2010 Giants: A Spoonful of Sugar

In the worst economy the U.S. has seen since the 1930’s,

Interior



Design

‘s top 100 Giants grossed $2,208,950,136 in 2009. That figure is, by most standards, impressive. However, it’s down 18 percent from the year before, coming in 13 percent short of what was forecast. Still, five of the Giants reported no change in income, and 21 firms managed increases up to 33 percent.

The project postponements and losses that not quite half the Giants reported added up to 29,737,597 square feet worth $150,870,296 in fees. However, roughly 60 percent of firms reported an aggregate gain of 111,285,610 square feet worth $773,595,675—that’s four times as much space and five times as much money. The new projects should garner an average $6.95 per square foot, considerably better than the lost jobs’ $5.07.

Furniture, fixtures, and construction totaled $57,848,835,473 in value, down 1 percent but still 6 percent ahead of predictions. Total space designed decreased 26 percent, making average spending per square foot $129.66, a healthy 7 percent increase over the previous year.

Interior design staff size fell 25 percent, with 1,214 layoffs and only 349 hires, but salaries and billing rates increased for all job descriptions. To the profession’s credit, the lowest-paid employees saw the greatest median salary gains. Increases in billing rates ranged from one and a half times to six times the rate of salary increases. On average, the Giants billed 82 percent of staff time, with four firms billing 100 percent. The median fee earned per employee continued to rise, this time by 3.7 percent.

The New York Mets office at Citi Field in Flushing is by Mancini Duffy; photo by Eric Laignel.

As businesses discover the marketing value of touting their greenness—even their Brad Pitt-ness—a number of Giants have indicated that their clients consider both sustainability and durability as ways of getting a bigger bang for the buck. Fees attributable to sustainable design increased from 30 to 38 percent of the total. Space with substantial green components rose more than a third to approach 50 percent. Eco-friendly products accounted for 52 percent of those specified.

Giants had their own ideas about how manufacturers can help out in this treacherous economy. Almost 22 percent called for a greater vendor role in the design process and more designer education. Others cited the need for improved aesthetics, greater innovation, and closer attention to market research. A quarter of the suggestions involved technology in some way—a better fit with BIM and Revit, for instance, and more test data. Only four wish lists involved manufacturer Web sites. Perhaps it’s a given that the Internet is where technical issues get solved, though. Designers use it more than ever to research and source products, 99 Giants say.

OWP/P/Cannon Design renovated and restored Cannon Design’s regional office in St. Louis; photo by Gayle Babcock/ Architectural Imageworks. Clemson University’s Baruch Institute in Georgetown, South Carolina, is by LS3P Associates; photo by Matt Silk.

The real shocker in this year’s report was the fourth-quarter shuttering of Boston-based Cubellis, which would have ranked number 28 on our list if the firm’s bank, being a bank, hadn’t refused to extend a critical line of credit. Judging from that event and the data overall, it seems as if the future is still up for grabs. We can be guided in the meantime by the lights at the end of the tunnel. While 21 Giants benefited from federal stimulus packages in 2009, 39 expect to in the coming year.

