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They're Back on Track *

Can the rest of the design world be far behind?

Judith Davidsen -- Interior Design, 1/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

 

Click here for 2nd 100 Giants

All together now: everyone heave a huge sigh of relief. The leaders of the pack are back on track, with the top 100 Interior Design Giants collecting $1,461,153,649 in fees in 2003. That's 1.13 percent, or $16,331,804, more than 2002's fees. And an even larger rise, 5.5 percent, is predicted for next year.

A total of 42 top Giants reported increases for 2003, the same number as the previous year. What's changed is the size of those increases, from 1.1 percent to a truly unbelievable 78.1 percent. (The average was a hefty 22.44 percent.) Six firms reported no change. Meanwhile, 45 firms suffered decreases ranging from 1 to 39 percent—slightly less than the decreases reported for 2002—bringing the average to 15.44 percent.

Office and retail design remain the top two earning categories, accounting for 29.59 percent and 12.67 percent of fees, respectively. The contribution that offices made to fees, however, went down almost 2 percent, while retail rose almost 1 percent. The big changes occurred in health care, which went up 32 percent (from fourth to third place), and financial institutions, which dropped 21.6 percent (from third to sixth place). The contribution made by educational facilities increased 13.8 percent. Residential declined 11.6 percent.

Brennan Beer Gorman Monk Interiors: Millenium Hilton,
  New York Although 2001 has been considered the beginning of the end of the technology boom, 15.5 percent more top Giant income derives from this sector now, compared to the 1990's. (Even financial commentators ended 2003 conceding that the death of technology had been grossly exaggerated. It had simply "matured.")

Thirty-two top Giant firms began working in new fields during 2003—seven in culture and entertainment; five each in hospitality, residential, and technology; four each in retail and government; two in education; and one each in health care and office.

New construction accounted for 57 percent of top Giant earnings, a figure that's been creeping slowly downward from a high of 62.1 percent at the end of the 20th century. Overseas jobs accounted for 9 percent of earnings, up from 7.5 percent in 2002.

The top Giants are far more likely than their clients to raise issues of sustainability, yet 81.4 percent are still taking the initiative to search out information about green products and materials. Of the 2003 total installation value of $34,861,306,470—a 12.14 percent improvement on the Giants' own forecasts—2.5 percent was allocated to green products and materials.

Total area installed was 509,556,713 square feet. The ratio of fees to installation value remains at only 80 percent of what it was during the recent boom, but the average fee per employee nevertheless rose 2 percent, to $213,284. One firm reported a sizable $816,667 earned per employee.

What did all those employees produce, in creative terms? Our portfolio presents the best Giant projects of 2003.

