Introducing Interior Design’s 2024 Top 100 Giants

For the first time ever, the top 100 Giants’s interior design fees surpassed the $5 billion mark—and almost zoomed right past $6B! These are record-breaking tallies for our most profitable firms and a year-over-year boost of almost 19 percent.

Looking at sector change over the last five years gives us a more nuanced view of the economic picture. The industry was on a pretty steady upward trajectory until 2020, so we look at 2019 as the marker for recovery. Corporate—always the biggest money-maker for these leaders—is still down 13 percent since prepandemic days, but up 10 percent in the last year.

Top 100 Giants 2024

Note: Firms on this list do the majority of their work overseas and/or are headquartered outside the U.S.

“blank cells” = did not report data

Hospitality, currently experiencing the slowest rebound, is down 21 percent from five years ago. The other blip is residential, down 9 percent since the 2019 high, but fees have been growing slowly every year since that initial COVID drop-off. Surprisingly, 100 Giants experienced strong double-digit growth in every other sector we track. Since 2019, government is up 89 percent, healthcare 55 percent, and education 35 percent. To put things in context, some of those surging sectors account for small dollar amounts overall—education is a $391 million vertical compared to corporate’s $1.6B—but these are big percentages nonetheless. They’re also evidence of the Giants diversifying into markets where business is comparatively booming to offset their declining corporate or hospitality fees.

Projects are way up, to more than 80K, blowing past 2019 levels. Also upticking, and significantly so, is the furniture, fixtures, and construction value of work installed—aka FF&C—to the tune of 25 percent year-over-year. Some of that growth is surely attributable to price increases, but inflation can’t account for the full boost. A particularly interesting metric is the ratio of furniture-and-fixtures dollars to construction dollars. The data has made a notable shift toward F&F since 2019, and this year’s 45/55 split is the highest it’s been. Not a huge surprise, perhaps, given the well-documented construction slowdown we’re experiencing, but noteworthy in that 2023 clearly solidified the “rise of refresh” our ThinkLab friends have been observing and predicting for a while.

Against this backdrop of upswings, other metrics remain stable. Growth locations are unchanged: Domestically, the south predominates, while overseas growth is primarily concentrated in Europe, Asia, and Canada. There was also little movement in satellite office openings/closures, and only 15 percent of firms are planning to launch new locations in 2024, defying our predictions of more prevalent post-pandemic reapportioning.

Staffing has experienced some positive flux, with design-employee rosters zipping past 2019 levels. In fact, the 100 Giants have seen a huge 90 percent increase in the amount of principals and partners over the past five years, a figure that includes both new hires and promotions. Interestingly, the total number of employees—encompassing both designers and supplemental staffers such as admin and HR—has declined 16 percent over the half-decade, likely due to the latter positions being eliminated.

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International Giants 2024

Note: Firms based outside the U.S. who don’t operate a North American office and/or generate less than 25 percent of interior design fee income in North America are ranked here instead of in the main listings.

“blank cells” = did not report data

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Billing rates usually track around 80 percent for all design staff. In 2023, those rates were flat for partners, up for project managers, and down for designers, who are perhaps absorbing some of the downsized admin staff’s nonbillable duties. Yet salaries have increased across the board, an average of 25 percent, since 2019. This likely signals a salary correction following a few years of slimmed-down staff absorbing extra work without additional compensation, and/or Giants having to pay their employees a bit more to stay competitive.

Speaking to that issue, the 100 Giants reported that the biggest practice-related challenge remains recruiting qualified staff. (You wouldn’t know that by reading ThinkLab’s U.S. Design Industry Benchmark Report, which found that 41 percent of designers employed at firms work at one of the top 200 companies. So, the bigs are getting bigger and boast more hiring power than ever!) The most pervasive challenge vis-à-vis clients? That’s remained the same since last year, too: getting them to understand the value of design and paying what it’s worth. The Giants noted that clients’ appetite for design services has gone down over the last 12 months.

