Principal
With more than 20 years in professional practice, Joe Smith was a founding partner in Hall Smith Office (HSO), a multidisciplinary design firm specializing in residential and commercial historic preservation projects as well as new infill construction within historic districts. Joe’s new construction design pays special attention to the craft and detail of traditional architecture, while creating spaces which complement modern functions.
A core specialty of Joe’s architectural practice has been the recording, assessment, and rehabilitation design of historic buildings of myriad types, sizes, and periods. Special emphasis is given to the preservation of vernacular and utilitarian architecture. This work also focuses on the integration of environmentally sound practices into preservation architecture. Since coming to Georgia in 2005, Joe has participated in the restoration and/or renovation of more than eighty historic structures in the state.
Before establishing HSO, Joe was an Associate at CWB Architects in Brooklyn, New York, where he specialized in rehabilitation and renovation of historic brownstone residences. Joe received his AB in Design from Duke University and his Master of Architecture degree from the Yale School of Architecture.
In addition to his professional responsibilities, Joe teaches American architectural history in the Master of Heritage Preservation program at Georgia State University in Atlanta and serves on the Georgia National Register Review Board. Since 2006 he has served as vice-chair of the Madison Historic Preservation Commission. Joe speaks frequently to groups around the state on topics in historic preservation and architectural history. He is a registered architect in Georgia and New York.
Joe’s work has received awards from AIA Atlanta, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation, Historic Athens, and the Madison Historic Preservation Commission, and has been featured on houzz.com. His work has been published in the Wall Street Journal, Elle Decor, Fine Homebuilding magazine, Interior Design magazine, and in the books Madison: A Classic Southern Town and The New American Dream: Living Well in Small Homes.
Joe contributed a chapter to the forthcoming book, Architecture of the Last Colony: Georgia’s Historic Places, 1733-2000.
