About

Smith L. Holt

Smith Holt has helped clients manage their project needs for decades, handling everything from commercial and residential architectural design to construction representation, owner representation, construction management and even laboratory design.

Smith’s eye for detail brings clarity and integrity to even the most complex scenarios. His background in architecture and experience representing clients onsite gives him an intimate knowledge of multiple building systems and a solid understanding of the construction process from end to end. He’s even been responsible for some of the most energy-efficient homes in Austin.

After earning a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Smith worked for L.M. Holder III, FAIA, focusing on residential and commercial projects. This experience included the Bridgepoint development above the 360 bridge in Austin. In 1996, Smith relocated to Dallas and began working with Corgan Associates and later with Good Fulton & Farrell Architects, where he remained until 2003. While there, Smith worked as an Architect and Project Manager and completed projects representing Nokia Inc. in Brazil, Mexico, California, Washington and Canada. After completing the projects that required residency in California and Canada, Smith and his family returned to Austin and have been there since.

Smith’s practice in Austin has established a trend of building long-term relationships with clients, maintaining a rich mix of project types, including energy efficiency in high-performance homes, and providing intelligent solutions to design and construction issues. His work has included the management of commercial projects in Austin, New York and Indiana and residential homes in Austin and New Mexico.

For the last several years Smith has been awarded contracts with the Austin Independent School District’s construction management department. His work with AISD has included building assessment, management of construction projects, management of maintenance items and the remodeling of existing spaces. This work has required creative and insightful solutions for work in buildings dating from 1915 to 2010.

Aspen Shariff-Bey

Aspen recently graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. During his undergrad studies, Aspen participated in many international studio projects, including in Mexico, Morocco, Portugal and Spain. He then took this knowledge and experience and applied it to his undergraduate thesis on Lima, Peru, entitled “Third Spaces: Entertaining the Differences of Lima, Peru.”

Outside of the classroom, Aspen was involved with Student Housing as a Community Mentor. In this role, he promoted student success initiatives both inside and outside of the classroom.

Alex Noaks

Alex is currently in his fourth year of school at the University of Texas at Austin, working toward his Bachelor of Architecture. Alex has been a resident of Austin since 2012, where he’s witnessed unprecedented city growth. On an academic and personal level, he is extremely interested in the notion of displacement and how it impacts a designer. Having been born in the United Kingdom and subsequently moving to several different places, both urban and rural, throughout his childhood, he thoroughly believes that displacement has had a huge impact on his development and exposed him to many different ways of life. He takes this aspect of his upbringing to heart, and it’s certainly had an impact on his career path. On a professional level, he enjoys the breadth of work Smith Holt, LLC has to offer him as a young and growing designer. Public sector, educational, commercial and residential projects all offer unique challenges that Alex very much enjoys tackling in their own respective manners. He appreciates the exposure and experience that he has gained so far and looks forward to continued growth moving forward with Smith Holt, LLC.

Kiran Dix

Kiran has been in Austin Texas for over 40 years, experiencing a plethora of diverse opportunities which has brought to her current profession as senior project manager. She began her leadership career as volunteer coordinator at the LBJ Presidential Library & Museum. There she floated between supervising a volunteer staff of over 100 and assisting with the fabrication of the museum’s in-house exhibitions. She left the LBJ Library to pursue a career in Austin’s music scene, where she managed and booked both local and national acts for many years. Her exposure to Austin’s art scene opened up an opportunity to switch her talents from music to theater arts, joining the avant garde Vortex Theater, literally on the ground floor helping with its construction and administrative tasks. During this time, she initiated another business as a personal concierge, catering to full-time professionals. When a client, recommended Kiran to a downtown Austin commercial property management company, another leadership path opened for her. While working at two of the city’s most revered historic buildings (Scarbrough & Littlefield), she learned all facets of property project management. When another iconic building of Austin (The Long Center) was just about to open its doors, Kiran joined its financial/administration staff and heavily assisted in its formative business years. During her 10 years+ tenure at the LC, her skills centered mainly in financial and property management, with a focus on vendor /client / staff relations. Kiran is thrilled to be a member of the Smith Holt, LLC firm because of its diversity of projects (institutional, commercial, residential) and its strong commitment to professional integrity, immense knowledge of all facets of the building process and complete client satisfaction from start to finish.