Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Architecture |
Founded | 1965 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
Founders |
|
Number of locations | 53 offices [1] |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Services |
|
Revenue | US$1.84 billion (2023) [1] |
Number of employees | 5,500+ (2021) [1] |
Website | www |
Gensler is a global design and architecture firm headquartered in San Francisco, California. It is the largest architecture firm in the world by revenue and number of architects. [3]
In 2022, Gensler generated $1.785 billion in revenue, the most of any architecture firm in the U.S. [4] As of late 2023, Gensler operated offices in 53 cities in 17 countries worldwide, [5] working for clients in over 100 countries. [6]
Art Gensler founded the firm in 1965, along with his wife Drue Gensler and their associate James Follett. [7] They originally focused on corporate interiors, [8] for newly constructed office buildings including the Alcoa Building (1967) and the Bank of America Building (1969), both in San Francisco. [9] The firm has since diversified into numerous forms of architecture and design, including commercial office buildings, retail centers, airports, education facilities, entertainment complexes, planning and urban design, mission-critical facilities, consulting, brand design, and other areas. [10]
Gensler grew rapidly with offices opening around the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s and then overseas in the 1980s and 1990s. [9] In 1972, the firm established an office in Houston to provide interior design services for Pennzoil Company's 600,000-sq-ft corporate headquarters. [11] In 1979, the firm opened its New York office to provide interior design and production services for Mobil Oil Corporation's corporate headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia. In 1988, the firm launched its first overseas office in London, followed by new offices in Tokyo and Hong Kong in 1993. [12] In 2002, Gensler opened an office in Shanghai, establishing a permanent presence in China. By the early 2000s, Gensler was the largest architecture and design company headquartered in the U.S. [9]
In 2005, Gensler's board of directors extended the firm's collaborative leadership structure by naming Andy Cohen, Diane Hoskins, and David Gensler as executive directors/Co-CEOs. [13] Cohen and Hoskins continue their tenure as Co-CEOs. [6] In 2015, the firm celebrated its 50th anniversary. [14] After nearly 20 years of leadership, Cohen and Hoskins transitioned from their roles as co-CEOs to become Gensler’s first Global co-Chairs in 2024; the firm named Julia Simet and Jordan Goldstein as the incoming co-CEOs. [15]
As the firm's global footprint has grown, Gensler has launched megaprojects such as CityCenter (Gensler served as Executive Architect of the 67-acre, 18 million-square-foot “city within a city” in Las Vegas), SFO Airport (beginning with the Central Terminal project in 1980 and continuing with comprehensive T2, T3, and T1 renovations), and Shanghai Tower (a 128-story mixed-use tower). [16] In 2013, the 2,073-foot Shanghai Tower became China's tallest building, and the second-tallest in the world. [13]
In 2023 Gensler undertook the office-to-residential conversion of 160 Water Street in Manhattan's Financial District. The project is expected to yield 588 residential rental units and has been applauded by politicians such as Mayor Eric Adams as well as activists concerned with the city's lack of housing. [17] [18]
In 2005, Gensler debuted its first U.K. Workplace Survey, [19] followed by a U.S. Workplace Survey in 2006, and the formal establishment of the Gensler Research program in 2007. The firm launched subsequent U.S. & U.K. Workplace Surveys in 2008, [19] 2013, [20] and 2016. [21] Gensler's Workplace Surveys now encompass five continents, with surveys in Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Latin America, the Middle East, U.K., and the U.S. [22] [23] In 2010, Gensler's research program secured a registered trademark for its Workplace Performance Index (WPI), a trademarked pre- and post-occupancy tool. [24] In 2017, Gensler celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Gensler Research Program (now the Gensler Research Institute) with the publication of Gensler's Research Catalogue, Volume 2. [25] In 2017, the firm launched the Gensler Experience Index, which quantifies the direct impact design has on experience, [26] followed by industry reports in the Education, Healthcare, Residential, Retail, and Hospitality sectors. [22] [27] In 2020, the firm launched Gensler's City Pulse Survey, [28] surveying residents in four cities during lockdown due to COVID-19, followed by another City Pulse Survey in 2021, [22] surveying 10 cities to see how the pandemic has reshaped urban life.