Overall, these metrics add up great news for the top 100 and for the industry as a whole. The Giants are experiencing recovery at long last. But will that recovery last? Firms remain cautious about the future, predicting a mild decline for 2024, which is expected given that the biggest business challenge remains the uncertain economy. Yet the all-around optimistic data suggests that next year at this time we’ll be looking back at a strong 2024.

Editor’s Note: Take a look at recent coverage of our Top 100 Giants most admired firms of 2023 below. Gensler tops the list followed by Rockwell Group, Perkins&Will, AvroKo, and Yabu Pushelberg.

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Top Ten Giants by Sector

Note: * = new to Top 10. Hospitality and Healthcare rankings are featured in their own listings.

All dollar amounts are in millions.

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Project Categories

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Methodology

The Interior Design Giants of Design annual business survey comprises the largest firms ranked by interior design fees for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2023. The listings are generated from only those surveyed. To be recognized as a top 100, Rising, Healthcare, Hospitality, or Sustainability Giant, you must meet the following criteria: Have at least one office location in North America and generate at least 25 percent of your interior design fee income in North America. Firms that do not meet the criteria are ranked on our International Giants list. Interior design fees include those attributed to:

1. All aspects of a firm’s interior design practice, from strategic planning and programming to design and project management.

2. 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 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 rank from last year. Where applicable, all percent ages are based on responding Giants, not their total number.

All research conducted by ThinkLab, the research division of SANDOW Design Group.

Behind the Mic: Get to Know Jeremiah Brent

SURROUND: How did you end up partnering with California Closets; what about the brand made it an ideal fit?

JB: My firm has been using California Closets in our design process for years. The brand is all about personalization within home and personalization can only come from asking the right questions. It’s been such a natural partnership for me, every step of the way.

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Want to hear more narratives of home from design luminaries? Listen to Ideas of Order podcast.

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SURROUND: On Ideas of Order, you often ask guests what home means to them. We’d love to hear your answer; what does home mean to you?

JB: It’s simple—for me, home is wherever my husband and children are. As passionate as we are about design, our lives are rooted in each other.

SURROUND: Are there elements of your childhood home that influenced your decision to become a designer?

JB: Yes! My earliest memories of design really exist around my grandmother’s home. Her space was the first that I really felt connected to as a kid. I remember my mother and I going to open houses together, too. As we walked around, I created these stories in my head about the families that would live there and how they would fill the space.

SURROUND: Ideas of Order features an impressive roster of guests that stretches beyond interiors to the broader design world, from Queer Eye star Tan France to makeup icon Bobbi Brown. How do you decide who to feature on each episode?

JB: I love that we were able to welcome conversations with such a variety of talents, vocations, backgrounds, and personalities these past two seasons. That’s always been a priority for this project. I’ve known many of the guests for years and the others I became fast friends with after recording together.

SURROUND: As your inaugural guest on Season 1 of the podcast, you hosted your husband, designer Nate Berkus. How does your family home reflect your individual design aesthetics?

JB: Nate is a maximalist. I, on the other hand, love nothing more than a singular bowl being the only thing decorating a monochromatic room. Our home has become such a happy hybrid over the years—it’s balanced and full of pieces that tell our story.

SURROUND: What’s something unexpected you’ve learned in the process of working on Ideas of Order?

JB: How much we all really do have in common.

SURROUND: It seems like your newly released book The Space That Keeps You: When Home Becomes a Love Story is, in many ways, an extension of Ideas of Order. Where did the book idea originate?

JB: The Space That Keeps You has actually been in the making for years. The questions I asked myself when writing the book really wove themselves into the fabric of everything that I do—what we would discuss on the podcast, how we decorated our home during the renovation, the pieces I choose for my clients—everything is tied together.

ID: It’s been announced that you’ll be joining Season 9 of Queer Eye as the interior design expert. What most excites you about being part of the show?

