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.

---

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

---

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.

---

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

---

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.

---

---

---

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.

---

---

---

---

---

Project Categories

---

---

---

---

---

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.

4 Creative Design Projects by 2023 Top 100 Giants

Interior Design‘s 2023 Top 100 Giants demonstrate the continued growth of the A&D industry despite a tumultuous few years. The pandemic’s far-reaching effects are shaping clients’ requests across segments, from hospitality going all in as the world returns to travel, to workplaces crafting creative spaces to lure remote workers back. These Giants are doing big business, and doing it in style. See the work of four trendsetting firms featured on the 2023 Top 100 Giants report.

The 2023 Top 100 Giants Showcase Their Skills in These Innovative Designs

A Sugary-Sweet Donut Shop Design by Roar

For a spunky donut brand, Roar crafted a perfectly pink restaurant. Neon lighting spells out the shop’s name and varying rosy shades showcase the brand’s fun-loving spirit. Hero-O’s first donut truck in Dubai gets a reference via the metal-mesh grids on the wall. Read more about this sweet shop here.

Tinder’s L.A. Office Gets All the Love from Rapt Studio

Tinder gets an expanded L.A. headquarters with interiors by Rapt Studio for its 10th anniversary. With 77,000 square feet across seven floors, the new HQ fosters connection among employees through activity-based zones. From an arcade-inspired IT help desk to a library-esque quiet space, it’s easy to shift locations based on workers’ needs. Read more about the colorful workplace here.

---

The Top 100 Giants of 2023

---

NBBJ Spotlights Local Art in This Tech Office

In collaboration with a roster of female and BIPOC artists, many local to the region, NBBJ introduced a unique wayfinding element to the offices of an online marketplace. Artists created nature-themed installations in a variety of mediums, from pottery to mosaics. The NBBJ-designed environmental graphic program of the new five-story workplace brings a gallery-like feel to the space. Read more about this art-filled office here.

A Hybrid Headquarters for a Cloud Computing Company by CRTKL

A bright and inviting space was on the roster for a cloud computing’s post-pandemic designed offices. To fine-tune the facility for hybrid workers, designers crafted a welcoming space filled with light and centered around wellness. With an outdoor space complete with café, employees have a myriad of options for workspaces within the building. Read more about this airy office here.

Gensler Enlivens the Street-Level of Chicago’s Willis Tower

At 1,451 feet, the Sears Tower was the tallest building in the world when it opened in Chicago in 1973. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it rises 110 stories over the Loop neighborhood and is a modernist icon, with a geometric structure and a facade of blackened aluminum and bronze-tinted glass. It’s also a landmark visible from across the city—so much so that locals still call it the Sears Tower, though it was renamed the Willis Tower in 2009. But it was always, as architecture critic Blair Kamin put it, “a dud at street level.” An austere plaza and a granite berm wrapping the base kept pedestrians at bay, and the public could only enter to visit Skydeck, the observation platform. In 2015, Blackstone bought the building and hired Gensler to rethink the site, which has resulted in a mixed-use attraction for office workers, tourists, and Chicagoans alike.

Todd Heiser, principal and managing director at Gensler’s Chicago studio, grew up in the city and found it surreal to take on the high-profile project. “It’s walking on hallowed ground,” he begins. “We approached it with humility, serving to amplify its positives and correct what was imperfect.” Willis Tower, he notes, was the product of an era of urban flight and single-use office buildings; it was designed to be impenetrable. But in the 21st century, aside from the early years of the COVID pandemic, cities have come roaring back to life and tenants seek dynamic, welcoming workplaces.

Designing an Amenities-Rich Hub in the Willis Tower

Gensler brought the supertall up to date with a 463,000-square-foot makeover, including new entrances, lounges, and a transparent six-story podium with a food hall and a rooftop park—elements that prove why the firm not only ranks number one among the Interior Design Top 100 Giants but also third amid the Hospitality Giants (as well as 14th on the Healthcare list).

Heiser and Hansoo Kim, principal and design director at Gensler’s Washington office, started by researching how people used and moved through the building. They met with families visiting the Skydeck, who were often also looking for a place to have lunch, and office workers hoping to get to their desks quickly. “We had to support demographics of all ages,” Heiser says, and consider “the person who wanted to linger and the person who wanted a friction-free environment.” Kim adds that to create a vibrant multipurpose destination, they had to connect different types of programming, like coworking and retail, and “blur the boundaries between work, life, and play,” he notes.