2004 Rank Firms, headquarters Design $ value (millions) Sq. ft. (millions) Design staff 2003 Rank
01 Gensler, San Francisco; gensler.com $112.000 $2,150.00 35.20 757 01
02 Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, Saint Louis; hok.com $72.200 $2,300.00 22.80 193 05
03 Perkins & Will, Chicago; perkinswill.com $44.000 $1,100.00 15.00 147 06
04 Leo A Daly, Omaha; leodaly.com $41.910 $940.00 14.59 159 07
05 Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, New York; som.com $40.500 $900.00 8.00 204 02
06 Pavlik Design Team, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; pavlikdesign.com $40.253 $1,653.00 18.75 146 03
07 IA Interior Architects, San Francisco; interiorarchitects.com $35.490 $651.00 17.56 167 04
08 NBBJ, Seattle; nbbj.com $33.750 $950.00 21.00 159 10
09 Jacobs, Pasadena, California; jacobs.com $31.508 $266.25 3.55 133 13
10 Callison Architecture, Seattle; callison.com $31.418 $845.10 8.98 95 08
11 SmithGroup, Detroit; smithgroup.com $30.852 $666.59 10.47 174 09
12 HDR Architecture, Omaha; hdrinc.com $29.040 NR 11.60 201 12
13 TPG Planning & Design (The Phillips Group), New York; tpgarchitecture.com $27.930 $500.00 9.30 156 14
14 Design Forum, Dayton, Ohio; designforum.com $25.160 $690.00 7.00 208 19
15 Cannon Design, Boston; cannondesign.com $24.469 NR 5.50 165 18
16 Hirsch Bedner Associates, Santa Monica, California; hbadesign.com $24.287 $1,432.93 13.65 199 15
17 HLW, New York; hlw.com $24.000 $480.00 6.40 100 17
18 Flad & Associates, Madison, Wisconsin; flad.com $23.200 $486.78 8.11 169 16
19 Hillier Architects, Princeton, New Jersey; hillier.com $23.000 $450.00 6.00 69 -
20 RTKL Associates, Baltimore; rtkl.com $23.000 $400.00 9.90 62 11
21 Creative Design Consultants, Costa Mesa, California; cdcdesigns.com $23.000 NR 0.80 74 20
22 Wilson & Associates, Dallas; wilsonassoc.com $22.800 $1,000.00 NR 145 21
23 Kling, Philadelphia; kling.us $19.500 $375.00 2.50 118 31
24 Perkins Eastman, New York; perkinseastman.com $16.837 $116.00 2.00 74 26
25 Ai, Washington, D.C.; aiarchitecture.com $16.125 $325.00 5.00 95 25
26 A/R Environetics Group, New York; arenvironetics.com $15.300 $177.00 2.30 59 33
27 HLM Design, Charlotte, North Carolina; hlmdesign.com $15.080 NR NR NR 30
28 HKS, Dallas; hksinc.com $15.000 $400.00 5.00 44 24
29 Nelson, Philadelphia; nelsononline.com $14.900 $390.00 6.60 160 35
30 Studios Architecture, Washington, D.C.; studiosarch.com $14.700 $300.00 4.00 69 29
31 Ellerbe Becket, Minneapolis; ellerbebecket.com $14.220 $425.00 5.90 31 23
32 Mancini-Duffy, New York; manciniduffy.com $14.108 $350.00 5.70 95 22
33 SpAce, Chicago; workplayce.com $14.000 $425.00 7.00 120 27
34 DMJM Design, Los Angeles; dmjm.com $14.000 $390.00 4.80 148 34
35 RSP Architects, Minneapolis; rsparch.com $14.000 $312.00 3.90 35 32
36 Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, New York; shca.com $13.100 $350.00 3.00 140 28
37 Interior Space International, Chicago; epstein-isi.com $13.000 $460.00 11.00 63 37
38 Ted Moudis Associates, New York; tedmoudis.com $12.250 $120.00 2.80 63 40
39 EwingCole, Philadelphia; ewingcole.com $12.000 $490.00 2.50 150 72
40 RPA, Columbus, Ohio; rpaworldwide.com $12.000 $240.00 3.60 42 56
41 DBI Architects, Washington, D.C.; dbia.com $11.214 $75.00 1.80 48 45
42 Marc-Michaels Interior Design, Winter Park, Florida; marc-michaels.com $10.997 $20.10 1.40 60 38
43 FRCH Design Worldwide, Cincinnati; frch.com $10.950 NR NR 125 62
44 CUH2A, Princeton, New Jersey; cuh2a.com $10.280 $642.50 11.57 88 52
45 DiLeonardo International Design, Warwick, Rhode Island 1 $10.272 $341.00 3.07 51 41
46 Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, Cambridge, Massachussetts 2 $9.800 $120.00 0.36 12 43
47 Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, Portland, Oregon; zgf.com $9.750 $90.00 3.50 56 47
48 Griswold, Heckel & Kelly Associates, Chicago; ghk.net $9.200 $70.00 2.80 75 36
49 Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates, Butler, Pennsylvania; burthill.com $9.146 $510.00 5.00 27 -
50 Roger Ferris + Partners, Westport, Connecticut; ferrisarch.com $9.000 $265.00 1.63 46 49
51 OWP/P Architects, Chicago; owpp.com $9.000 $213.85 4.55 25 46
52 CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares, Boston; cbtarchitects.com $9.000 $120.00 3.40 59 59
53 TVS, Atlanta; tvsa.com $9.000 NR NR 43 44
54 Gresham, Smith and Partners, Nashville; gspnet.com $8.852 $166.43 3.20 47 76
55 PageSoutherlandPage, Austin, Texas; psp.com $8.673 $335.54 3.24 68 64
56 Anshen + Allen, San Francisco; anshen.com $8.672 NR 3.50 19 110
57 Karlsberger Companies, Columbus, Ohio; karlsberger.com $8.665 $248.00 2.10 15 93
