Move reflects firm’s growing body of work across the city and region
McIntosh Poris Architects moved from Birmigham, MI, to Detroit, putting the firm’s architects and principals at the center of their current pipeline of work. Photo courtesy of McIntosh Poris Architects.
DETROIT — McIntosh Poris Architects (MPA) has relocated its headquarters from Birmingham to Detroit, establishing a new office in the city’s Midtown neighborhood as the firm continues to expand its presence across the region.
The move reflects MPA’s increasing volume of work in Detroit, where the 17-person firm currently has more than 1,200 housing units in various stages of development and construction, representing more than 1 million square feet of residential space. MPA’s portfolio in the city spans adaptive reuse, multifamily housing, mixed-use development, hospitality, and institutional projects.
Located on West Willis Street, the new office places MPA’s team in close proximity to many of its active and past projects, including recent and ongoing work in Midtown, Downtown, Brush Park, Corktown, Dexter-Linwood, Fenkell, along the Eight Mile and Wyoming corridors, and in the Villages.
“Since the firm’s inception, we’ve worked in Detroit and built relationships with developers and officials across the city,” said Michael Poris, AIA, founding partner of McIntosh Poris Architects. “As the volume and complexity of our work here has grown, it made sense to formalize our presence and be closer to the communities and projects we’re engaged in every day.”
Founded in 1994 with a mission of saving legacy buildings from demolition, McIntosh Poris Architects’ initial focus on Detroit historic preservation expanded over the years. The firm’s portfolio currently contains award-winning projects in several typologies—including urban design and single-family homes—in Metro Detroit and beyond. Recent work includes Amsterdam Lofts, a residential adaptive reuse of the original Cadillac assembly building, as well as Brainard Flats, and hospitality projects including Gilly’s, Sunda, and Pine Hall.
Current projects include Fisher 21 Lofts, a 433-unit adaptive reuse of the historic Fisher car-body plant; Detroit Horse Power, an urban equestrian center offering youth programming and community engagement, and DCFC Housing, a 104-unit mixed-use development associated with the Detroit City Football Club stadium; Wallace Estates, a 40-unit mixed-use building in Brush Park being developed by rapper Tee Grizzley; and Edmund Place, a new 57-unit mixed-use development in Brush Park.
The firm’s relocation also reflects broader shifts in Detroit’s development landscape, where increased demand for housing and continued investment in urban neighborhoods have created new opportunities for ground-up and adaptive reuse projects.
With its headquarters now in Detroit, MPA will continue to support a growing pipeline of work throughout the city and surrounding region.
About McIntosh Poris Architects
Detroit-based McIntosh Poris Architects—AIA Michigan’s 2024 Firm of the Year—believes in the power of design as a catalyst for change, transforming communities through creative, interactive city building. Since 1994, the architects and urbanists of McIntosh Poris Architects have delivered architecture, interior, and urban design services for commercial, residential, and institutional clients across the U.S. Led by principals Michael Poris, AIA, Laurie Hughet-Hiller, AIA, and John Skok, AIA, McIntosh Poris Architects has won more than 160 design awards, including 40 regional and national AIA awards and a ULI Global Award for Excellence. Poris is a recipient of the prestigious Charles Blessing Award from Detroit AIA.
