DETROIT — SmithGroupJJR, one of the nation’s largest architecture, engineering and planning firms, has hired veteran architect Cynthia K. Pozolo, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, at its Detroit office.
Pozolo joins SmithGroupJJR as the firm’s project director for the new Robley Rex VA Medical Center in Louisville, Ky. The project is being delivered by a joint-venture partnership of SmithGroupJJR and URS Corp.
The new state-of-the-art medical center is expected to cost an estimated $883.2 million and open in 2018. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2014 on a newly acquired 34.5 acre site.
“Cindy Pozolo adds tremendous leadership and value to our management team for the new Robley Rex VA Medical Center project in Louisville,” Jeff Hausman said, AIA, LEED AP, director of SmithGroupJJR’s Detroit office. “She is highly skilled in project management and architectural development.”
The University of Michigan grad, Pozolo joins SmithGroupJJR from Albert Kahn Associates, Inc. in Detroit, where she was corporate director, vice president and studio leader. For her long-time client Aurora Health Care, Wisconsin’s premier non-profit health care network of 15 hospitals, Pozolo completed major projects like the 510,000-square-foot Aurora Grafton Hospital and Medical Center, Wisconsin’s first LEED certified hospital. For another client, Ally Financial (formerly GMAC Financial Services), Pozolo led more than 700 projects throughout North America over a span of 20 years.
Pozolo also brings to SmithGroupJJR special expertise in ISO Quality and Environmental Management Systems, which provides practical tools for companies and organizations looking to identify and control their environmental impact and constantly improve their quality of service and performance.
Earlier this year, Pozolo was elevated to the American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows, a program that recognizes architects who have made a significant contribution to architecture and society and who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession. Pozolo will be among the Institute’s 122 new Fellows honored at an investiture ceremony at the 2013 National AIA Convention and Design Exposition in Denver. A member of the AIA since 1988, Pozolo has held multiple leadership and volunteer roles at the local, state, and national levels and currently chairs the AIA Michigan Finance Committee.