58 RMW Architecture & Interiors, San Francisco; rmw.com $8.595 $172.25 2.65 40 42
59 Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, Charlotte, North Carolina 3 $8.500 $280.00 5.50 30 66
60 ASD, Atlanta; asdnet.com $8.350 NR NR 60 51
61 Spector Group, New York; spectorgroup.com $8.000 NR 2.00 26 -
62 Tricarico, Wayne, New Jersey; tricarico.com $7.667 $140.00 4.21 50 78
63 LS3P Associates, Charleston, South Carolina; ls3p.com $7.200 $315.00 9.50 68 -
64 Gettys, Chicago; gettys.com $7.000 $125.00 NR 27 95
65 Switzer Group, New York; theswitzergroup.com $6.942 $70.25 2.75 52 67
66 Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, New York; gwathmey-siegel.com $6.900 $144.70 0.72 39 73
67 Granary Associates, Philadelphia; granaryassoc.com $6.840 NR NR 65 81
68 Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, Boston; sbra.com $6.700 $100.00 0.70 18 54
69 H. Chambers Company, Baltimore; chambersusa.com $6.525 $75.00 2.20 20 68
70 Gould Evans Affiliates, Kansas City, Missouri; gouldevans.com $6.300 $65.00 1.80 172 82
71 Brennan Beer Gorman Monk Interiors, New York; bbg-bbgm.com $6.200 NR NR 37 96
72 Brayton & Hughes Design Studio, San Francisco; bhdstudio.com $6.080 $70.00 NR 32 83
73 Francis Cauffman Foley Hoffmann, Architects, Philadelphia; fcfh-did.com $6.000 $130.00 2.50 36 102
74 Concepts 4, Long Beach, California; concepts4inc.com $5.964 $172.00 2.10 27 70
75 Cubellis Associates, Boston; cubellis.com $5.880 $91.35 2.35 43 88
76 Butler Rogers Baskett Architects, New York; brb.com $5.857 $112.00 1.17 47 50
77 Silvester+Tafuro, South Norwalk, Connecticut; silvestertafuro.com $5.679 $32.00 0.10 41 90
78 Corgan Associates, Dallas; corgan.com $5.625 NR 6.00 32 60
79 DES Architects & Engineers, Redwood City, California; des-ae.com $5.600 $125.00 1.00 14 80
80 Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, Chicago; lshdesign.com $5.514 $75.00 1.50 16 75
81 Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture & Engineering, Albany; eypae.com $5.500 $52.40 0.38 19 84
82 Slifer Designs, Edwards, Colorado; sliferdesigns.com $5.500 NR NR 25 77
83 Staffelbach Design Associates, Dallas; staffelbach.com $5.490 $90.00 1.09 42 92
84 Group Goetz Architects, Washington, D.C.; gga.com $5.480 $110.00 1.50 35 71
85 Bergmeyer Associates, Boston; bergmeyer.com $5.400 $97.00 0.88 50 89
86 JRS Architect, Mineola, New York; jrsarchitect.com $5.350 $143.00 1.01 27 131
87 Environments Group, Chicago; envgroup.com $5.300 $175.00 1.75 43 58
88 Carrier Johnson, San Diego; carrierjohnson.com $5.100 $162.00 2.30 20 87
89 OPX, Washington, D.C.; opxglobal.com $5.050 $90.00 1.80 38 94
90 Jung/Brannen Associates, Boston; jungbrannen.com $5.000 $400.00 6.00 14 63
91 Sasaki Associates, Watertown, Massachusetts; sasaki.com $5.000 $97.00 0.95 55 74
92 ADD, Cambridge, Massachusetts; addinc.com $4.976 $143.00 4.90 36 61
93 JGA, Southfield, Michigan; jga.com $4.952 $45.00 1.60 36 85
94 Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart Interiors, Atlanta; srssa.com $4.945 $70.00 3.50 24 57
95 Lawrence Group, Saint Louis; thelawrencegroup.com $4.868 $114.54 1.53 40 -
96 Daroff Design & DDI Architects, Philadelphia; daroffdesign.com $4.800 $75.00 1.60 36 -
97 Cuningham Group Architecture, Minneapolis; cuningham.com $4.627 NR NR 108 97
98 H. Hendy Associates, Irvine, California; hhendy.com $4.586 $60.00 1.50 23 124
99 Babey Moulton Jue & Booth, San Francisco; bamo.com $4.500 NR NR 25 104
100 Planning Design Research Corporation, Houston $4.455 $318.75 4.25 34 -
Methodology: The first installment of the three-part annual business survey of Interior Design Giants comprises the 100 largest firms ranked by interior design fees for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2003. The second 100 Giants firm ranking will be published in July; the final installment, listing the top 50 hospitality Giants, will be published in October.
Interior design fees include fees attributed to:
1. All types of interiors work, including commercial 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 who are not considered the equivalent of full-time staff. For example, certain firms attract work that is subcontracted to a local firm. The originating firm may collect all the fees and retain a fee for management or generation, paying the remainder to the performing firm. The amounts paid to the latter firm are not included in the fees of the collecting firm in determining its ranking.
Data was compiled and analyzed by Interior Design's market research staff in New York: research manager Wing Leung and tabulation supervisor Laura Girmscheid. Judith Davidsen is a contributing editor for the magazine.


