Gearing Up For A Comeback

With major obstacles melting away, the second 100 Giants have found their footing again

by Judith Davidsen and Wing Leung -- Interior Design, 7/1/2004

It's mostly good news for the second 100 Interior Design Giants. As a group, they earned $262,944,327 in 2003—a decline of 3 percent from 2002 but nowhere near the disastrous 24 percent drop of the previous reporting period. And an increase of 13 percent is forecast for 2004.

Among this year's second 100 Giants, 35 experienced growth that ranged from 1 percent all the way up to an outstanding 76 percent, and five racked up gains of over 50 percent. (During the previous reporting period, the few increases topping 25 percent were a cause for celebration.) The number of second 100 Giants reporting income decreases was six fewer than the top 100 Giants reporting decreases, and the greatest drop was 4 percent less than that experienced by the top 100. Furthermore, 28 percent fewer earned less than the second 100 Giants' number the previous year, and even the most serious individual drops were at least 39 percent smaller.

The second 100 Giants installed 116,064,671 square feet, down almost 9 percent from 2002 but not down nearly so far as the 16 percent reported between 2001 and 2002. The value of these installations came in at $6.4 billion, down 1.56 percent—compared to a 5 percent drop last time around. Hospitality, office, financial, government, educational, and residential jobs accounted for a larger portion of the second 100 Giants' income than the same categories did in 2002. These Giants were also more reliant on hospitality, office, residential, and "other" than the top 100 were.

When it came to billing, the second 100 Giants generally charged a higher percentage of project cost than the top 100 Giants—except in health care, transportation, technology, and "other"—as well as a higher dollar amount per square foot in all areas but health care and technology. When billing on an hourly basis, however, the second 100 Giants charged more than the top 100 for only offices, hotels, restaurants, cultural and entertainment spaces, and the ever intriguing "other." Average billing rates rose 3.1 percent for principals and partners, 4.55 percent for project managers and job captains, 5.74 percent for designers, and 4.05 percent for CAD operators, while average salaries increased 6.73 percent, 4.3 percent, 4.09 percent, and 4.8 percent, respectively.

The average employee at second 100 Giants firms earned fees of $147,979, a rise of .4 percent from the previous year. The high was $450,981, up 3 percent, and the low was $37,255, up an amazing 47 percent. Compared to the top 100 Giants, pay rates at the second 100 rose faster in all job categories, with average principal-partner compensation growing 4.43 times faster than for the same rank among the top 100.

By definition, the second 100 Giants' earnings have never been as high as those of the top 100, but the former group's lean-and-hungry rate of growth has usually far outstripped the bigger guys. That generalization temporarily lost its currency in 2002, which hit the second 100 much harder. Now, it looks as though the runners-up are ready to close the gap.

% of Fees by Type of Work: 2003 Actual

	Actual Fees	Average % of Work
Office	105,055,888	39.95
Hospitality	58,223,939	22.14
Retail	20,455,387	7.78
Residential	15,897,709	6.05
Health Care	14,492,515	5.51
Bank, Financial Institution	14,237,287	5.41
Government	11,762,256	4.47
Education	10,432,734	3.97
Technology	5,484,033	2.09
Museum, Gallery	4,255,319	1.62
Transportation	58,000	0.02
Other	2,589,260	0.98
Total	$262,944,327	100%

% of Fees by Type of Work: 2004 Forecast

	Forecast Fees	Average % of Work
Office	111,284,028	39.11
Hospitality	66,443,906	23.35
Retail	21,385,522	7.52
Residential	17,277,011	6.07
Health Care	15,299,436	5.38
Bank, Financial Institution	14,659,870	5.15
Government	13,064,959	4.59
Education	11,191,201	3.93
Technology	6,833,672	2.40
Museum, Gallery	4,346,350	1.53
Transportation	525,000	0.18
Other	2,218,420	0.78
Total	$284,529,376	100%

Annual Salary

	Median
Principal, Partner	$120,000
Project Manager	$70,000
Designer	$50,000
CAD Operator	$42,000
Other ID Staff	$35,000
34 firms did not respond

Hourly Rate

	Median
Principal, Partner	$150
Project Manager	$110
Designer	$90
CAD Operator	$78
Other ID staff	$65
6 firms did not respond

