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).
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%.