RaganSmith, a Tennessee-based design and engineering powerhouse, has been a large part of shaping the landscape of Murfreesboro and other areas throughout Tennessee with a wide variety of community-defining projects in its portfolio.
From the transformation of the Town Creek area currently underway to the firm’s work along Medical Center Parkway, RaganSmith combines technical expertise and a community-driven approach to deliver innovative design solutions. The firm, which employs 180 professionals across offices in Nashville, Chattanooga, Murfreesboro and Franklin, prides itself on providing a full spectrum of services.
“We take land from concept to completion,” says Colin Johnson, vice president with RaganSmith and head of the firm’s Chattanooga office. “We provide consulting services for every step of that process.”
Company offerings include help with land planning, design, civil engineering, surveying, environmental services, roadway projects, landscape architectural design and other needs, and the RaganSmith team ensures every detail is handled with care and creativity. Whether it’s parceling off a family farm or laying the groundwork for a new NFL stadium, the firm brings the same passion and precision to each of its projects.
Kevin Guenther and Eric Parl
RaganSmith continues “riding the momentum that [company principal] Kevin Guenther has helped establish with strong visionary planning,” Johnson says. When they were looking for their Murfreesboro office to expand more into the engineering field, RaganSmith brought in Eric Parl as its local civil practice leader.
With its expansion into Murfreesboro in 2016, RaganSmith sought to embed itself into the community. The firm has more recently settled into a local office space located within Fountains at Gateway, an already iconic mixed-use development that RaganSmith had helped to envision.
“It’s best to be a part of the community you’re working in,” Parl says. “We want to be part of the vision that the people of Murfreesboro have for their community.”
Daylighting of Town Creek renderings
That vision is evident in the firm’s ongoing work as part of the team for the Town Creek daylighting project, which aims to revitalize Murfreesboro’s Broad Street by restoring natural water flow, enhancing the urban environment and creating a space where residents and visitors can connect with nature. The project is just one of many on which RaganSmith has partnered with city government and Griggs and Maloney to help bring transformative ideas to life.
Broad Street and Lytle Street rendering
RaganSmith’s work in Murfreesboro also includes the original gateway plan for the Medical Center Parkway corridor, Historic Downtown Master Plans, and the citywide Future Land Use Plan, and the company remains involved in various ongoing planning projects with the City of Murfreesboro.
“We’ve also been working with Middle Tennessee Electric on some of their substation and power projects,” Parl adds.
Amazon project rendering
Regionally, RaganSmith also served as land engineer for the new Tennessee Titans stadium and continues work on the Nashville Yards project, a mixed-use urban development which houses the new Amazon headquarters and a Hyatt Hotel.
“We’re working with Cool Springs Galleria on a redevelopment there,” Parl notes, adding that his firm has also been involved in “numerous residential subdivisions and industrial sites in surrounding counties.”
For Parl, the passion for architecture and design began early. Childhood memories of building with Legos and playing Sim City inspired his career path, eventually leading to his current role in Murfreesboro at RaganSmith, the firm that hired him in 2013.
“The passion is there on a daily basis,” he says.
For any landowner with a vision—whether it’s restoring a creek, crafting a residential neighborhood, designing a shopping center, expanding a roadway, splitting the family farm into individual lots or conceptualizing a massive sports arena—RaganSmith offers the engineering expertise and full slate of consulting services to help make that idea a reality.
For more information on RaganSmith and its services, call 615-546-6050 or visit ragansmith.com.
