McMillan Pazdan Smith (MPS) has acquired Smolen Emr Ilkovitch Architects (SEI) of Rockville, Md. This partnership expands MPS’s presence into the U.S. Mid-Atlantic with a new studio and grows the reach of the firm’s K-12 architecture, interior design, planning, and advisory practice to clients in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and the surrounding region.

The addition reinforces the firm’s place among the top 25 K-12 architecture practices in the U.S.

Since its founding in 1959, SEI has embraced complex planning and collaborative design, delivering results that have earned its position as an industry leader in the Maryland Public School design sector. The firm has provided planning and design solutions to over 425 schools in 14 jurisdictions.

MPS is an industry pace-setting design and advisory firm with 2025 revenue in the top 20 among all architecture firms nationally, and studios across Alabama, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

The firm was recently named to the PSMJ 2026 Circle of Excellence, a group of the best managed firms in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry based on nine key performance metrics including financial strength, operational discipline, and long-term resilience.

The acquisition of SEI further enhances an MPS team of architects, planners, and experienced advisors.

The MPS team works collaboratively with clients to assess facilities, plan for enrollment shifts, and design flexible spaces that adapt to the evolving needs of elementary, middle, and high schools, career and technology education (CTEs) and workforce development centers, independent schools, early learning environments, performing arts centers, and athletic facilities.

While financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, SEI’s leadership and 20+ full-time workforce will become part of MPS.

About MPS
McMillan Pazdan Smith is a leading architecture, advisory services, planning, and interior design firm. A community-based presence since 1955, MPS is driven by a collaborative culture, creative and expert client solutions, and design excellence. With more than 100 AIA awards since 2000, the firm’s purpose is to reimagine what is possible and create meaningful and lasting impact for the good of all.