Increases of Giant Proportion
By Judith Davidsen -- Interior Design, 1/1/2005
Second Top 100 Interior Design Giants
We're thrilled to announce that there's been a return to double-digit growth—a phenomenon that hasn't occurred since 2001. The 2005 top 100 Interior Design Giants earned $1,610,057,477, a hefty 10.19 percent increase over last year, when a rise of little over 1 percent was considered cause for mild jubilation. As for who's responsible, four firms moved up from last year's second 100 Giants, another four returned after a short hiatus from any Giants ranking, and one seems to have come out of nowhere.Compared with last year, when only 42 top 100 Giants reported expanded earnings, this year 70 of them experienced increases ranging from less than 1 percent all the way up to 73 percent. (Two companies reported no change.)
More than a third of those reporting increases credit an emphasis on business development, including new marketing hires, as well as publishing, speaking engagements, and community activity. Diversification and expanded services were each credited by 18.6 percent. Ten firms concentrated on maintaining relationships with existing clients, while seven each expanded into new geographical territories or focused primarily on the project types that have proven most profitable for them.
No one method, however, seems to be associated with outstanding growth. In fact, while some of the more assertive activity—getting out of ancillary businesses and markets that did not generate profits, for example—produced nice enough returns, one of the highest increases went to a firm that claims not to have changed its habits at all; it simply was commissioned more work.
As usual, office design was the largest single earner at 35.49 percent of total fees, down 2.22 points. Health care, perennially in fourth or fifth place, came in second with 13.25 percent of the total, up 1.77 percentage points. Hospitality, especially hard hit after 2001, is still in fourth place, but many of the Giants attribute their current success to a rebound in this area. And seventh-ranked science and technology is responsible for almost 6 percent of total earnings.
Total space installed was 514,428,655 square feet, up almost 1 percent from last year. The total value of installation was $38,795,444,794, up a sizeable 11.3 percent; $1,753,132,680 of these dollars—more than twice as much as last year—went toward sustainable products.
The average fee earned per employee climbed to $235,559 from $213,284; the highest was an astounding $1,285,714, a glorious increase from last year's high of $816,667 earned per employee. (The lowest was $63,966.) Interior design staff increased 4 percent, and a significant number of Giants feel that attracting top talent, mainly project directors and managers, will be a major challenge in the year to come. It's been a while since we've heard anything like that.
| 2005 Rank | Firms, Headquarters | Design Fees (Millions) | Work Installed | Design Staff | 2004 Rank | |