Gensler Creates an Expansive Communal Space for All Ages

The block-long building has entrances on three different streets (Wacker, Jackson, and Franklin). Originally, there were two for tenants and one for Skydeck visitors. Gensler opened them all to the public. “The entire base of the tower is now porous,” Heiser continues. Like a transportation hub or civic plaza, it hosts everyone from United Airlines employees who work in the building to toddlers and Midwestern retirees; the Skydeck alone draws 1.7 million visitors a year. Security is discreet. There are guards and cameras, but nothing like the airport-style measures we’ve come to expect in skyscrapers since 9/11. Touchless turnstiles use fingerprint scanners to admit employees into the tenant elevator bank at the building core.

Gensler built the glass-walled podium on what had been an unwelcoming granite plaza, extending the base of the building to the sidewalk. The centerpiece of the addition is a soaring atrium and food hall called Catalog, a nod to the Sears mail-order business, that brings together local eateries beneath an enormous skylight. Diners can slide onto oak benches under bistro-style lights and look up at the tower. “Our goal was to create a Chicago streetscape inside the atrium, so you feel like you’re outside,” Kim explains. Above Catalog, a public roof garden with winding paths and native prairie grasses faces a neighboring park. Like the rest of the podium, it connects the building to the street and draws pedestrians into the once-forbidding landmark.

---

---

Inside the Spacious Street-Level of the Willis Tower

Gensler: grant uhlir; benjy ward; michael townsend; neale scotty; scott marker; stephen katz; hua-jun cao; kelly bogenschutz; marissa luehring; shawn fawell; todd desmarais; jeffrey peck; kim lindstrom; kate pedriani

skb architects: facade architect

olin: landscape architect

thornton tomasetti: structural engineer

esd: mep

v3 companies: civil engineer

burlington stone; campolonghi: stonework

parenti & raffaelli: millwork

clayco corp.; turner construction co.: general contractors

cascade coil drapery: chain drapery (lounge)

bloomsburg carpet: rug

pk-30 system: backlit wall

B&B Italia: sofa

cassina: black, white coffee tables

phantom hands: green chairs

novum structures: skylight (food hall)

tegan lighting: catenary system

concrete collaborative: flooring

newmat: stretched ceiling (lounge)

Avenue Road: green barrel chairs

hanover archi­tectural products: pavers (roof)

rich brilliant willing: pendant fixtures (food hall)

arflex: teal chairs

established & sons: stools

tacchini: sofa (small lounge)

estudio persona: chairs

stahl + band: coffee table

Pulpo: side table

linetec: custom aluminum cladding

boston valley terra cotta: terra-cotta paneling

Meyer Davis Designs a Sprawling Manhattan Penthouse

2023 Best of Year Honoree for Large Apartment

A chance encounter started the ball rolling on the redesign of a full-floor penthouse atop one of New York’s most avant-garde structures. The glittering 56 Leonard in TriBeCa, completed in 2017 by Herzog & de Meuron, is often affectionately likened to a stack of Jenga blocks. The cantilevered upper floors make the 57-story building a standout on the downtown skyline and give its lucky residents uninterrupted 360-degree views.

“One weeknight, I was out having drinks with friends when a potential client happened to pop in,” recalls Will Meyer, principal of Meyer Davis. The men were acquainted but had not seen each other in years. “It was midnight, but he said, ‘I just bought this new apartment. Let’s go look at it.’” Up they went several dozen stories, emerging into a 5,500-square-foot aerie surrounded by 14-foot-tall windows. “Imagine coming out of the elevator and seeing these outrageous views. It was a white box with nothing going on but also the most amazing blank slate possible.”

Soon after, Meyer and fellow principal Gray Davis—jointly inducted last year into the Interior Design Hall of Fame—met with the homeowner to share their thoughts on making the vast residence more human-scale and inviting. “The client appreciates good design,” Davis says, “and loves music and hosting parties. But the apartment also had to feel comfortable when he’s there alone or with his kids.”

