Justin Smith Architects Is Now JSA Architects


Justin Smith Architects is rebranding as JSA Architects.

If you’ve worked with us before, the name will be familiar - it’s what most people have been calling us for years. Today we’re making it official.

Same practice. Same team. Same approach. Different name on the door.

Why Now?

The practice has grown steadily since 2002. The team has grown. The range of projects has grown. The geography has grown. And somewhere along the way, what had started as a practice built around one person’s name had quietly become something bigger than that - a team, a culture, a way of working that didn’t begin and end with a single individual.

That’s a good thing. It’s what any practice should be working toward. But it does raise a question: when the thing you’ve built is genuinely bigger than your own name, should your name still be on the front door?

For Justin, the answer was increasingly straightforward.

"The practice has never really been about me. It was built by a lot of people, and the clients we work with are loyal to the team as much as anything else. Keeping my name on the front of the practice was starting to feel like it was working against that. The rebrand gives the practice room to grow in ways that a name tied to one person simply can’t. It also makes succession — which is something any responsible practice owner has to plan for — a much more natural conversation.”

— Justin Smith, Founder, JSA Architects

If you’ve worked with us at any point over the past decade, you probably called us JSA. Emails arrive addressed to JSA. Site meetings get noted as JSA. Referrals come in as “that firm - JSA.”

There’s something clarifying about that. The abbreviation had done what abbreviations do - it stuck, travelled faster than the full name, and gradually became the thing itself. The full name was the formality. JSA was the reality.

Making the rebrand official isn’t reinvention. It’s recognition.

What the New Name Makes Possible

Naming a practice after its founder makes sense at the start. It’s clear, it’s accountable, and it puts a face to the work. But it also creates a ceiling.

A founder’s name signals that one person is the practice. JSA signals that the practice is the practice - the people, the methods, the track record. It’s a subtle shift on paper. In terms of what it opens up, it’s significant.

Growth. The ability to expand studios, add directors, take on a wider range of projects without every conversation circling back to whether the named individual is personally involved.

Succession. A practice named after its founder tends to raise uncomfortable questions the moment that founder steps back. JSA doesn’t raise those questions. It sidesteps them entirely.

Stability. Clients who’ve worked with us for years - and there are many, some going back over a decade - are hiring the team, the expertise, and the approach. The new name reflects that more honestly than the old one did.

What Doesn’t Change

Quite a lot, as it happens.

The practice was established in 2002. The team that has built it - the architects, the technologists, the support staff - are still here. The projects that define what we do are the same: residential extensions, new builds, commercial development, barn conversions, planning applications. The studios remain in Derby and Nottingham. The approach - direct, practical, no unnecessary drama - remains exactly as it was.

And Justin is still here. A rebrand isn’t a retirement. The practice will benefit from his experience and oversight for the foreseeable future. What changes is that the practice is no longer structured around his name — which means it’s structured, instead, around everything that actually makes it work.

For Our Clients

If you’re a current client: nothing changes in practical terms. Your contacts, your projects, your points of communication - all the same. You’ll notice the new name on correspondence and on the website, and that will probably be the extent of it.

If you’re considering working with us: you’re talking to a practice with over 700 projects delivered, a 97% planning approval rate, and a team that’s been working together - in various configurations - for the better part of two decades. The name has changed. The track record hasn’t.

A Practical Note

Our website is transitioning to jsa.design. Our email addresses and contact numbers remain the same. If you have existing correspondence from Justin Smith Architects, it’s valid - the practice is the same legal entity. If you have any questions about the transition, the team is happy to answer them.

Areas We Cover

JSA Architects Across the Midlands

We work with homeowners, developers, and landlords across the Midlands. Fees, planning authorities, and project types vary by location — find local insight and project examples for your area:

Architects in Derby → — Quarndon, Kirk Langley, Duffield, Allestree, Darley Abbey, Mickleover, Littleover

Architects in Nottingham → — The Park Estate, West Bridgford, Edwalton, Mapperley Park, Wollaton, Bramcote

Architects in Lichfield → — Shenstone, Little Aston, Four Oaks, Streetly, Aldridge, Walsall, Tamworth, Whittington

Architects in Solihull → — Knowle, Dorridge, Hampton in Arden, Shirley, Dickens Heath, Olton

Architects in Sutton Coldfield → — Four Oaks, Wylde Green, Boldmere, Mere Green, Streetly, Little Aston

Ready To Talk?

How it works (Because "get in touch" shouldn't feel like a leap of faith)

01. Talk One conversation to understand your project, your budget, and whether we're the right fit. No obligation. No sales pitch.

02. Design Everything built around your brief. We sketch, develop, and refine — with check-ins before anything is fixed. You stay in control without getting buried in the detail.

03. Deliver Through planning, building regs, and into construction. We handle the process. You make the decisions that matter.

Get in touch today