Year Of The Tie
Judith Davidsen, Wing Leung, and Laura Girmscheid -- Interior Design, 7/1/2007 12:00:00 AM
Published in January, the top 100 Interior Design Giants, were really 101 because of a tie for the final spot. Now we have the second 100 Giants, also really 101, also because of a tie for that place. Data for this year's hospitality Giants won't be published until October—if you hear us humming the theme from The Twilight Zone, you'll know what happened.
The second 100 Giants earned a total of $342,990,697 last year. That's a fee increase of 10 percent, adjusting for the tie. The dollar value of interiors rose an amazing 20.7 percent, while square footage increased only 7 percent, an indication that these firms are doing better than ever at getting more money for less space.
Interestingly, this year's group earned a greater percentage of fees from the practice of interior design, 69.4 percent, than did the first 100 Giants, 58.2 percent. (In both cases, building architecture was the runner-up at 24.3 and 29.7 percent, respectively.) For the second 100 Giants, hospitality accounted for more than twice the earning power as that category did for their January counterparts, and corporate projects brought in 17 percent more business. Conversely, health care and retail accounted for less than half as much business for the current group as for January's list.
Since the turn of this century, the second 100 Giants have experienced a high degree of volatility, with rankings turnover in the double digits. This time, there are 26 that did not appear in the previous study—compared with a change of only five for the top 100 Giants, which have not recorded double-digit movement in six years. (The hospitality Giants have had turnovers of up to 40 percent.)
The greatest change the second 100 Giants have undergone in the past five years is to require that staff members possess a high degree of computer savvy, sometimes in specific programs such as Photoshop and Revit. And in a refreshing blast from the past, two firms now put a premium on the ability to draw by hand. Environmental mastery runs a distant second to technology. Other criteria include affability, the ability to work with clients, business sense, a knowledge of foreign languages, National Council for Interior Design Qualification certification, and experience in hospitality and health care. We're a little mystified at responses that professionalism and organization are virtues some firms didn't consider essential in 2002. At least they do now.
A whopping 93 percent of this year's second 100 Giants reported specifying environmentally sensitive products, up from the 87 percent last year. Total product value was $402,950,000, up from $278,940,000. The most frequently specified green products were, in descending order, carpet, hard flooring including bamboo and linoleum, paint, fabric, wall covering, furniture, building materials, and lighting—the low ranking for the latter possibly being the result of an increased reliance on daylighting techniques. Among specific environment-savers cited were wheat-board and straw-board substrates for case goods, dual-flush toilets and waterless urinals, recycled jeans for insulation, corn-based fabric, soy-based floors and counters, brown-paper ceilings, and—talk about low-tech environmentalism—found objects and antiques.