TOP 10 IN CORPORATE/OFFICE DESIGN

Firms ID fee Rank
Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum $41,876,000 2
Gensler $41,440,000 1
Perkins & Will $22,000,000 3
Kling $17,550,000 23
Leo A Daly $16,344,900 4
TPG Planning & Design $14,802,900 13
A/R Environetics Group $13,005,000 26
RTKL Associates $12,650,000 20
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill $10,530,000 5
SmithGroup $9,101,447 11


TOP 10 IN RETAIL DESIGN

Pavlik Design Team $37,435,687 6
Gensler $22,400,000 1
Design Forum $22,140,800 14
Callison Architecture $21,992,600 10
RPA $10,800,000 40
TPG Planning & Design $10,054,800 13
FRCH Design Worldwide $9,198,000 43
Nicholas J. Tricarico, Architect $7,513,214 62
Jacobs $5,986,561 9
JGA $4,952,423 93


TOP 10 IN GOVERNMENT INSTITUTION DESIGN

Gensler $16,800,000 1
Jacobs $15,439,026 9
Ai $6,450,000 25
HLM Design $5,730,400 27
STUDIOS Architecture $5,145,000 30
Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum $5,054,000 2
Leo A Daly $5,029,200 4
SmithGroup $4,226,774 11
DBI Architects $3,924,900 41
Group Goetz Architects $3,836,000 84


TOP 10 IN HOSPITALITY DESIGN

Firms ID fee Rank
Hirsch Bedner Associates $24,287,000 16
Wilson & Associates $21,660,000 22
DiLeonardo International $10,272,000 45
Gettys Group $6,650,000 64
Concepts 4 $5,725,440 74
Brennan Beer Gorman Monk Interiors $5,270,000 71
H. Chambers Company $5,220,000 69
RTKL Associates $4,600,000 20
Brayton & Hughes Design Studio $4,256,000 72
Leo A Daly $3,771,900 4