			WORK INSTALLED
RANK 2010	FIRM (Headquarters¦Web Site)	DESIGN FEES (Millions)	VALUE (Millions)	SQ. FT. (Millions)	DESIGN STAFF	RANK 2009
1	Gensler (San Francisco ¦ gensler.com )	$380.0	$5,700.00	69.00	820	1
2	Perkins + Will (Chicago ¦ perkinswill.com )	$104.1	$2,450.00	35.00	305	5
3	HOK (St. Louis ¦ hok.com )	$103.0	$2,900.00	35.00	335	2
4	Nelson (Philadelphia ¦ nelsononline.com )	$60.0	$1,312.50	18.90	152	7
5	Jacobs (Pasadena, California ¦ jacobs.com )	$58.6	$1,026.00	11.40	220	6
6	OWP/P/Cannon Design (Chicago ¦ cannondesign.com )	$58.0	NR	8.50	211	—
7	Callison (Seattle ¦ callison.com )	$57.4	NR	NR	71	4
8	Leo A Daly (Omaha ¦ leoadaly.com )	$56.0	NR	NR	188	11
9	HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates (Los Angeles ¦ hbadesign.com )	$55.0	$3,245.70	30.91	405	8
10	Wilson Associates (Dallas ¦ wilsonassoc.com )	$54.0	$3,000.00	NR	286	10
11	HDR Architecture (Omaha ¦ hdrinc.com )	$42.9	$12,168.42	41.70	287	3
12	Perkins Eastman (New York ¦ perkinseastman.com )	$40.8	$841.24	4.81	172	15
13	PageSoutherlandPage (Houston ¦ pspaec.com )	$40.5	$506.25	7.80	150	16
14	IA Interior Architects (San Francisco ¦ interiorarchitects.com )	$39.9	$693.00	17.00	202	13
15	SmithGroup (Detroit ¦ smithgroup.com )	$38.8	NR	NR	160	18
16	Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (New York ¦ som.com )	$36.2	NR	3.22	130	9
17	KlingStubbins (Philadelphia ¦ klingstubbins.com )	$35.0	$700.00	9.95	139	21
18	NBBJ (Seattle ¦ nbbj.com )	$35.0	NR	NR	216	22
19	Flad Architects (Madison, Wisconsin ¦ flad.com )	$30.6	$1,040.00	8.00	86	23
20	HGA Architects and Engineers (Minneapolis ¦ hga.com )	$26.9	NR	NR	27	37
21	RTKL Associates (Baltimore ¦ rtkl.com )	$25.7	$350.00	10.00	82	34
22	HLW (New York ¦ hlw.com )	$25.2	$715.00	NR	76	26
23	M Moser Associates (Hong Kong ¦ mmoser.com )	$24.4	$120.26	3.19	386	19
24	Rockwell Group (New York ¦ rockwellgroup.com )	$23.9	$99.60	1.09	107	25
25	Bilkey Llinas Design Associates (Palm Beach Gardens, Florida ¦ bilkeyllinas.com )	$22.3	NR	NR	118	45
26	Studios Architecture (Washington ¦ studiosarchitecture.com )	$22.0	$1,189.65	7.12	180	33
27	EwingCole (Philadelphia ¦ ewingcole.com )	$21.6	$450.00	3.00	140	36
28	Anshen + Allen (San Francisco ¦ anshen.com )	$20.8	$498.66	1.24	56	28
29	Peter Marino Architect (New York ¦ petermarinoarchitect.com )	$20.4	$350.00	0.35	93	43
30	ZGF Architects (Portland, Oregon ¦ zgf.com )	$20.0	$416.90	2.00	78	27
31	VOA Associates (Chicago ¦ voa.com )	$19.9	$289.00	1.93	110	40
32	Ted Moudis Associates (New York ¦ tedmoudis.com )	$19.5	$250.00	6.00	76	39
33	Little (Charlotte, North Carolina ¦ littleonline.com )	$18.6	$270.00	7.44	50	31
34	TPG Architecture (New York ¦ tpgarchitecture.com )	$17.4	NR	3.50	102	24
35	Daroff Design + DDI Architects (Philadelphia ¦ daroffdesign.com )	$16.5	$180.00	3.00	30	42
36	Roger Ferris + Partners (Westport, Connecticut ¦ ferrisarch.com )	$15.0	$620.00	1.60	34	53
37	HKS (Dallas ¦ hksinc.com )	$14.1	NR	NR	144	35
38	Mancini Duffy (New York ¦ manciniduffy.com )	$13.5	$450.00	6.00	83	38
39	Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott (Boston ¦ sbra.com )	$13.33	$161.79	0.46	10	49
40	FRCH Design Worldwide (Cincinnati ¦ frch.com )	$13.3	$400.00	2.00	38	32
41	Marc-Michaels Interior Design (Winter Park, Florida ¦ marc-michaels.com )	$13.3	$17.50	NR	38	51
42	ASD (Atlanta ¦ asdnet.com )	$13.0	NR	NR	77	46
43	Vocon (Cleveland ¦ vocon.com )	$12.8	$200.00	2.50	51	48
44	RMW Architecture & Interiors (San Francisco ¦ rmw.com )	$12.0	$340.00	2.52	60	52
45	WHR Architects (Houston ¦ whrarchitects.com )	$11.4	$419.43	1.18	20	—
46	Robert A.M. Stern Architects (New York ¦ ramsa.com )	$11.3	$62.59	2.32	17	67
47	DiLeonardo International (Warwick, Rhode Island ¦ dileonardo.com )	$11.1	NR	NR	84	61
47	DBI Architects, Inc. (Washington DC ¦ dbia.com )	$11.1	NR	NR	53	50
48	Francis Cauffman (Philadelphia ¦ franciscauffman.com )	$10.9	$255.00	6.50	52	90
49	Harley Ellis Devereaux (Southfield, Michigan ¦ hedev.com )	$10.7	$178.00	2.23	98	44
