Share this on

Doing More With Less

Judith Davidsen -- Interior Design, 7/1/2006 12:00:00 AM

After a rebound in last year's ranking, the second 100 Interior Design Giants for 2006 continued to make strides. This group earned a total of $309,890,091 in 2005, up from $307,879,526 in the previous study period—resulting in interiors worth $7,118,532,105. The group is responsible for designing a total of 166,452,858 square feet of installations, up 24 percent.

Staff size actually decreased by 5 percent on average, but leaner ranks weren't a deterrent. Rather than scaling back, the second 100 Giants devised ways to handle more volume with fewer hands—all without risking burnout and disaffection. Only five firms admit to working harder and longer. Technology came to the rescue of 30, while 20 said they engaged in tighter management, both of projects and of processes. Another 13 relied on in-house training and increased staff responsibility. Just six outsourced and/or used temps.

Under these conditions, employees earned an average of $175,850 for their firms. And in an era when corporations often protect profits by offering buyouts to older employees—the only ones who can pass along both professional standards and tricks of the trade—about 10 percent of the second 100 Giants reported doing the opposite. These firms are entrusting the future to more experienced staff and are increasingly involving partners and principals in day-to-day work.

Going against type was apparently a theme. More than half the second 100 Giants responded to the changing economy by working on a specialty they'd never tackled before. Over a quarter worked for the first time in retail and residential design, and nearly a quarter took on a first health-care or assisted-living project.

Almost 94 percent of second 100 Giants' projects were in the U.S., but 37 did at least 1 percent of their work in foreign countries—one did 100 percent. Of these jobs, China accounted for 28 percent; Canada, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates for 17 percent each; and Mexico for 14 percent. It will be interesting to see how these numbers shift—or don't—after the Beijing 2008 summer Olympics.

Sustainability is becoming a more important component of design decisions for 83 firms in this group. They specified $278,940,000 in green products during 2005, up 3 percent from 2004 and 47 percent from 2003. For the average firm, that meant devoting 20 percent of spending to green products. The products most likely to be green were flooring, followed by fabric, wall covering, paint, furniture, building products, and lighting.

Eight firms specified green more than half of the time; two specified green 75 percent of the time. For one, the percentage was 95. And almost three quarters of the second 100 Giants expect to specify even more green product during the next study period. Most interesting, half of those who chose to go green on 50 percent or more products ranked in the top quarter of our listing.

Predictably, the greatest interior-design fees earner was offices. Not so predictably, the second highest-earning specialty, hospitality, increased 24 percent to account for approximately 6 percent more of total earnings than in the previous year. That's roughly three times the ratio reported by the top 100 Interior Design Giants.

Are the second 100 Giants, which have a long history of taking on the top 100 Giants, now about to take on the hospitality Giants, too? Check back in October.

% of fees by type of work

	2005
	Actual fees	% of fees
Office	$124,286,823	40.11%
Hospitality	$94,381,266	30.46%
Health care/Assisted Living	$19,071,944	6.15%
Residential	$16,491,340	5.32%
Retail	$15,642,420	5.05%
Educational	$11,255,874	3.63%
Technology	$9,829,695	3.17%
Government	$9,274,447	2.99%
Museum/Cultural	$4,357,749	1.41%
Transportation	$491,300	0.16%
Other	$4,807,233	1.55%
TOTAL:	$309,890,091	100%

% of fees by type of work

	2006
	Forecasted fees	% of fees
Office	$132,431,597	36.90%
Hospitality	$120,885,278	33.68%
Health care/Assisted Living	$23,482,716	6.54%
Residential	$22,175,954	6.18%
Retail	$14,059,109	3.92%
Technology	$13,613,734	3.79%
Government	$10,532,115	2.93%
Educational	$10,259,060	2.86%
Museum/Cultural	$4,719,948	1.32%
Transportation	$585,118	0.16%
Other	$6,670,340	1.86%
TOTAL:	$358,872,074	100%

Fee scales

Titles	Annual salary (median	Hourly rate (median)
Principal/Partner	$125,000	$175
Project Manager	$75,000	$120
Designer	$50,000	$95
Other I.D. Staff	$40,000	$75