Meyer Davis Creates a Warm and Approachable Penthouse Design

“The client had a clear idea of how it should feel: warm and approachable,” says Meyer Davis associate Shannon Senyk, senior design lead on the project and at the firm. “The views were there, but the space itself was quite cold and austere. We needed to add layers through architectural finishes and soft, lush textures.” Conjuring welcome is a practiced skill for the firm, which places not only 60th on our 100 Giants list but also 24th among the Hospitality Giants.

Meyer Davis Transforms a Loftlike Layout into Functional Zones

The team devised a number of strategies to tame the open, loftlike layout, which is augmented by two terraces and a balcony totaling 1,600 square feet of outdoor real estate. “A super-large space should be zoned in subtle ways, making rooms without making walls,” Meyer observes. The designers arranged the furniture informally, with three separate seating groups in the main living area “so you can hop around and sit in different places,” as Davis puts it. Chief among the architectural upgrades—and there were many, including four-and-a-half renovated baths and an oak-and-marble kitchen beneath an existing statement stove hood—was a zoning gesture Meyer reports “made all the difference in the world”: a raised oak platform that spans about a quarter of the living area.

Furnishings Reflect a Relaxed Luxury Aesthetic 

The furnishings—predominantly new or custom pieces with a couple of vintage items thrown into the mix—all contribute to Meyer Davis’s trademark relaxed luxury, providing deep comfort while hold­ing their own against the grandeur of the architecture and the glory of the setting. Modern classics like Pierre Paulin lounge chairs and Ingo Mauer pendant fixtures join such contemporary pieces as a BassamFellows daybed and a Kelly Wearstler desk, the ensemble arranged so as not to disturb the pervasive feeling of cloud-borne calm. At the same time, the designers were mindful of placing the furniture in a way that, Meyer notes, “enhances your ability to take it all in.” The overall palette is neutral but far from colorless, comprising mostly blues, grays, and browns. The rust color of the velvet upholstery on a sofa in the den is the boldest hue in the apartment. “We brought in colors from the city and the sky,” Meyer concludes, “so as not to compete with the main event.”

---

---

Inside the Manhattan Penthouse With Expansive Views

meyer davis: anastasia bersetova; lindsay leonard

daniel demarco & associates; premium millwork: woodwork

silverlining: general contractor

jg switzer: beanbags (platform)

contardi: floor lamp

mellah: rug

William Gray: stools (kit­chen)

troscan design: table

gärsnäs: armchairs

erickson æsthetics: lounge chairs (living area)

tibetano: rug

BassamFellows: day­bed

rh: sectionals (living area, terrace)

andrianna shamaris: black side table (living area), console (entry)

jenni kayne: vase (entry)

flos: pen­dant fixture

sacco: rugs (entry, main bedroom)

rw guild: pendant fixtures (hall)

apparatus: sconces (hall, powder room), pendant fixtures (dining area, closet)

armada new york: custom table (dining area)

massproductions: chairs

Allied Maker: pendant fixture (bathroom)

seed design: table lamps (bedroom)

studio dunn: pendant fixture

castel; pollack: daybed fabric, pillow fabrics (den)

Montauk: sectional

ruemmler: pendant fixture

brooklyn workroom: custom daybed (den), custom headboard, custom sofa (main bedroom)

mokum: sectional fab­ric (Den), curtain fabric

menu design shop: mirrors (closet, powder room)

phillip jeffries: wallcovering (closet, powder room)

Gubi: chairs (main bedroom)

blackcreek mercantile & trading co.: coffee table

Ingo Maurer: pendant fixture

perennials fabrics: wallcovering

c&m shade: curtains

benjamin moore & co.: paint

4 Striking and Sustainable Side Tables

Interior Design‘s 2023 Top 100 Giants see an increase in the opportunity for sustainable design choices. It’s only natural that these eco-forward picks prevail.

Eco-Forward Furnishings That Double As Conversation Starters

Noé Duchaufour-Lawrance’s Burnt Cork tables by Made In Situ.

Clover side table in natural and toasted cork by Grain, through Colony.

Herzog & de Meuron’s Corker stools/side tables in dark cork by ClassiCon.

Together and Apart modular furniture unit in cork by Bjarke Ballisager.

Interior Design Unveils the 2023 Top 100 Giants

It’s easy to get hung up on symbolic numbers. Like, say, $5 billion. Nice and round. What could it represent, besides a comfortable retirement? In our case, a growth threshold for the Interior Design 100 Giants. In 2022, fees for the biggest firms came in just shy of that, at $4.97 billion—pretty good when you consider the turmoil of the past few years. That figure also marks 12 percent growth over 2021, beating the group’s forecast by 16 percent.