50	Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (New York ¦ shca.com )	$10.6	NR	3.00	67	65
51	Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates (Atlanta ¦ srssa.com )	$10.4	$1.30	0.43	17	47
52	Lawrence Group (St. Louis ¦ thelawrencegroup.com )	$10.2	$230.00	2.91	83	66
53	JRS Architect (Mineola, New York ¦ jrsarchitect.com )	$9.3	$82.00	0.40	40	78
54	Baskervill (Richmond, Virginia ¦ baskervill.com )	$9.2	$710.00	7.40	19	83
55	Gresham, Smith and Partners (Nashville ¦ gspnet.com )	$8.9	$1,580.00	7.90	NR	64
56	Anderson Mikos Architects (Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois ¦ andersonmikos.com )	$8.74	$61.46	3.31	16	100
57	Staffelbach (Dallas ¦ staffelbach.com )	$8.7	$190.00	1.20	46	73
58	LS3P Associates (Charleston, South Carolina ¦ ls3p.com )	$8.6	$419.00	9.50	41	56
59	Gettys (Chicago ¦ gettys.com )	$8.5	NR	NR	37	72
60	Granary Associates, now Stantec (Philadelphia ¦ granaryassoc.com )	$8.4	NR	NR	43	57
61	Chambers (Baltimore ¦ chambersusa.com )	$8.3	$90.00	2.00	12	87
62	Switzer Group (New York ¦ theswitzergroup.com )	$8.1	$150.00	2.30	21	60
63	CBT (Boston ¦ cbtarchitects.com )	$8.0	$320.00	3.20	37	58
64	Ware Malcomb (Irvine, California ¦ waremalcomb.com )	$8.0	$196.00	3.20	19	63
65	Ziegler Cooper Architects (Houston ¦ zieglercooper.com )	$8.0	NR	3.00	40	95
66	LPA (Irvine, California ¦ lpainc.com )	$7.7	$178.68	3.03	25	82
67	WWCOT (Los Angeles ¦ wwcot.com )	$7.5	$205.00	3.15	17	88
68	GGA (Washington ¦ gga.com )	$7.5	$166.67	2.00	51	77
69	Kasian (Vancouver, British Columbia ¦ kasian.com )	$7.5	$50.00	10.00	60	96
70	Planning Design Research Corporation (Houston ¦ pdrcorp.com )	$7.48	$200.00	1.70	51	105
71	KZF Design (Cincinnati ¦ kzf.com )	$7.4	$389.04	10.43	30	108
72	TSC Design Associates (New York ¦ tscdesign.com )	$7.2	$85.00	2.80	45	85
73	JGA (Southfield, Michigan ¦ jga.com )	$7.1	$63.00	0.50	32	104
74	BBG-BBGM (New York ¦ bbg-bbgm.com )	$7.0	NR	NR	50	41
74	ForrestPerkins (Washington DC ¦ www.forrestperkins.com )	$7.0	NR	NR	31	84
75	Huntsman Architectural Group (San Francisco ¦ huntsmanag.com )	$6.8	$400.00	0.50	60	68
76	Spector Group (New York ¦ spectorgroup.com )	$6.8	$245.00	2.80	31	118
77	Ratcliff (Emeryville, California ¦ ratcliffarch.com )	$6.7	NR	NR	42	115
78	Milo Kleinberg Design Associates (New York ¦ mkda.com )	$6.5	NR	0.90	30	112
79	OPX (Washington ¦ opxglobal.com )	$6.5	NR	NR	28	132
80	Tsoi/Kobus & Associates (Cambridge, Massachusetts ¦ tka-architects.com )	$6.4	$95.00	0.37	10	86
81	TVSdesign (Atlanta ¦ tvs-design.com )	$6.3	$733.92	3.84	49	54
82	KNA Design (Los Angeles ¦ knadesign.com )	$6.3	$391.80	2.15	30	133
83	Arcturis (St. Louis ¦ arcturis.com )	$6.2	$167.72	2.28	47	76
84	OTJ Architects (Washington ¦ otj.com )	$6.2	$65.00	1.55	40	110
85	Stonehill & Taylor Architects and Planners (New York ¦ stonehilltaylor.com )	$6.0	$190.00	1.50	29	71
86	Ronald Schmidt & Associates (Englewood, New Jersey ¦ rsaaia.com )	$6.0	$18.00	3.00	32	122
87	FXFowle Architects (New York ¦ fxfowle.com )	$6.0	$120.00	0.75	23	107
88	JPC Architects (Bellevue, Washington ¦ jpcarchitects.com )	$6.0	$75.00	1.50	35	93
89	STG Design (Austin, Texas ¦ stgdesign.com )	$6.0	$2.00	0.25	23	126
90	Wolcott Architecture Interiors (Culver City, California ¦ wolcottai.com )	$5.8	$95.00	2.00	29	98
91	VeenendaalCave (Atlanta ¦ vcave.com )	$5.8	$16.78	4.30	50	109
92	Margulies Perruzzi Architects (Boston ¦ mp-architects.com )	$5.6	$20.00	0.50	24	99
93	BaMo (San Francisco ¦ bamo.com )	$5.5	NR	NR	33	70
94	Array Healthcare Facilities Solutions (King of Prussia, Pennsylvania ¦ arrayhfs.com )	$5.3	$208.00	1.50	10	113
95	Rottet Studio (Houston ¦ rottetstudio.com )	$5.3	NR	NR	28	119
96	Gary Lee Partners (Chicago ¦ garyleepartners.com )	$5.3	$64.00	0.90	17	130
97	Pollack Architecture (San Francisco ¦ pollackarch.com )	$5.2	$82.00	1.20	35	134
98	Tonychi and Associates (New York ¦ tonychi.com )	$5.2	NR	NR	15	—
99	Sasaki Associates (Watertown, Massachusetts ¦ sasaki.com )	$5.2	$200.00	1.90	25	138
100	Loebl Schlossman & Hackl (Chicago ¦ lshdesign.com )	$5.2	$136.00	0.88	6	114