Giants 200

2006 Rank	Firms headquarters	I.D. fees (millions)	Work installed
			Value (millions)	Sq. ft. (millions)	Design staff	2005 rank
NR=Not Reported
¹01	DES Architects + Engineers Redwood City, California; des-ae.com	$5.400	NR	1.40	15	102
¹02	VOCON Cleveland; vocon.com	$5.312	$65.00	1.60	30	116
¹03	Gettys Group Chicago; gettys.com	$5.300	NR	NR	32	95
¹04	ARCTURIS Saint Louis; arcturis.com	$5.280	$77.00	3.85	49	124
¹05	Baskervill Richmond, Virginia; baskervill.com	$5.200	$80.00	5.00	24	120
¹06	Spectrum Design Services Cleveland; spectrumdesign.com	$5.000	$4.20	NR	5	NR
¹07	VeenendaalCave Atlanta; vcave.com	$4.971	$16.80	2.44	37	118
¹08	Milo Kleinberg Design Associates New York; mkda.com	$4.950	$75.00	0.85	28	109
¹09	Interprise Design Addison, Texas; interprisedesign.com	$4.950	$50.00	2.00	36	104
¹10	Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Vancouver, B.C.; canadakasian.com	$4.913	$34.40	8.70	41	138
¹11	Gary Lee Partners Chicago; garyleepartners.com	$4.900	$125.00	1.00	29	128
¹12	Corgan Associates Dallas; corgan.com	$4.725	NR	4.67	40	113
¹13	Griswold, Heckel & Kelly Associates Chicago; ghk.net	$4.700	$100.00	2.00	33	54
¹14	Anshen + Allen San Francisco; anshen.com	$4.620	NR	NR	11	88
¹15	Ronald Schmidt & Associates Englewood, New Jersey; rsaaia.com	$4.600	$99.00	2.90	36	115
¹16	Hendrick Atlanta; hendrickinc.com	$4.592	$100.00	5.00	32	137
¹17	Babey Moulton Jue & Booth San Francisco; bamo.com	$4.550	NR	NR	31	NR
¹18	Ziegler Cooper Architects Houston; zieglercooper.com	$4.500	$75.50	2.10	36	111
¹19	api(+) Tampa, Florida; apiplus.com	$4.500	$60.00	4.50	31	NR
¹20	Burkettdesign Denver; burkettdesign.com	$4.482	$115.92	2.80	30	154
¹21	Susman Tisdale Gayle Austin, Texas; stgarchitects.com	$4.240	$9.00	5.00	63	122
¹22	Sasaki Associates Watertown, Massachusetts; sasaki.com	$4.200	$200.00	1.00	22	80
¹23	J/Brice Design International Boston; jbricedesign.com	$4.095	$125.00	5.60	16	NR
¹24	Jung/Brannen Associates Boston; jungbrannen.com	$4.000	$350.00	3.00	14	135
¹25	Pollack architecture San Francisco; pollackarch.com	$4.000	$46.70	0.87	28	132
¹26	Graham Downes Architecture San Diego; grahamdownesarchitecture.com	$4.000	$20.00	1.40	28	NR
¹27	Davis, Carter, Scott McLean, Virginia; dcsdesign.com	$3.967	$110.00	1.45	17	114
¹28	Mojo Stumer Associates Architects Greenvale, New York; mojostumer.com	$3.950	$29.00	0.23	13	129
¹29	Cuningham Group Architecture Minneapolis; cuningham.com	$3.908	NR	NR	31	126
¹30	Biber Partnership Summit, New Jersey; tbpaia.com	$3.900	$68.00	1.40	18	131
¹31	OTJ Architects Washington, D.C.; otj.com	$3.900	$33.00	3.40	16	156
¹32	Whitney Oak Brook, Illinois; whitneydesign.com	$3.878	$62.00	1.90	25	130
¹33	Yates-Silverman Las Vegas; yates-silverman.com	$3.500	$200.00	NR	27	140
¹34	Matrix Settles, Architects & Interior Designers Arlington, Virginia; matrixsettles.com	$3.500	$55.00	0.90	30	159
¹35	Alexandra Champalimaud & Associates New York; alexchamp.com	$3.500	NR	NR	15	150
¹36	SKB Architecture and Design Washington, D.C.; skbarch.com	$3.480	$38.60	0.55	27	127
¹37	Meyer Design Ardmore, Pennsylvania; meyer-associates.com	$3.460	$107.80	2.70	32	141
¹38	Duncan & Miller Design Dallas; duncanmillerdesign.com	$3.450	$295.00	1.65	41	147
¹39	Design Development Company Agoura Hills, California; designdevelopment-group.com	$3.450	$50.00	0.40	13	144
¹40	Barry Design Associates Los Angeles; barrydesign.com	$3.400	NR	NR	21	NR
¹41	Looney & Associates Dallas; looney-associates.com	$3.266	$180.00	3.20	22	168
¹42	Style Interior Design Irvine, California; style-interiors.com	$3.255	$42.00	3.50	11	170
¹43	Rowland Design Indianapolis; rowlanddesign.com	$3.250	NR	NR	32	152
¹44	J. Banks Design Group Hilton Head, South Carolina; jbanksdesign.com	$3.178	$7.98	NR	16	169
¹45	Haverson Architecture and Design Greenwich, Connecticut; haversonarchitecture.com	$3.100	$45.00	0.13	17	153
¹46	Elkus Manfredi Architects Boston; elkus-manfredi.com	$3.100	$15.00	1.00	26	119
¹47	Omniplan Dallas; omniplan.com	$3.100	NR	1.75	10	101
¹48	Cheryl Rowley Design Los Angeles; cherylrowley.com	$2.995	$795.00	NR	30	155
