGBC website.

“Methodist is very much on the forefront of technology, so as their projects are getting more and more specialized, we are bringing our expertise to help with that,” he said.

One project led to the other, and most recently, the team at Gresham Smith helped Methodist with their Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit.

The room features a constellation on the ceiling, as well as calm lighting and colors.

“This feature is all integrated into the room. It’s not just something that’s stuck on,” said Steve Verner, Project Executive at Gresham Smith.

David added, “We are focused on reducing stress among patients and families.”

With every project, they ask themselves a variety of questions that help them accomplish a mission.  David said, “What can we do to make sure they’re getting the best care? How can the architecture and engineering give the providers everything they need at their fingertips?”

Projects like this all point back to the heart of Gresham Smith— “genuine ingenuity.” Gresham Smith works to create solutions that are innovative yet practical.

The Best Place to Work

Gresham Smith has been named a “Best Place to Work,” by publications across the United States. But being a best place to work was ingrained in them from day one. Their core values include commitment, integrity, respect, and teamwork.

“We believe that if we focus on and put a high priority on people [and] culture, that all the other metrics will work out,” Greg explained.

They believe that with a focus on people-first, everything else will fall into place, from timely delivery of projects to profit margins.

“It starts, continues, and ends with our people and our culture,” Greg said.

Each year, Gresham Smith has a company-wide celebration to not only commemorate their founding, but to recognize the people that make up Gresham Smith and their accomplishments from the past year. What’s even more special about their celebration is that it’s firm-wide—people from every branch across the country.

“When we celebrate, we mean celebrate and we want everyone to be a part of it.”

Forward-Thinking

“It [innovation] has become an integral part of our entire firm,” Greg said.

The team at Gresham Smith is always looking for ways to streamline processes, enhance design, and continually use innovation. One example of their innovation is through a service they created called Studio X.

“It’s everything—not just the projects, but it’s also in the proposals,” Greg continued.

Studio X is used for renderings, unique proposals, and more.

“We want to make sure innovation is an integral part of every aspect of our company.”

Steve added another way they’ve created innovative solutions is through what they call, MPATH. This app detects stress while you’re cycling for instance.

“We continue to develop that, and we work with our clients to see what is that next step. It’s beyond just drawing,” he mentioned.

Now, Gresham Smith is working with academic medical centers to integrate the app in different environments.

“We’re using evidence-based design, and we’re trying to go beyond the bricks and mortar to that next level of how do you reduce stress in the environment.”

Conclusion

Gresham Smith goes beyond being an architecture, engineering, and design firm. They are a firm that prioritizes people, both internally and externally. They work, they do what matters and they make sure of it. Gresham Smith Memphis values the community. They give back just as much as Memphis gives to them.

“We’re here and we’re gonna be here—from a project perspective and a community perspective,” Greg said.