| Value (millions) | Sq. Ft. (millions) | |||||
| 1 | Gensler, San Francisco; gensler.com | $123.200 | $2,460.00 | 35.20 | 635 | 1 |
| 2 | Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, St. Louis; hok.com | $81.000 | $2,530.00 | 32.0 | 236 | 2 |
| 3 | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, New York; som.com | $56.700 | $950.00 | 9.0 | 216 | 5 |
| 4 | Leo A Daly, Omaha; leodaly.com | $48.330 | $1,100.50 | 15.1 | 174 | 4 |
| 5 | Jacobs, Pasadena, California; jacobs.com | $42.591 | $400.85 | 5.0 | 178 | 9 |
| 6 | Perkins + Will, Chicago; perkinswill.com | $40.000 | $1,200.00 | 14.0 | 165 | 3 |
| 7 | IA Interior Architects, San Francisco; interiorarchitects.com | $39.039 | $716.00 | 19.3 | 207 | 7 |
| 8 | HDR, Omaha; hdrinc.com | $36.300 | $1,400.00 | 14.0 | 216 | 12 |
| 9 | Callison Architecture, Seattle; callison.com | $36.300 | $977.97 | 10.4 | 102 | 10 |
| 10 | HLW, New York; hlw.com | $31.000 | $550.00 | 7.5 | 100 | 17 |
| 11 | Pavlik Design Team, Fort Lauderdale, Florida; pavlikdesign.com | $30.210 | $1,710.00 | 21.9 | 136 | 6 |
| 12 | Hillier Architecture, Princeton, New Jersey; hillier.com | $30.000 | $375.00 | 3.0 | 30 | 19 |
| 13 | NBBJ, Seattle; nbbj.com | $29.800 | $905.00 | 18.0 | 215 | 8 |
| 14 | TPG Architecture (The Phillips Group), New York; tpgarchitecture.com | $28.720 | $1,182.53 | 11.8 | 161 | 13 |
| 15 | Cannon Design, Boston; cannondesign.com | $28.033 | NR* | 5.0 | 170 | 15 |
| 16 | SmithGroup, Minneapolis; smithgroup.com | $28.012 | $417.21 | 4.3 | 162 | 11 |
| 17 | Wilson & Associates, Dallas; wilsonassoc.com | $27.500 | $1,000.00 | NR | 187 | 22 |
| 18 | PageSoutherlandPage, Houston; psp.com | $26.798 | $348.00 | 5.4 | 66 | 55 |
| 19 | Hirsch Bedner Associates, Santa Monica, California; hbadesign.com | $25.825 | $1,523.68 | 14.5 | 220 | 16 |
| 20 | Creative Design Consultants, Costa Mesa, California; cdcdesigns.com | $25.500 | NR | 0.9 | 78 | 21 |
| 21 | Design Forum, Dayton, Ohio; designforum.com | $25.200 | $650.00 | 6.3 | 165 | 14 |
| 22 | NELSON, Philadelphia; nelsononline.com | $23.500 | $616.20 | 10.4 | 205 | 29 |
| 23 | Flad & Associates, Madison, Wisconsin; flad.com | $23.400 | $525.18 | 8.8 | 178 | 18 |
| 24 | Perkins Eastman, New York; perkinseastman.com | $20.125 | $116.00 | 2.5 | 97 | 24 |
| 25 | Kling, Philadelphia; kling.us | $19.500 | $400.00 | 2.5 | 100 | 23 |
| 26 | RTKL Associates, Baltimore; rtkl.com | $17.000 | $400.00 | 6.5 | 69 | 20 |
| 27 | DMJM Design (DMJM Rottet/Spillis Candela DMJM), Los Angeles; dmjm.com | $16.600 | $395.00 | 5.0 | 148 | 34 |
| 28 | HKS, Dallas; hksinc.com | $16.500 | $455.00 | 4.8 | 57 | 28 |
| 29 | Mancini Duffy, New York; manciniduffy.com | $16.175 | $400.00 | 6.6 | 94 | 32 |
| 30 | A/R Environetics Group, New York; arenvironetics.com | $15.900 | $183.00 | 2.5 | 60 | 26 |
| 31 | EwingCole, Philadelphia; ewingcole.com | $15.400 | $550.00 | 2.8 | 146 | 39 |
| 32 | FRCH Design Worldwide, Cincinnati; frch.com | $15.300 | $200.77 | NR | 132 | 43 |
| 33 | Ai, Washington, D.C.; aiarchitecture.com | $15.000 | $325.00 | NR | 95 | 25 |