And if you want more fuel for the victory lap, as well as some context for the entire industry, a decade ago total fees for the top Giants tallied $2.44 billion, meaning they doubled in the intervening years. As for how the 2022 fees shook out: At the almost-$5 billion level, there are no insignificant slices of the pie when talking dollar amounts. For example, mixed-use projects make up a mere 1.2 percent of total fees, but that amounts to about $61 million. Though corporate office work remains the biggest driver, at 31 percent of fees (or $1.53 billion), it fell below 35 percent for only the second time in the last decade (2017 being the other blip). That’s a $344 million drop from 2019, when it comprised nearly 40 percent of all fees. So, is this a trend? Well, the 100 Giants forecast $1.5 billion for 2023, or 32 percent of total fees. Time will tell if this is a new reality.

What’s risen to replace corporate? Since 2019, government work is up by $89 million, or 31 percent. Education and transportation projects rose some 20 percent, for a combined $72 million. And of course, the pandemic spiked healthcare by 23 percent, or $139 million—bumping down hospitality from second to third for total fees (more on this subject in their respective sections).

However, healthcare may have peaked as we shift from pandemic to endemic. Sector fees rose only 3 percent since 2021, while hospitality rebounded 21 percent, or $89 million, in that same period. The 100 Giants predict healthcare fees will drop 23 percent next year, which may signal a return to previous levels.

Furniture, fixtures, and construction products also showed health at $74 billion in 2022. Pre-pandemic totals occasionally topped $85 billion, so while the industry is not back to that high, we’ve now hovered in this $73-75 billion range for three years. The problem: a projected 12 percent drop to $65 billion next year. Of all the forecasts, that’s the most dire.

---

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

“-“ did not report data

---

Total number of projects and square footage also tell a curious story, although the data is admittedly a bit skewed because few respondents reported this metric. From 2016 to 2019, the 100 Giants routinely logged 1 billion square feet from 60,000 to 66,000 projects annually. This year, 66,109 projects were built, but only encompassed 519 million square feet (compared to 65,000/589 million in 2021). Possible indications: Square footage is down as firms diversify into consulting and branding projects—and perhaps hybrid/remote work is allowing businesses to reallocate space.

Now for perhaps the most positive business indicator: Firms are hiring. Total design staff jumped from nearly 18,000 in 2021 to more than 23,000 in 2022—by far the most aggressive upward movement of any data we track. The overall number of employees also leaped from 98,000 to more than 155,000, although that’s still well below pre-pandemic head counts.

Billing rates have risen, too. Designers now bill at $156 per hour versus $133, a 17 percent increase since 2019. Average designer salary also jumped from $70,000 to $80,000 in that same time period, but remained flat in 2022. Other staff members have done particularly well, their salary rising 36 percent in three years.

As to when we’ll hit that big $5 billion mark, it’s unclear. The 100 Giants forecast $4.82 billion in fees for 2023, a slight drop. And a vast majority of respondents—90 percent—are confident in that prediction. That, if anything, might sum up what we’re seeing: Good results? Check. Reason to smile? Check. A lot of uncertainty to come? Check—and mate.

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 Perkins&Will, Rockwell Group, and Yabu Pushelberg.

---

---

Top Ten Giants by Sector

---

---

---

---

Project Categories

---

---

Furnishing & Fixtures vs. Construction

---

---

Methodology

The Interior Design Giants annual business survey comprises the largest firms ranked by interior design fees for the 12-month period ending December 31, 2022. The listings are generated from only those surveyed. To be recognized as a top 100, Rising, Healthcare, or Hospitality Giant, you must meet the following criteria: Have at least one office location in North America, and generate at least 25% 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 per­cent­ages are based on responding Giants, not their total number. 

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

Interior Design’s Top 10 Stories Reflect 2022 Design Trends

As 2022 comes to a close, we’re taking a look back at our top stories of the year and the design trends they showcase. From sustainable spaces to maximalist interiors to artful offices that prioritize connection, here are Interior Design‘s top 10 reads.

1. The Winners of the 2021 Best of Year Awards

The Best of Year Awards highlight the best and brightest projects, products, and people in the design industry. From dazzling hotels to colorful modern tile collections, the 2021 Best of Year Awards showcases the year’s most remarkable work. Read more.