TOP 10 IN FINANCIAL/BANK DESIGN

Gensler $16,800,000 1
IA Interior Architects $15,970,500 7
Nelson $13,410,000 29
Mancini-Duffy $6,630,525 32
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill $5,265,000 5
Swanke Hayden Connell Architects $4,978,000 36
Ted Moudis Associates $4,900,000 38
Hillier Architects $4,600,000 19
Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum $4,332,000 2
Ellerbe Becket $3,270,600 31


TOP 10 IN HEALTH-CARE/ASSISTED-LIVING DESIGN

HDR Architecture $14,520,000 12
NBBJ $13,500,000 8
Cannon Design $9,787,600 15
Perkins & Will $8,800,000 3
Anshen + Allen $7,804,800 56
Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum $7,220,000 2
Tsoi/Kobus & Associates $7,154,000 46
PageSoutherlandPage $6,071,100 55
Karlsberger Companies $6,065,500 57
HLM Design $6,032,000 27


TOP 10 IN TECHNOLOGY DESIGN

Firms Design fees Rank
Flad & Associates $12,064,000 18
IA Interior Architects $10,647,000 7
NBBJ $5,062,500 8
CUH2A $4,831,600 44
HLW $4,800,000 17
Jacobs $3,465,904 9
Hillier Architects $3,450,000 19
SmithGroup $3,301,203 11
SpAce $2,800,000 33
EwingCole $2,400,000 39


TOP 10 IN CULTURAL DESIGN

HLW $7,440,000 17
EwingCole $3,600,000 39
Leo A Daly $2,933,700 4
SmithGroup $2,900,122 11
Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum $2,888,000 2
Jacobs $2,835,739 9
Gensler $2,240,000 1
Ellerbe Becket $1,706,400 31
Interior Space International $1,690,000 37
NBBJ $1,687,500 8


TOP 10 IN EDUCATIONAL DESIGN

Firms Design fees Rank
Cannon Design $9,787,600 15
Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum $7,220,000 2
SmithGroup $5,861,949 11
Gensler $5,600,000 1
Perkins & Will $4,840,000 3
Leo A Daly $3,771,900 4
Hillier Architects $3,450,000 19
Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott $3,015,000 68
CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares $2,700,000 52
Flad & Associates $2,552,000 18


TOP 10 IN RESIDENTIAL DESIGN

Creative Design Consultants $21,160,000 21
Marc-Michaels Interior Design $10,997,000 42
Slifer Designs $4,565,000 82
Roger Ferris & Partners $2,700,000 50
Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects $2,553,000 66
Perkins & Will $2,200,000 3
Lawrence Group $1,363,058 95
Swanke Hayden Connell Architects $1,310,000 36
Wilson & Associates $1,140,000 22
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill $810,000 5


FEE SCALES

Titles (median) Annual salary (median) Hourly rate
Principal/partner $115,000 $175
Project manager $75,000 $125
Designer $59,000 $95
CAD operator $47,000 $75
Other design staff $40,400 $74


10 FASTEST-GROWING FIRMS (BY DESIGN FEES)

Firms 2002 2003 Change Rank
Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum $40,542,000 $72,200,000 78.1% 2
EwingCole $6,800,000 $12,000,000 76.5% 39
Karlsberger Companies $5,200,000 $8,665,000 66.6% 57
JRS Architect $3,480,000 $5,350,000 53.7% 86
RPA $8,093,611 $12,000,000 48.3% 40
Gettys Group $5,000,000 $7,000,000 40.0% 64
FRCH Design Worldwide $7,910,000 $10,950,000 38.4% 43
Francis Cauffman Foley Hoffmann, Architects $4,500,000 $6,000,000 33.3% 73
Gresham Smith & Partners $6,712,402 $8,851,500 31.9% 54
H. Hendy Associates $3,618,750 $4,586,171 26.7% 98


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