| 34 | Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates, Pittsburgh; burthill.com | $14.304 | NR | NR | 134 | 49 |
| 35 | STUDIOS Architecture, Washington, D.C.; studiosarchitecture.com | $14.000 | $700.00 | 4.0 | 72 | 30 |
| 36 | RSP Architects, Minneapolis; rsparch.com | $14.000 | $312.00 | 3.9 | 41 | 35 |
| 37 | Interior Space International, Chicago; epstein-isi.com | $13.500 | $500.00 | 12.0 | 68 | 37 |
| 38 | Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, Portland, Oregan; zgf.com | $13.500 | $180.00 | 4.5 | 65 | 47 |
| 39 | Ted Moudis Associates, New York; tedmoudis.com | $13.450 | $135.00 | 3.1 | 72 | 38 |
| 40 | Swanke Hayden Connell Architects, New York; shca.com | $13.200 | $375.00 | 5.0 | 110 | 36 |
| 41 | SPACE, Chicago; thinkspace.biz | $13.000 | $430.00 | 6.5 | 120 | 33 |
| 42 | Marc-Michaels Interior Design, Winter Park, Florida; marc-michaels.com | $12.255 | $24.13 | NR | 50 | 42 |
| 43 | Ellerbe Becket, Minneapolis; ellerbebecket.com | $12.000 | $355.00 | 4.9 | 36 | 31 |
| 44 | DBI Architects, Washington, D.C.; dbia.com | $12.000 | $150.00 | 2.5 | 51 | 41 |
| 45 | Peter Marino & Associates Architects, New York | $11.700 | $175.00 | 0.5 | 96 | -- |
| 46 | OWP/P ARCHITECTS, Chicago; owpp.com | $11.600 | $290.00 | 5.8 | 31 | 51 |
| 47 | Roger Ferris + Partners, Westport, Connecticut; ferrisarch.com | $11.500 | $286.00 | 1.7 | 48 | 50 |
| 48 | CUH2A, Princeton, New Jersey; cuh2a.com | $10.200 | $634.50 | 11.3 | 74 | 44 |
| 49 | DiLeonardo International, Warwick, Rhode Island; DiLeonardo.com | $10.200 | $334.00 | 3.0 | 51 | 45 |
| 50 | Cubellis Associates, Boston; cubellis.com | $10.170 | $191.20 | 4.1 | 46 | 75 |
| 51 | ASD, Atlanta; asdnet.com | $9.750 | NR | NR | 65 | 60 |
| 52 | RMW Architecture + Interiors, San Francisco; rmw.com | $9.746 | $205.25 | 2.7 | 45 | 58 |
| 53 | CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares, Boston; cbtarchitects.com | $9.500 | $220.00 | 2.6 | 39 | 52 |
| 54 | Griswold, Heckel & Kelly Associates, Chicago; ghk.net | $9.300 | $230.00 | 4.2 | 63 | 48 |
| 55 | VOA Associates, Chicago; voa.com | $9.284 | $152.00 | 2.5 | 74 | -- |
| 56 | Gould Evans, Kansas City, Missouri; gouldevans.com | $9.275 | NR | NR | 145 | 70 |
| 57 | Karlsberger Companies, Columbus, Ohio; Karlsberger.com | $9.150 | $260.00 | 2.3 | 19 | 57 |
| 58 | Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, Cambridge, Massachussetts; tka-architects.com | $9.000 | $400.22 | 2.7 | 7 | 46 |
| 59 | Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, Charlotte, North Carolina1 | $9.000 | $310.00 | 6.0 | 59 | 59 |
| 60 | Gresham Smith & Partners, Nashville; gspnet.com | $8.937 | $174.83 | 3.4 | 44 | 54 |
| 61 | Butler Rogers Baskett Architects, New York; brb.com | $8.806 | $140.00 | 1.5 | 56 | 76 |
| 62 | Ballinger, Philadelphia; ballinger-ae.com | $8.580 | $159.00 | 4.2 | 16 | -- |
| 63 | Nicholas J. Tricarico, Architect, Wayne, New Jersey; Tricarico.com | $8.100 | $140.00 | 4.3 | 55 | 62 |
