July 29, 2016

Interior Design’s 2016 Rising Giants

Fees & Salaries

Growth

Market Segments

Issues & Trends

 
They had every reason to be optimistic.

Interior Design’s Rising Giants, the 100 firms right behind the top 100 Giants, had seen steady revenue growth for years, ever since the Great Recession faded away, and were forecasting a robust $536 million in design fees, which would have amounted to double the actual total of five surveys before. Not only did that not happen, but we actually saw fees go down for the first time since 2009. Though a very respectable number, $456 million is still off 3 percent from last time and, of course, nowhere near the forecast.

This isn’t great news. Numbers trending downward is a good thing in golf, not business. But we’re hardly talking catastrophe. Despite a leveling off, even a slight retreat, let’s not lose sight of the fact that business, on the whole, is very good. Nearly 60 firms reported average revenue growth of 17 percent. Only 28 earned less, 16 percent on average. Those numbers are the highest and lowest, respectively, since the pre-recession days of 2007.

There’s lots to like in the current data. For the first time in a while, though, there’s reason for the Rising Giants to be vigilant, too.

Rising Giants 1-100

2016 Rank Firm Headquarters Design Fees (millions) Value (millions) Sq. Ft. (millions) Design Staff 2015 Rank
1 Hartman Design Group Rockville, MD $8.500 $7.500 0.63 18 10
2 Aria Group Architects Oak Park, IL $8.475 $125.000 1.15 84 6
3 Margulies Perruzzi Architects Boston $7.400 $170.000 1.00 39 23
4 Kasian Architecture Interior Design & Planning Vancouver, British Columbia $8.300 NR NR 53 4
5 Fogarty Finger Architecture New York $8.150 $10.000 3.00 53 37
6 HFS Concepts 4 Long Beach, CA $8.100 $110.000 NR 52 1
7 Anderson Mikos Architects Oakbrook Terrace, IL $7.878 $148.500 0.9 44 2
8 BAMO San Francisco $7.850 $4.000 NR 35
9 Simeone Deary Design Group Chicago $7.800 NR NR 48 18
10 SKB Architecture and Design Washington $7.692 $124.000 0.93 24 11
11 EDG Interior Architecture + Design Novato, CA $7.500 $120.000 0.60 66 22
12 Dyer Brown Architects Boston $7.490 $290.000 4.25 38 27
13 STG Design Austin, TX $7.425 $106.400 2.00 29 29
14 Design Duncan Miller Ullmann Dallas $7.290 $68.000 6.50 63 24
15 Rossetti Detroit $7.250 $100.000 2.00 8
16 Looney & Associates Dallas $7.200 $1,100.000 5.20 48 21
17 SMMA | Symmes Maini & McKee Associates Cambridge, MA $7.150 $68.000 2.50 30 20
18 Whitney Oak Brook, IL $7.100 $200.000 1.50 40 26
19 JGA Southfield, MI $7.000 $68.000 0.70 28 17
20 ICRAVE New York $7.000 NR 0.64 38
21 lauckgroup Dallas $6.800 $200.000 7.43 37 39
22 Array Architects Conshohocken, PA $6.500 $224.000 2.80 19 28
23 KZF Design Cincinnati $6.443 $592.500 5.27 25 31
24 Chambers Baltimore $6.402 $76.500 1.77 26 33
25 Loffredo Brooks Architects New York $6.200 $300.000 2.00 25 38`
26 Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart & Associates Atlanta $6.076 NR NR 37 30
27 Dialog Calgary, Alberta $6.014 NR NR 36
28 Hendrick Atlanta $6.000 $200.000 5.50 28 12
29 Vermilion Zhou Design Group Shanghai $5.795 $9.160 0.13 40 59
30 Davis, Carter, Scott McLean, VA $5.616 NR 3.50 19 53
31 AWDA Irvine, CA $5.500 NR 0.96 25 36
32 ForrestPerkins** Dallas $5.333 NR NR 43 35
33 AAI San Jose, CA $5.300 $120.000 5.00 32 42
34 S/L/A/M Collaborative Glastonbury, CT $5.190 NR 1.70 16
35 Tsoi/Kobus & Associates Cambridge, MA $5.184 $32.787 0.11 9 25
36 Kamus & Keller Westlake Village, CA $5.080 $4.135 1.30 31 51
37 Smith Firestone Associates Los Angeles $5.000 $40.000 2.00 24 41
38 Hickok Cole Architects Washington $4.950 NR NR 26 47
39 R.D. Jones & Associates Baltimore $4.900 NR NR 35 52
40 INTEC Group Fairfax, VA $4.887 $7.130 NR 28 13
41 Ratcliff Emeryville, CA $4.785 NR 1.18 14 46
42 L2Partridge Philadelphia $4.735 $55.000 0.61 29 65
43 H. Hendy Associates Newport Beach, CA $4.700 $150.000 5.00 29 49
44 ODA New York New York $4.530 NR NR 18 43
45 NicholsBooth Architects San Francisco $4.500 $6.000 0.30 24 54