JB: There are so many beautiful people to meet and stories that will be shared—I’m honored to be a small part of it all. I have such a respect and love for the whole cast and crew. I really can’t wait to see these stories come to life.

SURROUND: With so many different types of projects in the works, how do you recharge? Where do you find fresh inspiration?

JB: Travel! Always travel. We have a month in Portugal waiting for us this summer. We take some time as a family every year to disconnect, recharge, and find beauty together.

DIFFA Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary With a Star-Studded NYC Gala

Upon accepting his award, Interior Design Hall of Fame member Rockwell, whose Rockwell Group is also celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, said “I am proud of how much we’ve accomplished but also think about how much there is left to do,” and got emotional acknowledging the red-decorated table left empty at the gala to symbolize the 40 million people lost to the illness, including his brother Rick. But he positively beamed when talking about his board chair successor, editor in chief Allen: “Cindy was ideal—the best move I made. Her energy and passion extended DIFFA’s reach, enabling it to pivot.”

Indeed, under Allen’s leadership, DIFFA’s support now encompasses broader community challenges such as homelessness, food insecurity, and mental wellness. “It was an easy yes,” Allen said, referring to when Rockwell invited her to chair the organization, a position she just stepped down from after serving for 12 years. “I knew I could help do good—it’s in my DNA. My mom was a missionary in India,” she continued. “Goodness solves problems, builds bridges, and creates communities. My stewardship was all about adapting and making DIFFA present and relevant.” Allen concluded her speech with the phrase she coined: “Hell yes everybody—make a DIFFA-rence!”

To date, DIFFA, now lead by chair and HOK director of interiors Thomas Polucci and executive director Dawn Roberson, has additional chapters in Chicago, San Francisco, and Dallas that together have provided $55 million in grants. To learn more about the nonprofit and its ongoing efforts, click here.

DIFFA is deeply grateful to Benjamin Moore & Co., presenting sponsor of the gala, as well as gold sponsors Empire Office with Steelcase, EvensonBest, HOK, MillerKnoll, Rockwell Group, and Shaw Contract.

ANFA Introduces Its Inaugural Student Design Competition

Since its founding two decades ago, the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA) has strived to promote and advance the linking of neuroscience research to a growing understanding of human responses to the built environment. As a former legacy project to the national American Institute of Architects Convention, the nonprofit organization has continued to benefit from expanded research within the neuroscience community and seeing how it helps inform the architecture industry.

To recognize its 20th anniversary, ANFA is hosting the inaugural John P. Eberhard Student Design Competition, which honors key founding member and founding president John P. Eberhard. In correspondence with the academy’s mission, the goal is to cultivate opportunities for students to become more interested in both architecture and neuroscience and foster the dynamic conversation between the two fields.

How to Enter ANFA’s Student Design Competition

Launched at the start of 2024, the John P. Eberhard Student Design Competition asks student applicants to design a community center that would ideally be located on the Salk Institute campus, which is connected with ANFA and boasts international recognition in the architecture field. As part of the competition, students will be asked to explain how the building functions as well as how neuroscience was incorporated into the project design.

The competition includes two entry categories: the Architecture category, which asks students for a standalone building design, and the Interior Design category, which asks students to design a space within a structure provided by the competition. Eligible applicants include students participating in college or university level programs associated with architecture, interior design or neuroscience programs.

Learn more about the competition here. Submissions close on June 15, 2024.

Livden Introduces Stylish and Sustainable Decorative Tiles

Are You Interior Design’s Next HiP Awards Winner? Submit Today

Drumroll, please! Submissions are open for Interior Design‘s 11th annual HiP Awards, which will once again herald in the start of NeoCon, the much anticipated commercial design extravaganza held in Chicago June 10-12. Honoring product innovation as well as impactful creatives throughout the design industry, HiP Awards winners and honorees will step into the spotlight in a live ceremony hosted by Editor-in-Chief Cindy Allen in Chicago this June.