—Judith Davidsen
% of fees by type of work
| 2006 actual fees | % of fees | |
| Office | $143,369,037 | 41.80% |
| Hospitality | $98,609,225 | 28.75% |
| Residential | $20,171,669 | 5.88% |
| Health care/Assisted Living | $19,451,153 | 5.67% |
| Retail | $19,395,377 | 5.65% |
| Educational | $15,315,812 | 4.47% |
| Government | $11,558,719 | 3.37% |
| Museum/Cultural | $4,178,016 | 1.22% |
| Transportation | $1,129,598 | 0.33% |
| Other | $9,812,091 | 2.86% |
| Total: | $342,990,697 | 100% |
% of fees by type of work
| 2007 forecasted feed | % of fees | |
| Office | $150,008,689 | 39.1% |
| Hospitality | $117,014,450 | 30.5% |
| Residential | $24,170,198 | 6.3% |
| Health care/Assisted Living | $23,402,890 | 6.1% |
| Retail | $23,402,890 | 6.1% |
| Educational | $17,648,081 | 4.6% |
| Government | $11,893,272 | 3.1% |
| Museum/Cultural | $4,987,501 | 1.3% |
| Transportation | $1,534,616 | 0.4% |
| Other | $9,591,348 | 2.5% |
| Total: | $383,653,936 | 100% |
Fee scales
| Title | Annual salary (median) | Hourly rate (median) |
| Principal/Partner | $126,264 | $190 |
| Project Manager | $80,000 | $125 |
| Designer | $56,750 | $95 |
| Other I.D. Staff | $45,000 | $78 |
Giants 200
| 2007 rank | Firm headquarters, web site | I.D. fees (millions | Work installed | |||
| Value (millions) | Sq. ft. (millions) | I.D. staff | 2006 rank | |||
| 101 | Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Vancouver, Canada; kasian.com | $5.841 | $38.00 | $7.60 | 55 | 110 |
| 102 | Johnson Controls Milwaukee; jci.com | $5.812 | $46.90 | $3.86 | 93 | - |
| 103 | Butler Rogers Baskett Architects New York; brb.com | $5.750 | $149.64 | $1.39 | 57 | 74 |
| 104 | Corgan Associates Dallas; corgan.com | $5.730 | NR | $1.50 | 25 | 112 |
| 105 | Ziegler Cooper Architects Houston; zieglercooper.com | $5.600 | $152.00 | $2.50 | 42 | 118 |
| 106 | Milo Kleinberg Design Associates New York; mkda.com | $5.600 | $80.00 | $0.90 | 30 | 108 |
| 107 | Vocon Cleveland; vocon.com | $5.600 | $70.00 | $1.90 | 44 | 102 |
| 108 | DES Architects + Engineers Redwood City, California; des-ae.com | $5.500 | $21.20 | $1.34 | 14 | 101 |
| 109 | ADD Cambridge, Massachusetts; addinc.com | $5.438 | $181.30 | $3.63 | 46 | 99 |
| 110 | Susman Tisdale Gayle Austin, Texas; stgarchitects.com | $5.400 | $40.55 | $0.43 | 55 | 121 |
| 111 | Anderson Mikos Architects Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois; andersonmikos.com | $5.400 | $20.27 | $2.82 | 16 | - |
| 112 | Burkettdesign Denver; burkettdesign.com | $5.209 | $120.57 | $3.00 | 33 | 120 |
| 113 | ARCTURIS Saint Louis; arcturis.com | $5.200 | $69.30 | $0.89 | 46 | 104 |
| 114 | Hendrick Atlanta; hendrickinc.com | $5.105 | $115.00 | $5.75 | 34 | 116 |
| 115 | Gary Lee Partners Chicago; garyleepartners.com | $5.000 | $130.00 | $1.00 | 27 | 111 |
| 116 | KZF Design Cincinnati; kzf.com | $4.955 | $95.60 | $8.77 | 27 | 154 |
| 117 | Graham Downes Architecture San Diego; grahamdownes.com | $4.950 | $25.00 | $2.50 | 35 | 126 |
| 118 | Whitney Oak Brook, Illinois; whitneydesign.com | $4.915 | $82.00 | $3.20 | 30 | 132 |