Giants 200

Rank	Firms, headquarters	ID Fees*
			Work installed		Employees	Rank
2004		Total	$ value*	Sq. ft.*		2003
101	Huntsman Architectural Group San Francisco huntsmanag.com	$4.425	$210.13	4.00	42	..
102	Ziegler Cooper Architects Houston zieglercooper.com	$4.400	$125.00	1.90	30	91
103	Milo Kleinberg Design Associates New York mkda.com	$4.300	$50.00	0.70	23	114
104	Cooper Carry Atlanta coopercarry.com	$4.235	NR	NR	28	..
105	Ronald Schmidt & Associates Englewood, New Jersey rsaaia.com	$4.204	$91.60	2.57	33	119
106	SKB Architecture and Design Washington, D.C. skbarch.com	$4.200	$32.00	1.18	26	112
107	Aramark Design Development Philadelphia aramark.com	$4.160	$65.00	0.29	43	101
108	Ritchie Organization Newton, Massachusetts troarch.com	$4.123	$41.23	0.25	13	157
109	Vitetta Philadelphia vitetta.com	$4.100	$38.00	1.04	19	86
110	Naomi Leff & Associates New York naomileff.com	$4.100	$19.48	0.06	11	107
111	Whitney Oak Brook, Illinois whitneydesign.com	$4.074	$53.00	1.60	22	149
112	Dyer Brown & Associates Boston dyerbrown.com	$4.065	$56.00	0.80	41	123
113	Bilkey Llinas Design Associates Palm Beach Gardens, Florida bilkeyllinas.com	$4.050	$38.00	1.70	37	109
114	RNL Design Denver rnldesign.com	$3.962	$86.64	1.73	20	..
115	JPC Architects Bellevue, Washington jpcarchitects.com	$3.933	$132.00	2.20	28	111
116	Hendrick Atlanta hendrickinc.com	$3.920	$96.00	3.90	27	99
117	LPA Irvine, California lpainc.com	$3.825	$63.95	1.52	20	115
118	Biber Partnership Summit, New Jersey tbpaia.com	$3.800	$65.00	1.30	20	117
119	Rothenberg Sawasy Architects Los Angeles rsala.com	$3.800	$45.00	0.55	45	98
120	Mojo Stumer Associates Greenvale, New York mojostumer.com	$3.800	$30.00	0.28	27	122
121	Davis Carter Scott McLean, Virginia dcsdesign.com	$3.751	$49.51	0.66	21	113
122	Ware Malcomb Irvine, California waremalcomb.com	$3.700	$80.00	2.40	30	125
123	Avery Brooks & Associates Las Vegas abalv.com	$3.650	$235.00	0.75	19	127
124	Symmes Maini & McKee Associates Cambridge, Massachusetts smma.com	$3.608	$45.00	1.60	8	128
125	Gary Lee Partners Chicago garyleepartners.com	$3.600	$47.03	0.45	30	103
126	Vocon Design Cleveland vocon.com	$3.580	$50.00	1.43	30	132
127	VeenendaalCave Atlanta vcave.com	$3.494	$23.35	1.40	32	135
128	Ford & Earl Associates Troy, Michigan fordandearldesign.com	$3.400	$60.00	1.80	19	116
129	Design Development Co. Agoura Hills, California	$3.300	$50.00	0.50	13	137
130	Richard Pollack & Associates San Francisco rpaarch.com	$3.300	$41.55	0.82	20	118
131	Horst Design International Cold Spring Harbor, New York horstdesign.com	$3.300	$34.00	1.90	..	136
132	Burkettdesign Denver burkettdesign.com	$3.214	$138.64	2.60	33	134
133	Yates-Silverman Las Vegas yates-silverman.com	$3.200	$400.00	NR	32	144
134	CORE Washington, D.C. coredc.com	$3.200	$45.00	1.30	24	121
135	Rowland Design Indianapolis rowlanddesign.com	$3.200	NR	NR	27	141
136	Omniplan Dallas omniplan.com	$3.161	$72.70	1.08	11	..
137	Hochheiser Ross Design Group Richmond, Virginia baskervill.com	$3.105	$62.00	2.65	15	138
138	Gray Design Group Saint Louis graydesigngroup.com	$3.100	$130.00	2.60	19	175
139	Meyer Associates Ardmore, Pennsylvania meyer-associates.com	$2.905	$96.00	2.40	26	147
140	Designplan Indianapolis, designplaninc.com	$2.900	$170.00	0.75	17	130
141	Settles Associates Arlington, Virginia settlesassoc.com	$2.900	$35.00	0.80	22	129
142	Interprise Dallas interprisedesign.com	$2.838	NR	1.75	28	..
143	Stonehill & Taylor Architects and Planners New York stonehilltaylor.com	$2.800	$50.00	1.55	18	..
144	Robert Young Associates Dallas rya.com	$2.799	$103.80	1.20	25	155
145	Furnstahl & Simon Architects New York furnstahlandsimon.com	$2.750	$35.00	0.45	20	..
146	Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle Minneapolis msrltd.com	$2.659	$190.00	1.02	37	108
147	SFA Design Santa Barbara, California sfadesign.com	$2.576	$50.00	0.20	14	151
148	Forrest Perkins Washington, D.C. forrestperkins.com	$2.562	$210.00	1.28	20	178
149	Lauckgroup Dallas lauckgroup.com	$2.500	$31.25	1.50	20	126
150	Entos Design Dallas entosdesign.com	$2.400	$52.50	1.50	15	142