Read more: See the projects and products winners of the 2022 Best of Year Awards.

2. The 2022 Top 100 Giants Unveiled

Interior Design‘s Top 100 Giants takes a look at the state of the A&D industry. As we entered the third year of the pandemic, the omicron variant was on the rise at the time of publishing. However, optimism prevailed and economic indicators gave credence to positivity. The Top 100 Giants represent the interior design firms leading the pack in a continually shifting landscape. Read more.

3. Gensler Designs TikTok’s New York Office

When TikTok touched down on American shores, it laid claim to the world’s most downloaded app. The same holds true in 2022, which is also when the company expanded to Manhattan, staking out 150,000 square feet for 1,000 employees across the five top floors of the 58-story H&M tower—fittingly steps from Broadway and its myriad dance numbers. The Gensler project captures the soul of New York City. Read more.

4. A Beaux-Arts Building Gets a Modern Makeover 

After a six-month search for the right space for tech company Guidepoint, the designer, Neal Beckstedt Studio, and client found the ideal site in Chelsea: the entire 38,000-square-foot second floor of 675 Avenue of the Americas, a landmarked beaux-arts stunner built in 1900 as the Adams Dry Goods department store. They left much of the original brick exposed and enlivened the palette of blacks, whites, grays, and beiges with shots of a hot yellow taken from Guidepoint’s logo. Read more.

5. 13 Highlights from the 2022 La Biennale di Venezia

Postponed by one year and overcoming the uncertainty of the global pandemic with a bang, the 2022 edition of La Biennale di Venezia opened its doors in May. Titled “Milk of Dreams” and curated by Cecilia Alemani, the 59th International Art Exhibition in Venice pivoted to account for the ever-shifting global climate. The Ukrainian pavilion prepared for 2021 was replaced with a more current response to the invasion of the country. The 213 artists from 58 countries featured in the Central Pavilion (Giardini) and in the Arsenale offer more than a dash of escapism, with a dreamy alternative reality frequently found among the 1,433 works on view. Read more.

6. Healing Elements in a Space for Transformative Medicine

If ever there were a multilayered hybrid collaboration, it is the Lawrence J. Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine. A long, narrow new-build oriented on a north-south axis not far from the University of Southern California’s campus, it encompasses 84,000 square feet across five floors, and includes 3,500 square feet of coveted outdoor space. HLW completed the structure’s core and shell architecture. RIOS handled the remainder of the project, which took three years to complete, just as COVID-19 hit the scene. Read more.

7. An Eco-Sensitive Update by Hickok Cole

After nearly 30 years, the mechanical systems in the American Geophysical Union’s once state-of-the-art headquarters in Washington were reaching the end of their useful life. But rather than design a new structure from scratch, Hickok Cole was asked to modernize the 1993 Shalom Baranes Associates–designed building to meet net-zero energy goals and create a game-changing case study for the industry. Read more.

8. A Modern Office in Seattle

Called the Prow, the single-story, 3,700-square-foot building is a deliberate departure from the multistory steel, glass, and concrete structures of Expedia’s main campus. Seattle’s outdoor-focused, athletic vibe was embraced in the design. The common end for this ancillary structure was a biophilic sanctuary that celebrates the landscape in both form and function. Read more.

9. Interior Design’s 2022 Hall of Fame Inductees Revealed

Interior Design announced the 2022 Hall of Fame honorees, recognizing five illustrious designers and creatives who continue to innovate the field. After a two-year pause during the pandemic, the magazine’s prestigious architecture and design awards gala returned to its in-person format December 7 at The Glasshouse in Manhattan. Those honored include Mavis Wiggins, managing executive, studio creative director of TPG Architecture (pictured above), Yves Béhar, founder and chief designer of fuseproject, Will Meyer and Gray Davis, founders of Meyer Davis, and a special award to artist and activist, Claudy Jongstra. Read more.

10. HOK Designs an Office for Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern, the freight rail operator, envisioned a timeless concept where track workers and administrators alike would feel at home, with ample flex spaces to help the 3,000 on-site employees meet and collaborate. With a vision as a tech company, robust amenities—fitness center, food hall, game room, childcare center—would help the company compete for talent against the likes of Google. Read more.