But the celebratory buzz already is brewing. For the first time, the HiP Awards extend beyond The Mart during NeoCon to all of Chicagoland, including Fulton Market Design Days. Contract manufacturers unveiling a new product or collection at a Chicago Metro showroom between June 10-14, 2024—including NeoCon exhibitors, of course—are eligible to submit to the awards, expanding the program’s reach, as well as the array of dazzling designs on display.

Ready to take home a HiP Award? Enter your exceptional product designs before submissions close on April 26, 2024. Early bird pricing applies to those who submit by March 29. Don’t miss out!

Behind the Design of an Eco-Friendly Home in Mexico

2023 Best of Year Winner for On the Boards Single Family Residential

For a home situated in the drought-susceptible region of Ciudad López Mateos, Mexico, Desai Chia Architecture and MT Arquitectos envisioned an eco-friendly oasis for a family of four oriented around a courtyard that doubles as a collection point for rainwater. A standout semicircular staircase anchors the two-story, 6,000-square-foot plan, and floor-to-ceiling glazing ushers in daylight. The concrete facade will be cast in place and act as a natural thermal barrier. Interior walls will be finished with an ancient Mayan stucco technique made from a mixture of cement and boiled bark sourced from the native Yucatán chukum tree.

Take a Peek at This Residential Tower Design in Harlem

2023 Best of Year Winner for On the Boards Multiunit Residential

Coming soon to South Harlem is a 155,000-square-foot residential tower designed by Woods Bagot overlooking Central Park with an intricate terra-cotta facade sure to create an instantly recognizable silhouette. The seven-story podium base, containing mainly community facilities, will have wavy cladding and concave and convex glazing that recalls the stacked bay windows of nearby brownstones. Above will be the apartments—up to 60 percent affordable housing catering to residents from diverse backgrounds—featuring a facade scalloped to frame large terraces and angled windows.

Alireza Shojakhani; David Brown; James Hickerson; Jennifer Levy; Matt Stephenson; Yasamin Fathi; Agna Brayshaw.

10 Questions With… Studio of Contemporary Architecture Founders

LEARN HOW SOCA CONTRIBUTES TO THE CANADIAN ARCHITECTURE DIALOGUE

Interior Design: How did you each get your start as architects?

Shane Laptiste: I was raised in Montreal and studied architecture at McGill University for both my undergraduate and master’s degrees. Following graduation, I worked in an Edmonton-based architecture firm for over 10 years, where I specialized in sports and recreation projects. Then I moved to Toronto and started my own practice.

Tura Cousins Wilson: I was raised in Toronto, attended Toronto Metropolitan University, and did my master’s degree at Delft University of Technology. I worked in a large Toronto-based architecture practice where I had the fortune to work on projects in a variety of sectors, particularly cultural and residential projects. I converted my grandmother’s house into my own family home, and that prompted me to start my own practice.

ID: How did SOCA come to exist?

SL: We met in 2017 through Black Architects and Interior Designers Association (BAIDA), a non profit organization we founded with colleagues looking to support mentorship, advocacy, and networking of Black architects and designers in Canada. Our first architectural collaboration was an open ideas design competition organized by the Ontario Association of Architects (OAA). We were interested in the diverse strip malls of Toronto’s older post-war suburbs, and our proposal critiqued the harsh environment of strip mall parking lots. We proposed an alternative where parking could coexist with mini parkettes to offer seating, vegetation, and beauty. We didn’t win the competition, but to our surprise, the COVID-19 pandemic occurred a couple years later and what we thought of as a far-fetched dream became a reality as businesses repurposed their parking spaces to expand their services and accommodate safe separation. We continued to collaborate on various projects, and this prompted us to formally unite as SOCA.

ID: At SOCA, do you have a philosophy and mission that shapes the work you do?