151	Orsini Design Associates New York orsinidesignassociates.com	$2.400	NR	NR	9	152
152	Interform Commercial Interiors San Ramon, California interform.com	$2.382	$109.20	1.99	16	164
153	Style Interior Design Irvine, California style-interiors.com	$2.351	$24.50	0.13	9	165
154	Engstrom Design Group San Rafael, California engstromdesign.com	$2.300	$35.00	0.14	24	170
155	Haverson Architecture and Design Greenwich, Connecticut haversonarchitecture.com	$2.300	$35.00	0.12	15	166
156	Hnedak Bobo Group Memphis hbginc.com	$2.296	NR	NR	11	133
157	ARKTX Arlington, Virginia arktxinc.com	$2.290	$25.00	1.10	12	160
158	Duncan & Miller Design Dallas duncanmillerdesign.com	$2.284	$265.00	1.35	21	189
159	OTJ Architects Washington, D.C. otj.com	$2.200	$22.00	2.30	18	171
160	Barone Design Group Houston barone-design-group.com	$2.150	$25.00	1.80	7	154
161	Resort Interiors Myrtle Beach, South Carolina resortinteriors.net	$2.150	$10.20	NR	10	..
162	Design Collective Columbus, Ohio dcollective.com	$2.132	$65.00	1.20	18	161
163	Elias Design Group New York eliasdesigngroup.com	$2.050	$48.00	0.68	11	140
164	Susman Tisdale Gayle Austin, Texas stgarchitects.com	$2.007	$45.00	0.25	42	181
165	Hatch Design Group Costa Mesa, California hatchdesign.com	$2.006	$52.65	0.19	19	158
166	Berger Rait Design Associates New York bergerrait.com	$2.000	$50.00	0.75	12	150
167	Shea Minneapolis shealink.com	$2.000	$20.00	1.00	23	173
168	GBD Architects Portland, Oregon gbdarchitects.com	$1.989	$29.83	0.50	16	180
169	Reel Grobman & Associates San Jose, California reelgrobman.com	$1.963	$72.00	1.20	16	159
170	KZF Design Cincinnati kzf.com	$1.955	$144.52	5.67	13	163
171	Idea Span Atlanta idea-span.com	$1.950	$39.00	0.98	19	199
172	OBM International Coral Gables, Florida obmi.com	$1.900	$10.50	0.16	51	..
173	Jova/Daniels/Busby Atlanta jova.com	$1.884	$27.00	0.49	11	156
174	Lohan Caprile Goettsch Architects Chicago lohan.com	$1.800	$81.00	1.88	12	179
175	Grad Associates Newark gradarchitects.com	$1.788	$51.00	0.80	17	168
176	Loffredo Brooks Architects New York lbarch.com	$1.755	$68.00	0.75	15	..
177	Creative Design Concepts Simi Valley, California cdcsv.com	$1.754	$8.76	0.73	8	..
178	Alexandra Champalimaud & Associates New York alexchamp.com	$1.706	NR	2.00	12	169
179	Cole Martinez Curtis and Associates Marina Del Rey, California cmcadesign.com	$1.700	$70.00	0.30	13	184
180	Harris Smith Design New York harrissmithdesign.com	$1.615	$20.00	NR	11	..
181	Ir2 - Interior Resource San Diego lr2.com	$1.565	$13.00	0.70	11	182
182	Grid2 International New York grid2.com	$1.540	$18.00	0.25	12	..
183	Looney & Associates Dallas looney-associates.com	$1.520	$97.00	1.32	15	183
184	Adache Group Architects Fort Lauderdale, Florida adache.com	$1.500	$32.00	NR	16	..
185	Judd Brown Designs Warwick, Rhode Island jbd.com	$1.473	$47.46	1.13	19	191
186	Thanhauser Esterson Kapell Architects New York tek-arch.com	$1.470	$79.00	0.60	21	196
187	Hotel Design Consultants Los Angeles hdc.com	$1.422	$45.00	NR	12	193
188	J. Banks Design Group Hilton Head, South Carolina Jbanksdesign.com	$1.407	NR	NR	22	..
189	Interni Design Long Beach, California	$1.400	$14.50	0.45	7	..
190	Marvin Stein & Associates Seattle marvinstein.com	$1.350	$35.00	0.70	11	186
191	Oliver Design Group Cleveland oliver-design.com	$1.320	$23.00	0.26	10	197
192	Floss Barber Philadelphia flossbarber.com	$1.300	$60.00	1.30	11	194
193	Ahearn Schopfer and Associates Boston ahearnschopfer.com	$1.300	$18.00	0.45	11	195
194	Farrington Design Group Atlanta farrington.com	$1.280	$46.00	0.75	16	200
195	Indesign Studio City, California	$1.250	$36.00	0.38	14	192
196	NFD Timonium, Maryland nfd.com	$1.222	NR	1.55	16	185
197	Kostow Greenwood Architects New York kostowgreenwood.com	$1.200	$40.00	0.35	21	177
198	Ruys & Company Atlanta ruys.com	$1.200	$20.00	0.18	5	188
199	N2 Design Group Architects New York n2design.net	$1.140	$10.00	0.25	20	..
200	Exclaim Design Scottsdale, Arizona exclaimdesign.com	$1.100	$24.00	1.00	11	..
*ID Fees, $ Value, and Sq. Ft. in millions