| 119 | EDI Architecture Houston; ediarchitecture.com | $4.888 | $70.00 | $1.35 | 8 | 169 |
| 120 | Interior Space International Chicago; epstein-isi.com | $4.823 | $600.00 | $14.50 | 38 | 38 |
| 121 | Cheryl Rowley Design Los Angeles; cherylrowleydesign.com | $4.700 | $795.00 | $2.00 | 29 | 148 |
| 122 | POLLACK architecture San Francisco; pollackarch.com | $4.600 | $53.71 | $1.01 | 25 | 125 |
| 123 | Davis, Carter, Scott McLean, Virginia; dcsdesign.com | $4.519 | $65.00 | $1.50 | 18 | 127 |
| 124 | H. Hendy Associates Newport Beach, California; hhendy.com | $4.508 | $65.00 | $1.95 | 34 | 93 |
| 125 | Looney & Associates Dallas; looney-associates.com | $4.500 | NR | NR | 35 | 141 |
| 126 | OTJ Architects Washington, D.C.; otj.com | $4.256 | $36.00 | $3.90 | 20 | 131 |
| 127 | Legat Architects Waukegan, Illinois; legat.com | $4.200 | $30.00 | $2.57 | 46 | - |
| 128 | SKB Architecture and Design Washington, D.C.; skbarch.com | $4.110 | $45.60 | $0.65 | 25 | 136 |
| 129 | Cagley & Tanner Las Vegas; cagleyandtanner.com | $4.091 | $73.93 | $0.65 | 14 | - |
| 130 | Omniplan Dallas; omniplan.com | $4.075 | NR | NR | 16 | 147 |
| 131 | OZ Architecture Denver; ozarch.com | $4.030 | NR | NR | 23 | - |
| 132 | Biber Partnership Summit, New Jersey; tbpaia.com | $3.920 | $69.00 | $1.50 | 18 | 130 |
| 133 | Style Interior Design Irvine, California; style-interiors.com | $3.900 | $63.00 | $4.30 | 16 | 142 |
| 134 | Adache Group Architects Fort Lauderdale, Florida; adache.com | $3.900 | $15.00 | $1.10 | 14 | - |
| 135 | Mojo Stumer Associates Architects Greenvale, New York; mojostumer.com | $3.877 | $30.00 | $0.20 | 14 | 128 |
| 136 | ABA Avery Brooks & Associates Las Vegas; abalv.com | $3.825 | $82.00 | NR | 21 | - |
| 137 | J. Banks Design Group Hilton Head, South Carolina; jbanksdesign.com | $3.767 | $76.86 | NR | 22 | 144 |
| 138 | Stubbins Associates Cambridge, Massachusetts; stubbins.us | $3.725 | $180.00 | $3.80 | 23 | 161 |
| 139 | Reel Grobman & Associates San Jose, California; reelgrobman.com | $3.700 | $97.50 | $1.50 | 23 | 156 |
| 140 | Haverson Architecture and Design Greenwich, Connecticut; haversonarchitecture.com | $3.700 | $45.00 | $0.15 | 14 | 145 |
| 141 | Gerner Kronick & Valcarcel Architects New York; gkvarchitects.com | $3.694 | $21.00 | $0.94 | 41 | - |
| 142 | Westar Architects Las Vegas; wagnarchitects.com | $3.575 | $110.00 | $0.23 | 26 | - |
| 143 | Design Development Company Agoura Hills, California; designdevelopment-group.com | $3.550 | $60.00 | $0.50 | 13 | 139 |
| 144 | Symmes Maini & McKee Associates Cambridge, Massachusetts; smma.com | $3.520 | $46.00 | $2.00 | 87 | - |
| 145 | Spacesmith New York; spacesmith.com | $3.510 | $66.00 | $0.49 | 19 | 189 |
| 146 | Yates-Silverman Las Vegas; yates-silverman.com | $3.500 | $150.00 | NR | 27 | 133 |
| 147 | RDH & Associates Addison, Texas; rdhassociates.net | $3.500 | $35.00 | NR | 11 | 196 |
| 148 | OPX Washington, D.C.; opxglobal.com | $3.494 | $70.00 | $1.50 | 37 | 87 |
| 149 | Elias Design Group New York; eliasdesigngroup.com | $3.300 | $66.00 | $0.99 | 12 | 152 |
| 150 | Furnstahl & Simon Architects New York; furnstahlandsimon.com | $3.300 | $50.00 | $0.50 | 11 | 160 |
