SmithGroup names Tim Tracey as director of Chicago office

SmithGroup, one of the nation’s largest architecture, engineering and planning firms, has named Tim Tracey, AIA, as director of its Chicago, Ill. office. He was previously the office’s design director.

Tracey will focus on strengthening the office’s holistic and integrated design process while continuing to lead its reputation as an award-winning firm. He takes over leadership of the 60-person office from Andy Vazzano, who now resumes his focus on the firm’s Science & Technology practice.

“We have been building a strong team over the last few years, during which we’ve learned from our experiences and those of our partners across the country. We’ll continue to leverage the collective expertise and resources of a large national firm to help support and grow our practice here in Chicago,” Tracey said.

SmithGroup’s Chicago office entered 2014 with a number of significant new commissions. In March, the firm was named architect for a new corporate headquarters for Elmhurst, Illinois-based Chamberlain Group, Inc., one of the cornerstone companies of The Duchossois Group, a privately held, family-owned company with holdings in the consumer products, technology and service sectors. The design of the new building is anticipated to start this spring.

Additional projects of SmithGroup’s Chicago office are nearing construction completion, including the $22.8 million Argonne National Laboratory Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility in Argonne, Ill. When completed in April 2014, the 60,000-square-foot facility will house cutting-edge laboratories to provide researchers with the most advanced technology for protein science experiments in the U.S.

A significant science and technology project for SmithGroup will complete summer 2014: the $95 million, 230,000-square-foot Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) building at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. Targeting LEED Platinum, the ECE will establish a sustainability prototype for future University of Illinois projects. Following in spring 2015, the $109 million Center for Advanced Care at the Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago, Ill., will also reach construction completion. The 156,000-square foot outpatient facility will be dedicated to cancer care, digestive health and ambulatory surgery services.

“Tim Tracey’s design talent will be instrumental in continuing to grow our Chicago office,” SmithGroup President & CEO Carl Roehling said.

Tracey is also a member of the Lean Construction Institute (LCI) Chicago Community of Practice Core Group. Founded in 1997, LCI’s purpose is to reform the management of production in design, engineering and construction for capital facilities. “The Lean Construction Institute’s mission of driving waste out of the design and construction process through Integrated Project Delivery is also a central theme in the way we practice,” Tracey said.

Tracey joined SmithGroup’s Chicago office in 2010 as design director for the architecture practice. He is a graduate of Illinois Institute of Technology, where he earned a bachelor of architecture.

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