Architectural Services Industry Profile

Companies in this industry plan and design residential, institutional, leisure, and industrial buildings and spaces, as well as landscapes. Major companies include Gensler, HDR Inc, and Perkins&Will (all based in the US); as well as IBI Group (Canada); Nikken Sekkei (Japan); and Woods Bagot (Australia).

The global market for architectural services is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 5% from 2023 to 2030, according to Grand View Research. In many markets worldwide, improving economic conditions are helping boost construction investment and driving demand for architectural services.

The US architecture industry includes about 27,000 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $42 billion.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Demand for architectural services depends heavily on the volume of residential and commercial construction. Because most costs are fixed, profitability depends on a constant inflow of work. Architectural firms are often small because there are few economies of scale in the industry: architectural design costs for a large company are typically greater than for a small company. The industry is highly fragmented: the 50 largest US firms account for about 20% of revenue.

PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY

Building-related architectural services account for about 90% of industry revenue; landscape architecture accounts for about 10%.

Architects prepare detailed plans that can be used by construction companies to build or modify various types of structures. Most architectural work has both an aesthetic and ...