| 151 | Lauckgroup Dallas; lauckgroup.com | $3.300 | $30.00 | $0.70 | 18 | 171 |
| 152 | Goettsch Partners Chicago; gpchicago.com | $3.251 | $38.00 | $0.80 | 14 | 149 |
| 153 | Heitz Parsons Sadek West Palm Beach, Florida; heitz-parsons-sadek.com | $3.220 | $55.00 | NR | 26 | 163 |
| 154 | sfa design Santa Barbara, California; sfadesign.com | $3.172 | $28.00 | $0.15 | 20 | 182 |
| 155 | JMA Architecture Studios Las Vegas; jmaarch.com | $3.105 | $185.00 | $2.00 | 23 | 155 |
| 156 | breretonArchitects San Francisco; brereton.com | $3.100 | $125.00 | $2.10 | 30 | - |
| 157 | Ratcliff Emeryville, California; ratcliffarch.com | $3.075 | NR | NR | 31 | - |
| 158 | Hatch Design Group Costa Mesa, California; hatchdesign.com | $3.053 | $133.37 | $0.34 | 23 | 153 |
| 159 | Meyer Design Ardmore, Pennsylvania; meyer-associates.com | $3.050 | $112.88 | $2.85 | 33 | 137 |
| 160 | Maregatti Interiors Indianapolis; maregattiinteriors.com | $2.988 | $90.00 | $4.42 | 19 | - |
| 161 | EDG San Rafael, California; edgdesign.com | $2.988 | $45.00 | $0.38 | 25 | 157 |
| 162 | GRID2 International New York; grid2.com | $2.900 | $37.50 | $1.50 | 36 | - |
| 163 | Puccini Group San Francisco; puccinigroup.com | $2.880 | $33.28 | $0.51 | 15 | 167 |
| 164 | KNA Interior Design Los Angeles; knadesign.com | $2.819 | $451.63 | $5.33 | 12 | - |
| 165 | Cleo Design Las Vegas; cleo-design.com | $2.769 | NR | $3.70 | 12 | - |
| 166 | CORE architecture + design Washington, D.C.; coredc.com | $2.750 | $30.00 | $0.28 | 18 | 165 |
| 167 | Loffredo Brooks Architects New York; lbarch.com | $2.640 | $66.50 | $0.92 | 17 | 166 |
| 168 | Rothenberg Sawasy Architects Los Angeles; rsala.com | $2.600 | $60.00 | $0.60 | 45 | 168 |
| 169 | Dyer Brown & Associates Boston; dyerbrown.com | $2.520 | $30.00 | $1.00 | 24 | 150 |
| 170 | Grad Associates Newark; gradarchitects.com | $2.500 | $52.00 | $0.60 | 17 | - |
| 171 | R.D. Jones & Associates Baltimore; rdjones.com | $2.400 | NR | NR | 17 | 176 |
| 172 | Partridge Architects Philadelphia; partridgearch.com | $2.378 | $29.28 | $0.93 | 22 | 164 |
| 173 | Zeff Design New York; zeffdesign.com | $2.358 | $110.00 | $1.20 | 20 | - |
| 174 | Ai Group Design Atlanta; aigroupdesign.com | $2.337 | $48.50 | NR | 10 | - |
| 175 | Designplan Indianapolis; designplaninc.com | $2.328 | $330.00 | $1.40 | 17 | 151 |
| 176 | Shea Minneapolis; shealink.com | $2.320 | $64.00 | $0.64 | 17 | 178 |
| 177 | Ford & Earl Associates Troy, Michigan; fordandearldesign.com | $2.316 | $123.00 | $1.80 | 22 | 175 |
| 178 | Interior Resource San Diego; ir2.com | $2.237 | $17.00 | $0.65 | 16 | 172 |
| 179 | Design Directions Marietta, Georgia; designdirectionsinc.com | $2.215 | $84.55 | $3.05 | 12 | 180 |
| 180 | Rowland Design Indianapolis; rowlanddesign.com | $2.204 | NR | NR | 29 | 143 |
| 181 | RNL Design Denver; rnldesign.com | $2.200 | $41.70 | $0.75 | 22 | 185 |
| 182 | IEI GROUP Philadelphia; ieigroup.com | $2.090 | $55.00 | $0.55 | 13 | 191 |
| 183 | INARCH New York; inarch.net | $2.062 | $20.00 | $0.85 | 17 | 183 |
| 184 | Orsini Design Associates New York; orsinidesignassociates.com | $1.959 | NR | NR | 7 | 174 |
| 185 | idea/span Atlanta; idea-span.com | $1.937 | $55.00 | $1.00 | 18 | 170 |