*Due to submission errors, DBI Architects, Inc. and ForrestPerkins were not included in the original ranking published in the Jan. 2010 issue. DBI Architects should have been listed at #47 and ForrestPerkins should be at #74.

NR — Not Reported

Gettys designed the Hard Rock Hotel Macau; courtesy of City of Dreams.

Top 10 in Corporate Office Design

FIRM	DESIGN FEES
Gensler	$190,000,000
Nelson	$58,800,000
HOK	$47,380,000
Perkins + Will	$41,623,200
IA Interior Architects	$37,899,300
KlingStubbins	$29,750,000
M Moser Associates	$24,440,000
HLW	$19,404,000
Ted Moudis Associates	$16,575,000
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill	$15,189,044

Top 10 in Education Design

FIRM	DESIGN FEES
Gensler	$22,800,000
OWP/P/Cannon Design	$16,237,200
Perkins + Will	$8,324,640
Flad Architects	$7,650,000
HOK	$6,180,000
Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott	$5,869,160
Leo A Daly	$5,600,000
HGA Architects and Engineers	$5,385,000
LPA	$5,125,500
HLW	$5,040,000

Top 10 in Residential Design

FIRM	DESIGN FEES
Marc-Michaels Interior Design	$13,300,000
Robert A.M. Stern Architects	$6,646,940
Peter Marino Architect	$5,916,000
Callison	$2,870,000
Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates	$2,462,874
Rockwell Group	$2,344,160
Roger Ferris + Partners	$2,250,000
Swanke Hayden Connell Architects	$1,802,000
Perkins Eastman	$1,632,000
CBT	$1,600,000

Top 10 in Cultural Design

FIRM	DESIGN FEES
Gensler	$7,600,000
HKS	$4,133,052
HGA Architects and Engineers	$2,692,500
Studios Architecture	$2,200,000
EwingCole	$1,944,000
Peter Marino Architect	$1,836,000
Roger Ferris + Partners	$1,500,000
Leo A Daly	$1,120,000
Rockwell Group	$1,093,144
HDR Architecture	$857,480

Chicago’s Monitor Doblin office is by Sasaki Associates; photo by Robert Benson.