¹49	Goettsch Partners Chicago; gpchicago.com	$2.994	$27.00	1.23	17	175
¹50	Dyer Brown & Associates Boston; dyerbrown.com	$2.960	$50.00	1.00	10	161
¹51	Designplan Indianapolis; designplaninc.com	$2.916	$90.00	0.75	19	160
¹52	Elias Design Group New York; eliasdesigngroup.com	$2.850	$2.80	0.76	12	197
¹53	Hatch Design Group Costa Mesa, California; hatchdesign.com	$2.835	$133.15	0.35	24	163
¹54	KZF Design Cincinnati; kzf.com	$2.801	$39.35	5.25	18	158
¹55	JMA Architecture Studios Las Vegas; jmaarch.com	$2.800	$140.00	1.30	21	NR
¹56	Reel Grobman & Associates San Jose, California; reelgrobman.com	$2.800	$75.00	1.20	19	167
¹57	EDG San Rafael, California; engstromdesign.com	$2.780	$45.00	0.30	19	146
¹58	McDermott Planning and Design Denver; mcdermottplanning.com	$2.700	$20.50	2.25	17	NR
¹59	Kay Lang + Associates Los Angeles; kaylangassocs.com	$2.700	$15.00	NR	18	NR
¹60	Furnstahl & Simon Architects New York; furnstahlandsimon.com	$2.640	$50.00	0.50	12	149
¹61	Stubbins Associates Cambridge, Massachusetts; stubbins.us	$2.500	$150.00	3.00	20	70
¹62	NTD Stichler Architecture San Diego; ntdstichler.com	$2.500	NR	NR	10	NR
¹63	Heitz Parsons Sadek West Palm Beach, Florida; heitz-parsons-sadek.com	$2.451	NR	NR	22	190
¹64	Partridge Architects Philadelphia; partridgearch.com	$2.450	$35.00	0.70	20	189
¹65	CORE architecture + design Washington, D.C.; coredc.com	$2.450	$12.00	0.20	19	162
¹66	Loffredo Brooks Architects New York; lbarch.com	$2.410	$58.43	0.67	17	195
¹67	Puccini Group San Francisco; puccinigroup.com	$2.410	$8.58	0.16	11	NR
¹68	Rothenberg Sawasy Architects Los Angeles; rsala.com	$2.400	$20.00	0.40	9	165
¹69	EDI Architecture Houston; ediarchitecture.com	$2.320	$85.00	0.95	75	164
¹70	idea/span Atlanta; idea-span.com	$2.310	$45.00	0.80	18	181
¹71	Lauck Group Dallas; lauckgroup.com	$2.250	$100.00	4.00	17	143
¹72	Interior Resource San Diego; ir2.com	$2.197	$20.00	0.72	16	187
¹73	Interform Commercial Interiors San Ramon, California; interform.com	$2.185	$8.00	1.20	9	186
¹74	Orsini Design Associates New York; orsinidesignassociates.com	$2.155	NR	NR	7	171
¹75	Ford & Earl Associates Troy, Michigan; fordandearldesign.com	$2.100	$108.00	1.60	21	145
¹76	R.D. Jones & Associates Baltimore; rdjones.com	$1.978	NR	NR	15	NR
¹77	ARKTX Arlington, Virginia; arktxinc.com	$1.975	$24.50	0.95	11	183
¹78	Shea Minneapolis; shealink.com	$1.950	$40.00	0.40	14	166
¹79	Design Collective Columbus, Ohio; dcollective.com	$1.900	$29.00	1.00	14	180
¹80	Design Directions Marietta, Georgia; designdirectionsinc.com	$1.855	$71.25	2.54	12	NR
¹81	AHSC Architects Tarrytown, New York; ahscarch.com	$1.850	$81.40	0.65	6	NR
¹82	SFA Design Santa Barbara, California; sfadesign.com	$1.787	$40.00	0.18	17	142
¹83	INARCH New York; inarch.net	$1.774	$28.50	0.12	18	NR
¹84	Gray Design Group Saint Louis; graydesigngroup.com	$1.768	$305.00	6.10	26	172
¹85	RNL Design Denver; rnldesign.com	$1.762	$40.00	1.95	21	106
¹86	Cole Martinez Curtis and Associates Marina Del Rey, California; cmcadesign.com	$1.750	$80.00	0.40	10	194
¹87	Ahearn/Schopfer and Associates Boston; ahearnschopfer.com	$1.750	$10.00	0.25	8	191
¹88	Hopping Kovach Grinnell Design Consultants Vancouver, B.C.; hkgdesign.com	$1.700	$35.00	1.00	14	NR
¹89	Harris Smith Design New York; harrissmithdesign.com	$1.689	$2.28	NR	19	177
¹90	RLF Winter Park, Florida; rlfae.com	$1.670	$25.00	0.75	7	NR
¹91	IEI Group Philadelphia; ieigroup.com	$1.668	$25.00	0.50	11	NR
¹92	Ruys & Company Atlanta; ruys.com	$1.650	$25.00	0.50	8	NR
¹93	Hnedak Bobo Group Memphis; hbginc.com	$1.575	NR	NR	16	199
¹94	Barone Design Group Houston; barone-design-group.com	$1.540	$25.00	1.25	12	198
¹95	Looney Ricks Kiss Memphis; lrk.com	$1.525	$35.00	0.55	20	NR
¹96	RDH & Associates Addison, Texas; rdhassociates.net	$1.520	$28.00	0.15	8	193
¹97	Berger Rait New York; bergerrait.com	$1.500	$50.00	0.50	8	182
¹98	HVS Compass Interior Design Rockville, Maryland; hvscompass.com	$1.500	$25.00	1.60	13	NR
¹99	Carl Ross Design El Segundo, California; carlrossdesign.com	$1.486	NR	NR	11	NR
²00	J.T. Nakaoka Associates Architects Los Angeles	$1.441	NR	NR	8	NR