New to the Second 100 Giants

Firm	Rank
Huntsman Architectural Group	101
Cooper Carry	104
RNL Design	114
Omniplan	136
Interprise	142
Stonehill & Taylor Architects and Planners	143
Furnstahl & Simon Architects	145
Resort Interiors	161
OBM International	172
Loffredo Brooks Architects	176
Creative Design Concepts	177
Harris Smith Design	180
Grid2 International	182
Adache Group Architects	184
J. Banks Design Group	188
Interni Design	189
N2 Design Group Architects	199
Exclaim Design	200

Fastest-Growing Second 100 Giants
(By ID Fees)

Firm	2002	2003	% Change	Rank
Ritchie Organization	$2,336,000	$4,123,000	76	108
Idea Span	$1,187,500	$1,950,000	64	171
Gray Design Group	$1,900,000	$3,100,000	63	138
Whitney	$2,600,000	$4,074,476	57	111
Duncan & Miller Design	$1,501,731	$2,284,350	52	158
Forrest Perkins	$1,800,000	$2,561,855	42	148
Farrington Design Group	$1,080,000	$1,280,000	19	194
Robert Young Associates	$2,380,000	$2,799,050	18	144
Yates-Silverman	$2,767,000	$3,200,000	16	133
Thanhauser Esterson Kapell Architects	$1,280,000	$1,470,000	15	186

From top: ACB Financial Centre in Antigua, West Indies, by OBM International. Austin Ventures in Austin, Texas, by Susman Tisdale Gayle. RNL Design's Cable Center in Denver.

From top: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt in Alexandria, Virginia, by SKB Architecture and Design. JPC Architects's SS+K in Bellevue, Washington.

From top: GBD Architects's offices in Portland, Oregon. W.D. Idea Span's Stribling Heart Clinic in Gainesville, Georgia.

Methodology

The second installment of the three-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, 2003. The first 100 firm ranking was published in January; 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 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: Laura Girmscheid, tabulation supervisor, and Wing Leung, research manager. Judith Davidsen is an Interior Design contributing editor.