10 Fastest Growing Firms in Top 100 (By Percent Change)

FIRM	2009 FEES	2008 FEES	% CHANGE	RANK
Gensler	$380,000,000	$285,000,000	33%	1
Bilkey Llinas Design Associates	$22,258,000	$17,200,000	29%	25
Francis Cauffman	$10,860,000	$8,500,000	28%	48
Perkins + Will	$104,058,000	$85,886,000	21%	2
OPX	$6,450,000	$5,372,820	20%	79
KNA Design	$6,300,000	$5,275,000	19%	82
Anderson Mikos Architects	$8,736,000	$7,477,500	17%	56
HGA Architects and Engineers	$26,925,000	$24,250,000	11%	20
Peter Marino Architect	$20,400,000	$18,700,000	9%	29
Roger Ferris + Partners	$15,000,000	$14,000,000	7%	36

Top 10 in Healthcare/Assisted Living Design

FIRM	DESIGN FEES
Perkins + Will	$41,623,200
OWP/P/Cannon Design	$30,734,700
HDR Architecture	$30,011,800
Perkins Eastman	$22,440,000
PageSoutherlandPage	$19,440,000
Anshen + Allen	$19,126,800
HOK	$18,540,000
NBBJ	$17,849,490
SmithGroup	$14,732,220
HGA Architects and Engineers	$12,116,250

Cooper University Hospital by EwingCole is in Camden, New Jersey; photo by Eduard Hueber/Arch Photo.

Top 10 in Hospitality Design

FIRM	DESIGN FEES
HBA/Hirsch Bedner Associates	$55,011,850
Wilson Associates	$53,460,000
Gensler	$41,800,000
Bilkey Llinas Design Associates	$22,258,000
Rockwell Group	$20,413,328
Leo A Daly	$16,800,000
Daroff Design + DDI Architects	$15,015,000
DiLeonardo International	$10,166,000
Gettys	$7,820,000
Chambers	$7,425,000

Top 10 in Retail Design

FIRM	DESIGN FEES
Gensler	$45,600,000
Callison	$36,736,000
Jacobs	$14,944,541
Peter Marino Architect	$8,772,000
JGA	$7,100,000
FRCH Design Worldwide	$5,985,000
Little	$5,208,000
RTKL Associates	$3,848,650
Ted Moudis Associates	$2,925,000
Vocon	$2,550,548

Top 10 in Government Design

FIRM	DESIGN FEES
Gensler	$38,000,000
Jacobs	$34,544,227
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill	$13,742,469
HOK	$13,390,000
Leo A Daly	$8,400,000
PageSoutherlandPage	$8,100,000
RTKL Associates	$7,184,147
Studios Architecture	$5,500,000
Perkins + Will	$5,202,900
KZF Design	$4,592,980

Firms New to the 2010 Top 100 Ranking

FIRM	RANK
WHR Architects	45
Planning Design Research Corporation	70
KZF Design	71
JGA	73
Spector Group	76
Ratcliff	77
Milo Kleinberg Design Associates	78
OPX	79
KNA Design	82
OTJ Architects	84
Ronald Schmidt & Associates	86
FXFowle Architects	87
STG Design	89
VeenendaalCave	91
Array Healthcare Facilities Solutions	94
Rottet Studio	95
Gary Lee Partners	96
Pollack Architecture	97
Tonychi and Associates	98
Sasaki Associates	99
Loebl Schlossman & Hackl	100

The Rockwell Group created sets for the 81st Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles; photo courtesy of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

Percent of Actual Fees by Project Types

	ACTUAL FEES	% OF FEES
Office	$801,392,464	36%
Health Care/Assisted Living	$360,443,679	16%
Hospitality	$337,932,056	15%
Government	$194,191,197	9%
Educational	$154,227,836	7%
Retail	$148,799,261	7%
Residential	$59,948,813	3%
Transportation	$36,030,479	2%
Cultural	$32,544,093	1%
Other	$83,440,257	4%
Total	$2,208,950,136	100%

Percent of Forecasted Fees by Project Types

	FORECAST FEES	% OF FEES
Office	$682,812,007	33%
Health Care/Assisted Living	$415,041,374	20%
Hospitality	$360,944,802	17%
Government	$183,374,363	9%
Educational	$162,328,889	8%
Retail	$74,074,900	4%
Residential	$71,516,002	3%
Transportation	$25,043,583	1%
Cultural	$22,552,476	1%
Other	$78,409,889	4%
Total	$2,076,098,286	100%

Hourly Rates (Median)

Principal/Partner	$224
Project Manager	$165
Designer	$125
Other Design Staff	$90

Annual Salaries (Median)

Principal/Partner	$150,000
Project Manager	$97,500
Designer	$70,132
Other Design Staff	$52,000