| 64 | Spector Group, North Hills, New York; spectorgroup.com | $7.800 | $2.13 | 2.2 | 52 | 61 |
| 65 | TVS, Atlanta; tvsa.com | $7.800 | NR | NR | 43 | 53 |
| 66 | Daroff Design + DDI Architects, Philadelphia; daroffdesign.com | $7.790 | $125.00 | 1.8 | 36 | 96 |
| 67 | Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott, Boston; sbra.com | $7.200 | $100.75 | 0.7 | 12 | 68 |
| 68 | Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects, New York; gwathmey-siegel.com | $7.154 | $144.70 | 0.7 | 46 | 66 |
| 69 | JRS Architect, Mineola, New York; jrsarchitect.com | $7.125 | $150.00 | 1.1 | 28 | 86 |
| 70 | The Stubbins Associates, Cambridge, Massachussetts; stubbins.us | $7.000 | $48.00 | 1.5 | 15 | -- |
| 71 | Granary Associates, Philadelphia; Granaryassoc.com | $6.900 | NR | NR | 65 | 67 |
| 72 | Concepts 4, Long Beach, California; concepts4inc.com | $6.850 | $160.00 | 1.8 | 22 | 74 |
| 73 | Huntsman Architectural Group, San Francisco; huntsmanag.com | $6.750 | $250.00 | 5.0 | 47 | 101 |
| 74 | Slifer Designs, Edwards, Colorado; sliferdesigns.com | $6.700 | NR | NR | 31 | 82 |
| 75 | The Switzer Group, New York; theswitzergroup.com | $6.560 | $112.00 | 2.5 | 38 | 65 |
| 76 | Francis Cauffman Foley Hoffmann, Architects, Philadelphia; fcfh-did.com | $6.500 | $140.00 | 2.5 | 37 | 73 |
| 77 | JGA, Southfield, Michigan; jga.com | $6.445 | $50.00 | 1.8 | 36 | 93 |
| 78 | H. Chambers Company, Baltimore; chambersusa.com | $6.420 | $65.00 | 2.0 | 13 | 69 |
| 79 | Brayton + Hughes Design, San Francisco; bhdstudio.com | $6.200 | $70.00 | 1.6 | 28 | 72 |
| 80 | Sasaki Associates, Watertown, Massachussetts; sasaki.com | $6.000 | $97.00 | 1.0 | 32 | 91 |
| 81 | OPX, Washington, D.C.; opxglobal.com | $6.000 | $70.00 | 1.5 | 36 | 89 |
| 82 | Brennan Beer Gorman Monk Interiors, New York; bbg-bbgm.com | $6.000 | NR | NR | 35 | 71 |
| 83 | Cooper Carry, Atlanta; coopercarry.com | $5.900 | NR | NR | 45 | 104 |
| 84 | Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo, Honolulu; watg.com | $5.750 | NR | NR | 37 | -- |
| 85 | Loebl Schlossman & Hackl, Chicago; Lshdesign.com | $5.745 | $95.00 | 1.1 | 13 | 80 |
| 86 | LS3P Associates, Charleston, South Carolina; ls3p.com | $5.700 | $318.00 | 9.0 | 70 | 63 |
| 87 | Einhorn Yaffee Prescott Architecture & Engineering, Albany; eypae.com | $5.700 | $57.00 | 0.5 | 19 | 81 |
| 88 | Anshen + Allen, San Francisco; anshen.com | $5.590 | $56.50 | 2.3 | 18 | 56 |
| 89 | TRO/The Ritchie Organization, Newton, Massachussetts; troarch.com | $5.553 | $49.90 | 0.3 | 14 | 108 |
| 90 | Bergmeyer Associates, Boston; bergmeyer.com | $5.500 | $100.00 | 0.9 | 63 | 85 |
| 91 | ADD, Cambridge, Massachussetts; addinc.com | $5.460 | $182.08 | 3.6 | 31 | 92 |
| 92 | Lawrence Group, St. Louis; thelawrencegroup.com | $5.428 | $120.97 | 1.6 | 47 | 95 |
| 93 | Planning Design Research Corporation, Houston; pdrcorp.com | $5.302 | $250.00 | 2.2 | 36 | 100 |
| 94 | Carrier Johnson, San Diego; carrierjohnson.com | $5.250 | $167.30 | 2.4 | 10 | 88 |
| 95 | The Gettys Group, Chicago; gettys.com | $5.200 | $100.00 | NR | 28 | 64 |
