Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture is dedicated to the design of high-performance, sustainable architecture on an international scale. The firm approaches each project with an understanding that architecture has the power to influence to aid society, advance modern technology, sustain the environment and inspire those around us to improve our world. We use an integrated design approach that emphasizes a relationship with the natural environment -- a philosophy called global environmental contextualism. This approach takes into consideration building orientation, daylighting, generation of wind power, solar absorption, and a site's geothermal properties and represents a fundamental change in the design process, one in which form follows performance. It's based on the understanding that everything within the built and natural environment is connected, and that a building's design should stem from an understanding of its role within that context -- locally, regionally and globally. This approach acknowledges the interaction among building systems and the natural environment, seeking to improve each individual system's performance. By using this principle in the design of buildings, we can create structures that not only reduce their negative environmental impact, but in some cases, virtually eliminate it altogether. AS+GG's practice includes designers with extensive experience in multiple disciplines, including technical architecture, interior design, urban planning and sustainable design. Architects also have expertise in a range of building types, including supertall towers, large-scale mixed-use complexes, corporate offices, exhibition facilities, cultural facilities and museums, civic and public spaces, hotels and residential complexes, institutional projects and high-tech laboratory facilities. The firm was founded in 2006 by partners Adrian Smith, Gordon Gill and Robert Forest. Today there are over 120 employees in offices in Chicago and Beijing.