SmithGroupJJR, a national architecture, engineering, and planning firms, has hired Debra Axelrood and Tony Catchot to its Ann Arbor office.
Axelrood joins SmithGroupJJR as landscape architect after leading her own firm, Debra Axelrood LLC, specializing in sustainable urban, health care and residential environments. With 35 years of experience, she created the award-winning Munson Medical Center Kid’s Creek in Traverse City and Evangelical Homes of Michigan Memory Support Center in Saline.
Axelrood, of Ann Arbor, is a member of American Society of Landscape Architects and active with two of its professional practice networks: Health care and therapeutic design and sustainable design and development.
She earned her bachelor of landscape architecture from Michigan State University.
Catchot rejoins SmithGroupJJR as a principal landscape architect, coming from the University of Michigan, where he was assistant university planner for the past 10 years. A previous nearly 20-year employee of SmithGroupJJR, Catchot was hired by the University of Michigan in 2005 and coordinated with the university’s facility managers, faculty, staff and students relative to ongoing and future planning, design and construction activities.
He also played a critical planning and design role on master plan updates for the five University of Michigan Ann Arbor campuses and provided site planning and design support on a variety of the university’s projects, most over $1 million in construction.
Catchot, of Ann Arbor, earned a bachelor of landscape architecture from Louisiana State University.