| 96 | Staffelbach Design Associates, Dallas; staffelbach.com | $5.200 | $94.00 | 1.0 | 38 | 83 |
| 97 | Environments Group, Chicago; Envgroup.com | $5.100 | $120.00 | 1.5 | 47 | 87 |
| 98 | Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart Interiors, Atlanta; srssa.com | $5.100 | $56.25 | 2.5 | 29 | 94 |
| 99 | Group Goetz Architects, Washington, D.C.; gga.com | $5.000 | $110.00 | 1.5 | 34 | 84 |
| 100 | Silvester+Tafuro, South Norwalk, Connecticut; silvestertafuro.com | $4.920 | $30.00 | 1.0 | 31 | 77 |
| 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, 2004. 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. | ||||||
| FIRMS | ID FEE | RANK |
| Gensler | $69,608,000 | 1 |
| Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum | $47,790,000 | 2 |
| IA Interior Architects | $24,204,180 | 7 |
| NELSON | $23,500,000 | 22 |
| Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | $22,680,000 | 3 |
| TPG Architecture | $20,391,200 | 14 |
| Leo A Daly | $18,365,400 | 4 |
| Perkins + Will | $16,400,000 | 6 |
| Kling | $16,185,000 | 25 |
| Mancini Duffy | $14,557,500 | 29 |
| Wilson & Associates | $26,125,000 | 17 |
| Hirsch Bedner Associates | $25,825,000 | 19 |
| DiLeonardo International | $10,200,000 | 49 |
| Concepts 4 | $6,507,500 | 72 |
| H. Chambers Company | $5,778,000 | 78 |
| Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo | $5,750,000 | 84 |
| Gensler | $5,544,000 | 1 |
| Brayton + Hughes Design | $4,960,000 | 79 |
| The Gettys Group | $4,940,000 | 95 |
| Daroff Design + DDI Architects | $4,674,000 | 66 |
| Jacobs | $13,969,774 | 5 |
| Gensler | $12,320,000 | 1 |
| Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | $7,938,000 | 3 |
| Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum | $7,290,000 | 2 |
| Leo A Daly | $5,799,600 | 4 |
| DMJM Design | $4,980,000 | 27 |
| STUDIOS Architecture | $4,900,000 | 35 |
| HLW International | $4,650,000 | 10 |
| HDR | $3,630,000 | 8 |
| Group Goetz Architects | $3,500,000 | 99 |
| FIRMS | ID FEE | RANK |
| Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | $5,670,000 | 3 |
| Jacobs | $4,429,440 | 5 |
| Leo A Daly | $4,349,700 | 4 |
| Gensler | $2,464,000 | 1 |
| NBBJ | $2,086,000 | 13 |
| Silvester+Tafuro | $1,721,910 | 100 |
| Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum | $1,620,000 | 2 |
| Daroff Design + DDI Architects | $1,558,000 | 66 |
| Interior Space International | $1,350,000 | 37 |
| Perkins + Will | $400,000 | 6 |
| HDR | $21,780,000 | 8 |
| Cannon Design | $17,100,130 | 15 |
| Perkins + Will | $14,400,000 | 6 |
| NBBJ | $13,410,000 | 13 |
| PageSoutherlandPage | $12,058,920 | 18 |
| Perkins Eastman | $9,056,250 | 24 |
| Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum | $8,100,000 | 2 |
| Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership | $6,750,000 | 38 |
| HKS | $6,600,000 | 28 |
| Karlsberger Companies | $6,405,000 | 57 |
| FIRMS | 2003 ID FEE | 2004 ID FEE | % CHANGE | 05 RANK |
| Cubellis Associates | $5,880,000 | $10,170,000 | 73.0 | 50 |
