Each January, Interior Design Magazine publishes its list of Interior Design industry Giants. This year's giant among giants was the same as last year's:
Gensler of San Francisco, with reported total 2008 design fees of $285M and an interior design staff of 1,140.
The top five Interior Design Giants were responsible for designing nearly 200 million square feet of residential and commercial space in 2008, with total design fees in excess of $650M. Gensler alone reported design fees of $285M.
Office, Hospitality, Health Care, and Retail design comprised more than $2B of the nearly $2.7B design fees earned by the top 100 industry Giants in 2008. Total interior design income for these same companies is expected to decline by six percent in 2009, at least according to projections from last October. With the economy now struggling so mightily and cutbacks in nearly every industry sector, these estimates may be overly optimistic.
Nearly 30 percent of Giant fees were derived from environmental and sustainable design, with more than 50 percent of the earnings in this category attributable to only 19 of the 100 top firms. Sustainable products accounted for 44 percent of all products specified, and 97 of the 100 Giants reported spending $6,988,806,383 on environmentally responsible products. It should be noted that of the 740 interior designers hired by the top 100 Giants in 2008, sustainability credentials such as LEED certification were often named as one of the skills most coveted when bringing in new talent.
To read Interior Design Magazine's full report, click
here.
Shanghai Tower, Architect: Gensler, San Francisco. Expected to be the second tallest building
in the world when construction is completed in 2014.