GSBS Architects, a Salt Lake City-based general services architectural and consulting firm, has acquired Atlas Architects, also of Salt Lake City. The transaction was effective Dec. 3, with Atlas staff completing its move to GSBS’s Salt Lake City offices on Jan. 6.
The acquisition includes Atlas’s name, portfolio and staff, GSBS said. The firm’s founder Jason Foster, and three professional staff members, including architects Cindy Bithell and Ashley Iordanov and associate Trayce Webb, have joined GSBS.
Established in 2008, Atlas is known for pioneering the revitalization of Salt Lake City’s transit-oriented Central 9th neighborhood. It started with Building No. 1, housing Atlas’s offices and a coffee shop. Modern buildings for Spyhop Media Arts Center, the Salt Lake Bicycle Collective, Infinite Scale and other businesses followed, along with rowhouses and multi-family structures, centered around the Utah Transit Authority’s 900 South TRAX light rail station.
“The combination of GSBS and Atlas uniquely aligns with both firms’ vision and values as diverse groups of talented, creative and passionate people who seek to improve our communities and environment,” said Foster, who worked for GSBS for three years before leaving to start Atlas. “GSBS is the only firm where I knew I and my team would feel at home.”
“This isn’t a typical acquisition where we’re looking to add expertise in new product sectors,” said Kevin Miller, GSBS president and CEO. “We aim to become even better at what we do well. Atlas and GSBS have done similar projects, and we work for some of the same clients. With the insight and inspiration of Jason’s team, we will deepen our expertise and our commitment to the communities we work in.”
“Atlas has made a huge impact on the Salt Lake community in a relatively short time, and we’re excited to gain the skills, talents, passions, perspectives, insights, and experience of an innovative and focused firm,” Miller added. “Combining with GSBS provides the Atlas team with the resources of a larger firm, collaboration with new colleagues, and participation in a wider range of projects and product sectors.”
Founded in 1978, GSBS Architects employs nearly 100 professional and support staff in offices in Salt Lake City and Fort Worth, Texas. GSBS provides a wide range of creative and consulting services, including architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, planning and urban design, sustainability and experiential graphic design. Its work includes structures such as Salt Lake City’s Public Safety Building, the Natural History Museum of Utah and the Utah Olympic Oval.