News

Gresham Smith adds Higher Education Leadership to Life and Work Places

Senior Architect to Focus on Education and Research Projects

Gresham Smith is excited to announce that Susan KlausSmith, AIA, WELL AP, has joined the firm’s Life and Work Places market in Tampa as a senior architect. With nearly three decades of expertise, Susan has a proven track record in the strategic planning, programming, designing and management of architectural projects, both new and renovation, particularly in the education and research sector.

“Susan is a significant addition to our Education and Research practice area” said Don Reynolds, executive vice president of Gresham Smith’s Life and Work Places market. “Our commitment to expanding our expertise to best serve our growing roster of institutional clients is demonstrated with the addition of Susan, who brings an incredible passion to academic planning and design.

Susan brings experience leading education practice areas in Florida for firms including AECOM and Gensler where she provided her expertise as both a senior designer and an academic planner. Her portfolio includes facilities for education, civic, cultural and research, encompassing university facilities, community recreation centers, K-12 schools and campus master plans. Notable projects with prior firms include University of Miami’s Miami Herbert Business School Expansion Visioning and Program, University of South Florida’s Marshall Student Center, and the programming, planning and schematic design for a new Student Center and a new Nursing School for All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi, India. Susan is currently assisting Florida State University and University of South Florida on projects that support their continued growth and students’ success.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Susan is an enthusiastic advocate for the next generation of architects serving as educator, invited design critic and mentor for architecture programs at the University of Florida, University of South Florida, Valencia College and St. Petersburg College. Additionally, Susan is active in her profession and her community, currently serving as a member of the Society for College and University Planners’ Southern Regional Council and the City of Tampa’s Barrio Latino Commission, which oversees historic preservation in Tampa’s historic Ybor City Historic District. She received a Bachelor of Design in Architecture and Master of Architecture from the University of Florida where she  is currently a member of the College of Design, Construction and Planning’s Green Building Learning Collaborative industry advisory board for the Sustainability in the Built Environment program.