Unveiling Interior Design's 2025 Top 100 Giants

Welcome to the first installment of our 2025 Giants coverage, in which we spotlight the industry’s 200 most lucrative firms, based on their reported interior design fees. Celebrating our 48th year of Giants research—and marking our sixth collaboration with sister brand ThinkLab analyzing the data—this issue goes beyond the top 100 and Rising Giants rankings to include detailed charts and graphs that summarize our latest survey findings. Throughout, you’ll find project features from these industry leaders exclusively, alongside a high-level perspective on the challenges and opportunities shaping their practices. For deeper sector-specific analysis, including complete rankings for hospitality, healthcare, and sustainability leaders, watch for continued Giants coverage in our upcoming June/July issue.

So, we begin, as always, with the pinnacle of the profession: the top 100 Giants. These prominent firms had a big year, bringing in a record-setting $6.3 billion in interior design fees, a 7 percent increase. Consider this: 2023 was the first time these firms ever crossed the $5 billion threshold, making this latest milestone a clear sign of industry vitality. Also high is the number of firms who report being “very” or “extremely” confident in their predictions for the current calendar year, a signal of remarkable stability despite lingering economic uncertainty. Alas, for 2025, the 100 Giants are anticipating a slight decline—though they typically forecast downturns that ultimately get outpaced by actual results. (Just rewind to last March’s Giants issue, in which the top 100 were bearish regarding 2024.)

Top 100 Giants 2025

“blank cells” = did not report data

Overall, the survey data paints a picture of sustained growth and diversification. Project tallies continue to climb, jumping from nearly 81,000 in 2023 to more than 83,000 in 2024— defying the Giants’ 11 percent forecasted decline. While this increase is smaller than the previous year’s jump, it is nonetheless a significant surge from the 2019 benchmark of 67,000. Project composition remains consistent: 48 percent new construction, 45 percent renovation, and 7 percent cosmetic refresh.

The most dynamic changes are occurring in the breakdown of projects and design fees by sector, revealing firms are continuing to diversify as they await the full recovery of the two most lucrative segments: hospitality (up 11 percent year-over-year but still down 13 from prepandemic days) and corporate office (down 5 percent YOY and 18 percent from 2019). Transportation, cultural, retail, and education verticals are thriving, each growing more than 20 percent. Transportation leads the pack with a remarkable 38 percent uptick— though this figure might be slightly inflated due to the massive scale of individual projects. For 2025, Giants predict growth in those same sectors as well as in residential, the other category still recovering from COVID impacts.

International Giants 2025

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

An interesting shift is emerging in fee allocation. Historically, construction has dominated project fees for the top 100 Giants, but 2024 marked a turning point: Furniture, fixtures, and equipment now claim 50 percent of project dollars—the first time this has occurred.

Regarding geographic trends, domestic markets, particularly the Southeast, continue to perform robustly and are expected to maintain momentum. Overseas work, however, was flat. The top three international regions remain unchanged: Europe, Asia, and Canada, which tend to swap places every year.

Fee per employee has returned to pre-COVID levels, billing rates have increased slightly, and the average amount of time billed to clients holds steady at 81 percent. Salaries, though, remained somewhat stagnant after last year’s salary correction, with the biggest boost going to designers rather than to partners or project managers.

Stay tuned as we unveil more Giants of Design this year, including Rising, Sustainability, Hospitality, and Healthcare Giants.

Staffing dynamics reveal intriguing trends. Leadership roles surged 18 percent, and design roles grew across the board. However, “other” interior design employees—librarians, assistants, BIM specialists, etc.—decreased by 26 percent, resulting in an overall 11 percent staff reduction, suggesting firms are still right-sizing. We debuted a new question in this year’s survey, asking Giants to identify the nontraditional roles they’re hiring for. Business development staffers, workplace strategists, and sustainability specialists are the most sought-after. Given that recruiting qualified candidates topped firms’ list of persistent challenges, onboarding such talent is likely to be no small feat.

To recap, the commercial interior design industry shows resilient growth despite economic uncertainty, with firms adapting to postpandemic market dynamics. To navigate— and mitigate—sector-specific challenges, firms are diversifying across project types and prioritizing leadership and specialized roles. Giants, it seems, are strategically evolving.

Editor’s Note: Take a look at recent coverage of our Top 100 Giants most admired firms of 2025 below. Gensler tops the list, followed by Rockwell Group, and HOK, AvroKo, and A+I all received the same percentage of votes.

Top Ten Giants by Sector

Office

Retail

Government

Healthcare

Hospitality

Residential

Cultural + Sports Center

Transportation

Education

Ranking is determined by total design-fee earnings across the vertical.

All dollar amounts are in millions.

See the June/July 2025 issue of Interior Design for the full Hospitality, Healthcare, and Sustainability Giants rankings.

Square-Footage Trends

Across sectors, Giants are observing a move toward more efficient use of space, with greater emphasis on adaptability, quality of experience, and intentional design. While some sectors, notably corporate, are reducing square footage, they’re often investing more per square foot to create multifunctional spaces with an emphasis on future flexibility and technology integration. While corporate footprints continue to shrink thanks to the enduring appeal of hybrid methodologies, some report that space per work point (if not per employee) is starting to rise. Another cross-sector trend is the prioritization of well-being, which is translating to increased square footage for patient comfort in healthcare settings and more expansive wellness amenities in hospitality and education environments.

Firms With The Most Design Fee Growth

Projects By Type

Segment Income and Number of Projects Worked On

Expanding to Meet Evolving Market Demands

Giants are implementing strategic shifts to gain a competitive edge and address clients’ increasingly complex needs. Firms are pursuing diversification through channels including geographic expansion, new practice areas, and broader sector focus (with hospitality emerging as a trending vertical). They’re increasingly integrating digital solutions into their operations, from advanced BIM processes to AI tools, all aimed at stream lining project delivery and ensuring spatial solutions align with clients’ business objectives. Many are establishing specialized studios for services like branding, acoustic design, and sustainability analysis. Another trend: extending their involvement across the project timeline by offering pre design services, workplace strategy, change management, and post occupancy support. This shift toward comprehensive, cross collaborative services reflects a broader trend of vertical integration, allowing firms to provide more value in an ever evolving market.

Staffing Information

Total Employees

Domestic vs. Overseas Project Breakdown

International Project Locations

Percentage Of Firms Reporting These As Their Primary Challenges

Hiring for Emerging Roles

In 2025, commercial interior design firms anticipate hiring for several specialized roles beyond traditional design positions. The most sought-after new employees are business development managers (40% of firms are actively seeking them); sustainability specialists and materials experts; workplace strategists to help navigate the evolution of hybrid and flexible work models; and technologists, including analysts and VR/AR/AI experts who can provide data-driven insights to inform design solutions. Also being recruited are design futurists, as firms are looking for talent to predict trends and guide long-term strategic planning. This shift in hiring priorities reflects the growing need for interdisciplinary expertise within the interior design field.

Percentage of Billable Time

Percentage of Firms Recruiting These Nontraditional Roles

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, 2024. 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.

Unveiling Interior Design’s 2025 Top 100 Giants