Born and raised in Newport Beach, California, Brian and his family have chosen to call Nashville, Tennessee home for the last 26 years. As such, Brian brings a unique bi-coastal design perspective, range and sensibility to all of the firm’s projects. From residential to commercial and West Coast contemporary, to the style and comfort of the New South.
Brian has a strong background in art, art history, theory, philosophy, and both technical and art photography – all of which informs and enhances the uncommon form and function of his architectural practice. And he has traveled extensively throughout the world, including a year in Switzerland working directly with famed European architect and educator Olivio Ferrari.
After moving to Nashville, Brian joined Tuck Hinton working on a number of the firm’s most highly visible projects. He left to join IDS where he was assigned the firm’s most complex projects for healthcare giant HCA across the country. In 2001 he founded Smallwood + Nickle with his friend and former Tuck Hinton colleague Jim Nickle.
In the community Brian has been a member of the board of trustees for Cheekwood Botanical Gardens and Art Museum. He was chairman of the Board of Zoning Appeals for the City of Belle Meade where he headed a reorganization and rewriting of the city’s residential zoning regulations. Brian was the board chair for The Legion Fund which raises funds and provides aid to soldiers and families of the Fifth Group Special Forces 5SFG (A) in Fort Campbell just north of Nashville. These Green Berets are tasked with special forces operations in the Middle East and are known as The Silent Professionals. He has also been a board member for both the Nashville Zoo and The Thacher School in Ojai California.
Brian received his BFA degree from the Rhode Island School of Design, and his Masters of Architecture degree from Virginia Polytechnic and State University. He is registered to practice Architecture in the following states: Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Texas and Ohio.