| 186 | ARKTX Arlington, Virginia; arktxinc.com | $1.925 | $24.00 | $0.93 | 10 | 177 |
| 187 | Gray Design Group Saint Louis; graydesigngroup.com | $1.920 | $165.00 | $2.20 | 20 | 184 |
| 188 | Design Collective Columbus, Ohio; dcollective.com | $1.900 | $27.00 | $1.20 | 15 | 179 |
| 189 | Cuningham Group Architecture Minneapolis; cuningham.com | $1.811 | NR | NR | 136 | 129 |
| 190 | Hopping Kovach Grinnell Design Consultants Vancouver, Canada; hkgdesign.com | $1.800 | $25.00 | $0.30 | 16 | 188 |
| 191 | Ahearn/Schopfer and Associates Boston; ahearnschopfer.com | $1.750 | $10.00 | $0.25 | 8 | 187 |
| 192 | Judd Brown Designs Pawtucket, Rhode Island; jbd.cc | $1.744 | $39.22 | $0.22 | 18 | - |
| 193 | Hixson Architecture, Engineering, Interiors Cincinnati; hixson-inc.com | $1.725 | NR | NR | 15 | - |
| 194 | Cole Martinez Curtis and Associates Marina Del Rey, California; cmcadesign.com | $1.710 | $62.00 | $0.95 | 11 | 186 |
| 195 | Ruys & Company Atlanta; ruys.com | $1.700 | $50.00 | $0.45 | 7 | 192 |
| 196 | Looney Ricks Kiss Memphis; lrk.com | $1.681 | $85.50 | $1.80 | 20 | 195 |
| 197 | Marvin Stein & Associates Seattle; marvinstein.com | $1.663 | $60.00 | NR | 16 | - |
| 198 | HDC interior architecture + Design Los Angeles; hdc-srl.com | $1.550 | $35.00 | NR | 12 | - |
| 199 | NFD Timonium, Maryland; nfd.com | $1.531 | NR | $1.30 | 13 | - |
| 200 | Plunkett Raysich Architects Milwaukee; prarch.com | $1.500 | $75.00 | $1.50 | 48 | - |
| 200 | Dawson Design Associates Seattle; dawsondesignassociates.com | $1.500 | $69.00 | $1.40 | 13 | - |
New to the Second 100 Giants
| Firm | 2007 Rank |
| Anderson Mikos Architects | 111 |
| Cagley & Tanner | 129 |
| Adache Group Architects | 134 |
| KNA Interior Design | 164 |
| Ai Group Design | 174 |
| Cleo Design | 165 |
| ABA Avery Brooks & Associates | 136 |
| OZ Architecture | 131 |
| Maregatti Interiors | 160 |
| Grad Associates | 170 |
| Westar Architects | 142 |
| HDC interior architecture + Design | 198 |
| Zeff Design | 173 |
| NFD | 199 |
| Dawson Design Associates | 200 |
| Hixson Architecture, Engineering, Interiors | 193 |
| Marvin Stein & Associates | 197 |
| breretonArchitects | 156 |
| Ratcliff | 157 |
| Judd Brown Designs | 192 |
| Legat Architects | 127 |
| Gerner Kronick & Valcarcel Architects | 141 |
| GRID2 International | 162 |
| Johnson Controls | 102 |
| Symmes Maini & McKee Associates | 144 |
| Plunkett Raysich Architects | 200 |
Fastest-growing Second 100 (by % change)
| Firm | 2005 I.D. fees | 2006 I.D. fees | % change | 2007 rank |
| Marvin Stein & Associates | $440,000 | $1,662,500 | 278% | 197 |
| RDH & Associates | $1,520,000 | $3,500,000 | 130% | 147 |
| Cleo Design | $1,262,680 | $2,768,500 | 119% | 165 |
| EDI Architecture | $2,320,000 | $4,888,000 | 111% | 119 |
| spaceSmith | $1,688,725 | $3,510,000 | 108% | 145 |
| sfa design | $1,786,567 | $3,172,188 | 78% | 154 |
| KZF Design | $2,800,500 | $4,955,000 | 77% | 116 |
| Judd Brown Designs | $1,091,005 | $1,743,962 | 60% | 192 |
| Cheryl Rowley Design | $2,995,000 | $4,700,000 | 57% | 121 |
| Stubbins Associates | $2,500,000 | $3,725,000 | 49% | 138 |
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