TCW: We don’t have a formal manifesto, however, we are taking a critical and intersectional approach to culture, heritage, urbanism, housing justice, climate justice, and their implications on the practice of architecture. We named our practice SOCA, an acronym for the Studio of Contemporary Architecture, out of a belief that architecture both shapes and is shaped by the contemporary condition. But it’s also a reference to the Soul of Calypso, better known as Soca—a fun nod to our Caribbean roots and its culture of commentary, color, and joy. We are interested in developing conversations beyond our home in Canada, applying a global lens to understand how culture and the environment influence inclusionary and beautiful design. Our process incorporates community engagement as both a design tool and an outcome. We approach each project as a contribution to the broader public discourse on contemporary concerns within the built environment.

ID: Could you share more about designing exhibition space for the Gardiner Museum?

TCW: We designed the Gardiner Museum’s new exhibition “Magdalene Odundo: A Dialogue with Objects.” This is the largest exhibition of the celebrated Kenyan-British ceramicist in North America. The installation features more than 20 works spanning Dame Magdalene Odundo’s career, displayed alongside objects selected by the artist from the Gardiner Museum’s permanent collection, and works on loan from major Toronto museums and private collections. These objects span geographies, time periods, and media bringing her work into conversation with objects as diverse as an ancient Cycladic marble figurine, a Ndebele apron from South Africa, and a painting by the late Trinidadian-Canadian artist Denyse Thomasos.

Gardiner Museum chief curator and deputy director, Sequoia Miller, requested an atmosphere that would dramatically showcase Odundo’s work but not upstage it. As a British and Kenyan woman, Odundo has deep roots in both modern and traditional, and European and African ceramic practices. We took her ambiguities as a starting point, transforming the Gardiner’s “white cube” into a “clay cube.” Treating the walls with a textured limewash paint, and creating broken circular plinths from dark plaster, SOCA picked up on the forms, textures, warmth and even the metallic quality of Odundo’s carbonized vessels to establish a rich ambiance. The plinths obscure a chronological trajectory through the space, and the low lighting encourages each visitor to pursue their own quiet journey of close examination and contemplation.

ID: What was it like creating something unique that served as a support for Odundo’s work?

SL: It’s a bit like being an in-the-pocket drummer, where you hold a solid groove and even though you may throw in some accented fills, you’re never soloing or upstaging the frontwoman. Our goal was to let Magdalene’s work speak for itself by creating a solid and sexy rhythm section. The spotlight was for her, but when you eventually tune in on the drummer you think: Damn, this drummer’s tight!

ID: Could you share some insights into the work you do at SOCA?

SL: We like to mix things up. We see both fun and value in working at different scales and on different typologies. We collaborate with clients and other creatives in the institutional, non-profit, residential, arts, commercial, and municipal sectors, working on projects that include new construction, adaptive reuse, renovations, additions, and interior design. Our work also extends from exhibition design and public art to building feasibility studies. Our practice is deeply engaged in research and conceptual design with the understanding that speculative thinking can inform our built projects while also adding to the broader architectural discourse. All our projects are points of reflection and inform one another in various ways.

ID: Did you make a deliberate decision to pursue a project in a museum as a means to explore your artistic visions?

SL: Working in an art space was more natural than coincidental or deliberate. We have been collaborating with artists from the beginning of our practice, so we’ve always felt connected to the art world. It’s also not dissimilar from architecture in that you’re creating space through formal gestures and exploring light and materiality. One key difference is that building permits and other approvals aren’t required, which provides a refreshing sense of design liberty.

ID: Do you approach architecture from a cultural perspective, too?

TCW: We view architecture as a tangible manifestation of society’s collective aspirations and shortcomings. So the practice and thinking of architecture is very much a cultural endeavor for us. Our work, at its core, is rooted in the culture of a place or site. Sometimes that may mean digging up overlooked cultures or challenging dominant or accepted cultural narratives. Culture is such an interesting way to frame it because it can mean so many ideas and starting points for investigation. For example, we have looked at vernacular building methods as culture, walkable cities as culture, density as culture, black communities as culture, inclusivity as culture, materiality as a culture, and so on.