46 BraytonHughes Design Studios San Francisco $4.423 NR NR 30 34
47 King Retail Solutions Eugene, OR $4.350 $1,000.000 4.00 67 66
48 Dawson Design Associates Seattle $4.325 $230.000 NR 23 72
49 DSP Design Associates Mumbai $4.128 $276.140 6.50 144
50 TAL Studio Las Vegas $4.100 NR NR 22 45
51 Rowloand+Broughton Aspen, CO $4.027 $204.056 1.20 17 62
52 Philpotts & Associates Honolulu $4.010 $7.087 NR 20
53 Ballinger Philadelphia $4.000 $100.000 1.43 20 94
54 Design Development Company Agoura Hills, CA $4.000 $30.000 NR 15 61
55 J Banks Design Group Hilton Head Island, SC $3.994 $10.036 0.55 23 57
56 JOI-Design Hamburg, Germany $3.950 $50.000 NR 32 60
57 LEGAT Architects Chicago $3.913 $3.600 9.45 6 86
58 API(+) Tampa, FL $3.840 NR NR 24 75
59 Mojo Stumer Associates Architects Greenvale, NY $3.825 $30.000 0.13 23 67
60 MSA Architecture + Design San Francisco $3.795 $75.002 1.00 25
61 Puccini Group San Francisco $3.780 $19.500 0.06 42 88
62 Slifer Designs Edwards, CO $3.756 $9.919 NR 16 70
63 JRS Architect Mineola, NY $3.500 $63.000 1.25 15 64
64 Kay Lang + Associates Los Angeles $3.400 $108.000 1.45 16 69
65 DAS Architects Philadelphia $3.340 NR 0.40 18 82
66 Parker-Torres Design Sudbury, MA $3.300 NR 0.40 26 76
67 Phillips Architecture Raleigh, NC $3.244 $50.000 0.80 22
68 Faulkner Design Group Dallas $3.241 $10.959 NR 42 58
69 Design 360 Unlimited Los Angeles $3.200 NR NR 15
70 Klawiter and Associates Los Angeles $3.166 $45.000 0.60 14 81
71 Hnedak Bobo Group Memphis $3.150 NR NR 20
72 Spacesmith New York $3.146 $22.400 0.39 17 83
73 Meyer Design Ardmore, PA $3.100 $5.000 NR 38 73
74 Abel Design Group Houston $3.023 NR NR 30 63
75 Cole Martinez Curtis & Associates Marina del Rey, CA $3.000 $20.000 1.75 9 84
76 C2 Limited Design Associates Fairfield, CT $2.875 $59.950 NR 14 78
77 Bar Napkin Productions Phoenix $2.847 NR 0.17 14 74
78 Hatch Design Group Costa Mesa, CA $2.796 $77.969 0.21 23 71
79 Style Interior Design Irvine, CA $2.700 $25.000 0.04 18 87
80 CetraRuddy Architecture New York $2.500` $93.000 0.75 20 92
81 Sosh Architects Atlantic City, NJ $2.500 $55.000 0.48 14 79
82 IndiDesign Los Angeles $2.500 $50.000 NR 16 85
83 Rule Joy Trammell + Rubio Atlanta $2.500 $10.535 1.71 26 48
84 C+TC Design Studio Atlanta $2.387 NR NR 21 97
85 Carrier Johnson + Culture San Diego $2.328 $9.310 1.16 14 40
86 Bill Rooney Studio New York $2.250 $20.000 1.00 12
87 K2M Design Cleveland $2.200 $55.000 5.20 13
88 ADM Group Tempe, AZ $2.160 NR NR 9 68
89 Group One Partners Boston $2.126 $75.000 NR 14
90 Hixson Cincinnati $2.079 NR NR 18 96
91 Gray Design Group St. Louis $2.072 $21.690 2.07 23 99
92 Orsini Design Associates New York $2.020 $30.000 NR 5 95
93 Marmol Radziner Los Angeles $2.000 $5.000 0.08 10
94 CLEO Design Las Vegas $2.000 NR NR 14
95 RDH Interests Frisco, TX $1.903 NR NR 8
96 HVS Design Rockville, MD $1.900 $34.000 2.40 15 100
97 Montgomery Roth Houston $1.802 NR NR 15
98 Forum Architecture & Interior Design Altamonte Springs, FL $1.800 $32.000 0.22 40 80
99 PDT International Ft. Lauderdale, FL $1.780 $26.274 2.03 10
100 DesignOne Studio Atlanta $1.761 $45.000 0.90 12 89

**Perkins Eastman and ForrestPerkins merged on January 1st, 2016.

Related links:

2016 Rising Giants: Fees & Salaries

2016 Rising Giants: Growth

2016 Rising Giants: Market Segments

2016 Rising Giants: Issues & Trends
 

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, 2015. The first 100 Giants firm ranking was published in January. Interior design fees include those 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 to not include revenues paid to a firm and remitted to subcontractors who 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 fees of the collecting firm when determining its ranking. Ties are broken by the dollar value of products installed. Where applicable, all percentages are based on responding giants, not their total number. the data was compiled and analyzed by the Interior Design market research staff in New York, led by Wing Leung, research director.

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