| Daroff Design + DDI Architects | $4,800,000 | $7,790,000 | 62.3 | 66 |
| NELSON | $14,900,000 | $23,500,000 | 57.7 | 22 |
| Huntsman Architectural Group | $4,425,000 | $6,750,000 | 52.5 | 73 |
| Butler Rogers Baskett Architects | $5,857,034 | $8,806,000 | 50.3 | 61 |
| Gould Evans | $6,300,000 | $9,275,000 | 47.2 | 56 |
| Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | $40,500,000 | $56,700,000 | 40.0 | 3 |
| FRCH Design Worldwide | $10,950,000 | $15,300,000 | 39.7 | 32 |
| Cooper Carry | $4,235,000 | $5,900,000 | 39.3 | 83 |
| Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership | $9,750,000 | $13,500,000 | 38.5 | 38 |
| FIRMS | ID FEE | RANK |
| HLW | $4,650,000 | 10 |
| Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum | $4,050,000 | 2 |
| Leo A Daly | $2,899,800 | 4 |
| Ellerbe Becket | $2,640,000 | 43 |
| SPACE | $2,600,000 | 41 |
| Gensler | $2,464,000 | 1 |
| Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | $1,701,000 | 3 |
| EwingCole | $1,694,000 | 31 |
| SmithGroup | $1,624,719 | 16 |
| Spector Group | $1,560,000 | 64 |
| FIRMS | ID FEE | RANK |
| Hillier Architecture | $9,000,000 | 12 |
| Cannon Design | $8,690,230 | 15 |
| Jacobs | $7,325,613 | 5 |
| HLW | $6,200,000 | 10 |
| SmithGroup | $5,098,256 | 16 |
| Leo A Daly | $4,833,000 | 4 |
| Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum | $4,050,000 | 2 |
| Perkins Eastman | $4,025,000 | 24 |
| PageSoutherlandPage | $4,019,640 | 18 |
| HDR | $3,630,000 | 8 |
| IA Interior Architects | $12,882,870 | 7 |
| Flad & Associates | $12,402,000 | 23 |
| Gensler | $7,392,000 | 1 |
| HLW | $6,200,000 | 10 |
| NBBJ | $5,066,000 | 13 |
| CUH2A | $4,896,000 | 48 |
| Hillier Architecture | $4,200,000 | 12 |
| PageSoutherlandPage | $4,019,640 | 18 |
| HDR | $3,630,000 | 8 |
| Jacobs | $2,512,856 | 5 |
| Creative Design Consultants | $24,225,000 | 20 |
| Marc-Michaels Interior Design | $12,255,000 | 42 |
| Slifer Designs | $5,695,000 | 74 |
| Peter Marino & Associates Architects | $4,797,000 | 45 |
| Hillier Architecture | $3,000,000 | 12 |
| Gwathmey Siegel & Associates | $2,503,900 | 68 |
| Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum | $2,430,000 | 2 |
| Roger Ferris + Partners | $2,300,000 | 47 |
| Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | $1,701,000 | 3 |
| TPG Architecture | $1,436,000 | 14 |
| FIRMS | ID FEE | RANK |
| Pavlik Design Team | $28,095,630 | 11 |
| Callison Architecture | $26,136,000 | 9 |
| Design Forum | $25,200,000 | 21 |
| Gensler | $19,712,000 | 1 |
| FRCH Design Worldwide | $9,945,000 | 32 |
| Nicholas J. Tricarico, Architect | $7,938,000 | 63 |
| JGA | $6,445,000 | 77 |
| TPG Architecture | $5,744,000 | 14 |
| Cubellis Associates | $4,576,500 | 50 |
| Peter Marino & Associates Architects | $3,510,000 | 45 |
| TITLES | ANNUAL SALARY (Median) | HOURLY RATE (Median) |
| Principal/Partner | $120,000 | $190 |
| Project Manager | $80,000 | $125 |
| Designer | $60,000 | $100 |
| CAD operator | $47,000 | $78 |
| Other design Staff | $42,000 | $73 |
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