ID: Would you say there is a sort of activism in how you approach architecture?

TCW: Our speculative projects—including plans for Little Jamaica, Alexandra Park, and the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts is certainly activism. We also see teaching as a way of both raising awareness, honing ideas, and activating the next generation of architects. Shane currently teaches a design studio at McGill University and Tura at Toronto Metropolitan University. As mentioned, we are founding members of BAIDA, an organization mandated to increase a diverse representation of designers and architects in Canada—a cause we’re deeply committed to furthering. Every building responds to the world in a particular way.

Architecture has the potential, though not always acknowledged, to be deliberate and to take a stance in the ways in which it addresses its users, context, and environment. A word we often use as a practice is “push.” We push ourselves to be critical. We push our clients to question their assumptions and design briefs, and push our colleagues who in turn push us. You could say we’re intentional about where we as architects have influence.

ID: What are some of your key projects?

TCW: In addition to the Odundo exhibition, we recently completed the Fisher Field Clubhouse, which is a soccer clubhouse and park pavilion featuring accessible washrooms and team change rooms in Collingwood Ontario. In partnership with Black Urbanism TO Inc. and Open Architecture Collaborative Canada, we co-authored A Black Business Conversation, which outlined a future vision for Little Jamaica, Toronto’s largest Caribbean neighborhood, to address issues of affordability, new development, and other challenges.

We recently designed a speculative proposal for the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto that illustrates how a contemporary arts institution could reimagine and reposition itself without purging its Modernist past. There is also our Alexandra Park master plan, which is a counter proposal and written piece, questioning the current master plan’s approach to demolishing the majority of the existing housing and instead proposed a way in which the community could be revitalized without large-scale demolition of buildings and verdant landscape.

Interior Design Set to Welcome Latest 30/30 Inductees

Early career designers have much to say about the state of the industry, and we’re here for it. Kicking off its third year, Interior Design‘s 30/30 program, which facilitates connections and ignites conversations among creatives under 30, will host its latest round of events in 10 cities across the U.S. “It’s rare for our industry to recognize young designers until they make it to the top,” shares SANDOW Design Group EVP and design futurist, AJ Paron. “This program helps firms celebrate the best young talent on their journey and invigorates why they chose this profession.”

Serving as a salon, of sorts, for free flowing ideas, Interior Design‘s 30/30 events leave a lasting impact on those who attend. From how to cultivate leadership skills and productivity hacks to finding fresh inspiration and maintaining health and wellness, no topic is off limits. “We are so happy to have had an amazing year inducting an incredible group of young designers into the 30/30 program,” Paron continues, noting that 366 designers from 98 firms were honored in 2023. “Their passion and talent for designing our future brings me hope that they can solve the many design problems in front of us.”

“It was—and still is—humbling and rewarding to have been nominated to partake in the 30/30 events in our industry,” shares Jonathan Chow, associate interior designer at DLR Group, who attended a San Francisco event. “It was exciting to meet other designers who I never met before and to be equally recognized for the dedication and passion we have for what we do.”

In addition to upcoming regional events, inductees in various locales will have the chance to connect at a national 30/30 conference later this year so stay tuned! “This group of young designers are sharp,” adds Paron. “They blew me away with how engaged they were to learn, network and build their design career.” We can’t wait to honor the next group of talented inductees.

A very special thank you to our 30/30 event partners: AGI, Arktura, Artistic Tile, Bernhardt, Brentano, Carl Hansen & Søn, Chemetal, Clarus, Cosentino, Daltile, Emu Americas, Farmboy, Formica, Garden on the Wall, Keilhauer, Kimball, Lutron, Mantra, Milliken, Neolith, Nucraft, Parador/Matter Surfaces, Pure + Freeform, Rockfon, Scandinavian Spaces, Shaw Contract, Spec Furniture, TURF Design, Teknion, Tuuci, UltraFabrics, and Williams Sonoma.