New to the second 100 Giants

Firms	2006 rank
Spectrum Design Services	6
Babey Moulton Jue & Booth	17
api(+)	19
J/Brice Design International	23
Graham Downes Architecture	26
Barry Design Associates	40
JMA Architecture Studios	55
McDermott Planning and Design	58
Kay Lang + Associates	59
NTD Stichler Architecture	62
Puccini Group	67
R.D. Jones & Associates	76
Design Directions	80
AHSC Architects	81
INARCH	83
Hopping Kovach Grinnell	88
RLF	90
IEI Group	91
Ruys & Company	92
Looney Ricks Kiss	95
HVS Compass Interior Design	98
Carl Ross Design	99
J.T. Nakaoka Associates Architects	100

Fastest-growing second 100 Giants (by I.D. fees)

Firms	2004 fees	2005 fees	% change	2006 rank
Spectrum Design Services	$900,000	$5,000,000	456%	6
Puccini Group	$1,305,384	$2,410,000	85%	67
Elias Design Group	$1,700,000	$2,850,000	68%	52
Ruys & Company	$1,000,000	$1,650,000	65%	92
Burkettdesign	$2,787,183	$4,481,819	61%	20
Hopping Kovach Grinnell design consultants	$1,097,000	$1,700,000	55%	88
J.T. Nakaoka Associates Architects	$938,000	$1,441,002	54%	100
Kasian Architecture	$3,424,000	$4,913,000	44%	10
OTJ Architects	$2,740,000	$3,900,000	42%	31
Looney & Associates	$2,350,000	$3,265,974	39%	41

Methodology

The second installment of the two-part annual business survey of Interior Design Giants comprises the second 100 largest firms ranked by interior design fees for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2005. The first 100 firms ranking was published in January 2006.

Interior design fees include fees attributed to:

1. All types of interiors work, including commercial office, hospitality, retail, medical, and residential.

2. All aspects of a firm's interior design practice, from strategic planning and programming to design and project management.

3. Fees paid to a firm for work performed by employees and independent contractors who are "full-time staff equivalent."

Interior design fees do not include revenues paid to a firm and remitted to subcontractors that are not considered full-time staff equivalent. For example, certain firms attract work that is subcontracted to a local firm. The originating firm may collect all the fees and retain a management or generation fee, paying the remainder to the performing firm. The amounts paid to the latter are not included in the fees of the collecting firm in determining its ranking.

The data was compiled and analyzed by the Interior Design market research staff in New York: research director Wing Leung and research manager Laura Girmscheid. Judith Davidsen is a frequent contributor to Interior Design.