Curiosity over certainty. This is where intellectual rigor meets creative intent—where strategy, insight, and experimentation converge. We don’t publish to posture. We publish to provoke, to clarify, to refine.

2

Sep

Renovations change a building. Restorations lock a building in time.  Adaptive reuse carries its story forward. Every preserved beam, brick, and window tells a chapter of a building’s history, reminding us of the people and purposes that once shaped a place. These tangible elements become symbols of memory and identity, anchoring a community in it’s

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29

Aug

Smith Gee Studio (SGS) has been a key player in Nashville’s multifamily housing boom, a sector that continues to evolve as the city grows by nearly 30,000 people annually, as reported by The Tennessean. Associate Lauren Miller offers insights into our firm’s approach, shaped by the rapid expansion of the city and the ever-changing needs […]

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Logo for the Living Lowdown, showing a yellow hexagon-shaped house icon with stylized "LI" initials inside, next to the icon is "Living Lowdown" in bold black letters.

The Living Lowdown© is Smith Gee Studio’s resident-driven design resource, built on direct insights from over 360 multifamily residents across Nashville’s urban core. Developed in collaboration with Willow Bridge Property Company, this publication distills survey data into meaningful patterns—revealing how people live, what they value, and where their priorities are shifting.

At Smith Gee Studio, these insights aren’t just data points—they're design drivers. We use what we learn from The Living Lowdown© to shape spaces that respond directly to the evolving needs of real residents. From floor plan configurations to amenity offerings, these findings inform smarter decisions, more relevant designs, and communities that feel intentional from the inside out.

By listening to those who live in the spaces we design, The Living Lowdown© helps developers make more informed decisions and shape projects that are not just market-ready, but truly market-responsive. It’s part research, part reflection—and all about designing smarter, more intentional communities.

View The LIving Lowdown
Two-page layout titled “The Urban Nashville Resident,” featuring demographic data including gender, age, occupation, income, and occupants in bar chart format along the top; left page shows an outdoor urban residential courtyard at sunset with modern buildings and landscaped seating areas; right page describes Nashville’s typical urban resident as a 26-35 year old professional earning $60k-$89k living alone in a one-bedroom apartment, with photography credit.
Two-page layout titled “Work From Home” featuring statistics and text about remote work trends post-Covid; left page includes paragraphs explaining residents’ increased demand for flexible living spaces and work-from-home benefits, with citations; right page highlights that 68% of residents work from home at least once a week, alongside a bar graph and a photo of two people using a laptop.
Left side of image: Two donut charts showing resident survey results. The top chart asks, "Do residents want EV charging?" with 36% responding "Yes" and 64% responding "No." The bottom chart asks, "Do residents want recycling in their building?" with 85% responding "Yes" and 15% responding "No." Both charts are color-coded with orange and cream sections. The source is noted as Riverfront Park and Ascend Amphitheater, with photography by Matthew Cashman. Right side of image: A city park scene under a partly cloudy sky with several people walking along curved paved paths surrounded by green trees and grass. In the background, the city skyline features tall buildings and a distinctive tower with a pointed roof. Overlaid at the top is a small bar graph illustrating car ownership and transportation usage by apartment type, including categories for one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, as well as most used transportation modes such as personal car, rideshare, bus, carpool, and public transit.