F&S Partners Merges with SmithGroup

Dallas architecture firm to join leading, national architecture and engineering
firm
DALLAS--(Business Wire)--
F&S Partners, a Dallas, Texas architecture firm specializing in the design of
educational, recreational and religious projects, announced today it has merged
with SmithGroup, one of the top 10 architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
and a national leader in sustainable design. The 40-person office in Dallas now
carries the joint name of SmithGroup/F&S.

SmithGroup/F&S in Dallas provides architecture, interior design and planning to
clients throughout Texas and the southwest U.S. The office will also offer MEP
engineering services through the expertise available at SmithGroup offices
nationwide.

Founded in 1962 as Fisher and Spillman Architects, F&S Partners has served
institutional, private and municipal clients across Texas. With the merger,
Robert L. Shaw, Jr., AIA, president of F&S Partners, becomes a SmithGroup vice
president and the office director of SmithGroup/F&S. He also joins SmithGroup`s
board of directors. All of F&S Partners` employees have been retained and its
five principals maintain their management positions.

The merger gives F&S Partners the expanded resources necessary to design larger,
more complex projects, while allowing SmithGroupto bring its national expertise
in designing higher education, science and technology, health and workplace
facilities to clients in Texas.

"One of the major initiatives in Texas right now is the elevation of its
emerging research universities to national status, and we wanted to find a way
to help our clients meet this goal by designing the best facilities. Operating
in Dallas as SmithGroup/F&S, we can now offer our clients access to some of the
nation`s leading experts in university design and laboratory planning," said
Shaw.

SmithGroup President & CEO Carl Roehling, FAIA, LEED AP, shares Shaw`s optimism
for growth in Texas`s higher education market. "F&S Partners has built key
client relationships with the largest university systems in Texas," said
Roehling. "We`re confident they`re the right firm to accelerate SmithGroup`s
growth in the higher education market. F&S Partners has an impressive portfolio
of recreational facilities, which fits in well with SmithGroup`s student life
initiative."

The merger follows two years of communication and successful collaboration
between the two firms. Earlier this year, SmithGroup and F&S Partners teamed up
to win several significant healthcare, university and recreation projects in
Texas and Arizona.

College and university clients who have worked with both firms are enthusiastic
about the merger and the opportunities it brings to Texas` architectural scene.
Mike Ellicott, vice chancellor for facilities planning and construction at the
Texas Tech University System, has worked with both SmithGroup and F&S Partners
over the past 10 years and long thought the firms` pairing would be smart.

"I know both SmithGroup and F&S Partners well and this merger sounds like a
match made in heaven," said Ellicott. "Both firms have similar cultures and a
strong client focus. I look forward to great things."

SmithGroup, which posted 2008 gross revenue of $166.1 million,is the oldest
continually operating architecture and engineering firm in the U.S., founded in
1853. With the addition of the Dallas location, the 800-employee firm now
operates 11 offices across the U.S. A national leader in sustainable,
environmentally intelligent design, SmithGroup currently employs 317 LEED
accredited professionals and has 32 LEED certified projects, including five with
the highest Platinum status. Among its most noteworthy, recently completed
projects are the dual LEED Platinum Christman Building, a corporate headquarters
in Lansing, Mich.; the LEED Platinum Smart Home at Duke University, Durham,
North Carolina; and the National Renewable Energy Lab`s Science & Technology
Facility, Golden, Colo., the first LEED Platinum federal project.

SmithGroup is designing the California Pacific Medical Center - Cathedral Hill
Hospital, a $950 million, 914,000 square-foot, 555-bed hospital using "lean"
construction, slated for completion in 2014 in downtown San Francisco.

F&S Partners, a leading architecture and interior design firm in Texas, has
combined innovative design with attention to detail and personal service to
create building designs that foster a sense of community and enhance quality of
life. Its most recent design completions in Texas include the $35 million
student recreation center addition and renovation at the University of Texas at
San Antonio, the $7.2 million renovation of the Texas Tech University College of
Engineering`s Livermore Laboratory building, Lubbock; and the new French Family
Science, Math & Technology Center, a $15 million LEED Silver building for
Ursuline Academy of Dallas, a Catholic college preparatory school.

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F&S Partners
Cynthia Brown, CPSM
cbrown@fsarchitects.com
469-232-5518
or
SmithGroup
Sandra Knight, APR
sandra.knight@smithgroup.com
313.442.8470

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