GRAY SMITH AIA AICP

Gray Smith AIA AICP, is the owner of Gray Smith’s Office, an architectural and urban planning consulting practice.  The firm has undertaken many construction projects with an equal emphasis on rehabilitation, historic preservation and new construction, including complex housing, commercial and institutional projects.  For governments and non-profit organizations, the firm completed numerous inner-city and downtown planning studies.  Gray Smith’s Office also provides services in forensic analysis and testimony on premises liability, construction litigation, accessibility for disabled persons, planning and zoning, and related disputes.

Mr. Smith was a founding board member of the Preservation Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.  He was President of the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1982 and Chair of its Urban Design Committee.  He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), International Code Council (ICC), and the National Fire Prevention Association (NFPA).  He is a shareholder in the Atheneum of Philadelphia.

Gray Smith has served as board member of the Housing Consortium for Disabled Individuals (HCDI).  He was a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Investigative Division of the Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention, an arbitration panelist for the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Construction Division, and is a technical advisor to the SeniorLaw Center.  He has been Chairperson of the Zoning and Code Enforcement Committees of the South Street Neighborhood Association (SSNA), and the Bella Vista Civic Association, and Chair of the SSNA Liquor Control Committee.  Mr. Smith is a past SSNA President.

In Philadelphia, Gray Smith was appointed by Mayor Wilson Goode to the Mayor's Task Force on the Schuylkill Falls Housing Project, and served on Councilman Ed Schwartz's Task Force on Neighborhood Resources and on the Managing Director's South Street Task Force.  He participated in the Adaptable Housing Standards Committee in amending the Philadelphia Building Codes, and was a consultant to the Fire Safety Committee of the Boarding Home Residents Task Force regarding City Fire Code revisions.  The firm produced the Stair Injury Prevention Manual for the Philadelphia Injury Prevention Program of the City Health Department.  Mr. Smith is a member of the Barrier-Free Design Committee of the Mayor’s Commission on Persons with Disabilities.

In 2003, Mr. Smith received the Regional Award for accessibility advocacy from the Inglis Foundation of Philadelphia.  He received the 1995 Preservation Achievement Award from the Philadelphia Historic Preservation Corporation.

In 1998 - 2000, Mr. Smith was appointed by the ICC to serve on the International Zoning Code Committee, and the International Property Maintenance Code Development Committee, in the annual code change review process.  In 2006, he was appointed to the ICC Existing Building Code Committee and the omnibus ICC Codes Interpretation Committee. In April 2005 and May 2006, he conducted seminars on The Construction Code System in Philadelphia for the Lorman Education Services continuing education program. He served on the Advisory Committee for the ADA & IT Information Center for the Mid-Atlantic Region.  He was a member of the Inclusive Communities Working Group of the Housing Alliance of PA.

Mr. Smith has a Masters degree from Tulane University School of Architecture (1965) in New Orleans.  He was a Loeb Fellow in Advanced Environmental Studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (1973-74).  He is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Mr. Smith authored a column in the Philadelphia City Paper on "Endangered Buildings and Places".  He has presented many lectures and invited papers, and has been a contributor to the Philadelphia Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer newspapers. 

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