In 1990, Gensler established Gensler University, the firm's chief platform for leadership development. [24] Subsequently, the firm established the Diversity Scholarship, a juried program that recognizes emerging talent among African-American college students enrolled in an accredited architectural program, and the Gensler Brinkmann Scholarship Fund, which was established in 1999 as a memorial to Donald G. Brinkmann, a gifted interior designer and former partner at Gensler. [16] In 2007, the firm established its gServe community impact program. [16] Gensler's Community Impact program encourages offices to dedicate at least 80 percent of their Community Impact resources to one or more of four themes: Housing and Homelessness, Health and Wellness, the Environment, and the Next Generation. [29]
In 2015, Gensler signed the Paris Pledge for Action at the COP21 conference, pledging to reduce carbon emissions to limit climate change to less than 2 degrees Celsius. [30] At the U.N. Climate Action Summit in 2019, Co-CEO Diane Hoskins announced the Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3), [31] which challenges the architecture and design industry to eliminate all greenhouse gases associated with the built environment. To further that pledge, Gensler is launching new green specifications that focus on reducing high-carbon materials. [32] Gensler's “Impact Through Design” report, launched in 2016, explores strategies for architecture and design to play a greater role in global climate change strategy and mitigation, [33] reinforcing this commitment to sustainability with the firm's subsequent “Impact by Design” reports in 2017, [33] 2018, [34] 2019, 2020, [35] and 2021. [22]
Gensler was awarded the Architecture Firm Award in 2000 by the American Institute of Architects. [36]
In 2009, Gensler became the first firm inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame. [12]
Gensler received the AIA Institute Honor Award for Architecture for the HyundaiCard Air Lounge in 2012 [37] and the Jackson Hole Airport in 2014. [38]
For the third year in a row, Forbes included Gensler among “America’s Best Midsize Employers” in 2018. [39]
Gensler received the highest ranking on Interior Design magazine's “Top 100 Giants” list. [40]
Gensler was included among Glassdoor's Best Places to Work 2020. [41]
The National Center for Employee Ownership named Gensler the 21st largest employee-owned company in the U.S. on the NCEO 2020 Employee Ownership 100. [42]
The AIA Committee on the Environment named three Gensler projects winners of the COTE Top Ten Awards, recognizing the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, UPCycle, and Etsy headquarters for integrating design excellence and sustainable performance. [43]
Gensler received the #1 rank overall in Building Design's 2021 World Architecture 100 Rankings. [44]
For a decade, Gensler has topped Architectural Record's annual list of the Top 300 Architecture Firms in the U.S. [45]
For the third year, Fast Company named Gensler among the “World’s Most Innovative Companies 2021” as one of the 10 Most Innovative Companies in Architecture. [46]
Fast Company ranked Gensler among the 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators in 2021, recognizing the firm's new proprietary NFORM Ecosystem. [47]
Engineering News-Record ranked Gensler as the #1 Top Green Design Firm for six consecutive years, from 2016-2021. [48] The firm was second in the latest ranking in September of 2022. [49]
Eamonn Kevin Roche was an Irish-born American Pritzker Prize-winning architect. He was responsible for the design/master planning for over 200 built projects in both the U.S. and abroad. These projects include eight museums, 38 corporate headquarters, seven research facilities, performing arts centers, theaters, and campus buildings for six universities. In 1967 he created the master plan for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and thereafter designed all of the new wings and installation of many collections including the reopened American and Islamic wings.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) is an American architectural, urban planning and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings in Chicago. In 1939, they were joined by engineer John Merrill. The firm opened its second office, in New York City, in 1937 and has since expanded, with additional offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Melbourne, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seattle, and Dubai.
Helmut Jahn was a German-American architect, known for projects such as the Sony Center on Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany; the Messeturm in Frankfurt, Germany; the Thompson Center in Chicago; One Liberty Place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Bangkok, Thailand, among others.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach programs, and collaborates with other stakeholders in the design and construction industries.
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) is an American architectural firm based in New York City. that provides architecture, interior, programming and master planning services. They do different projects that includes civic and cultural spaces, commercial office buildings, transportation facilities, residential and hospitality developments, educational and institutional facilities, and mixed-use commercial developments. KPF has 600+ employees.
NBBJ is an American global architecture, planning and design firm with offices in Boston, Columbus, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Pune, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai, and Washington, D.C..
MBH Architects is an architecture and interior design firm founded in October 1989 by architects John McNulty and Dennis Heath. The firm is headquartered in a LEED Gold certified office in Alameda, California in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Fentress Architects is an international design firm known for large-scale public architecture such as airports, museums, university buildings, convention centers, laboratories, and high-rise office towers. Some of the buildings for which the firm is best known include Denver International Airport (1995), the modernized Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX (2013), the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Quantico, Virginia (2005), and the Green Square Complex in Raleigh, North Carolina (2012).
DLR Group is an employee-owned integrated design firm providing architecture, engineering, planning, and interior design. Their brand promise is to elevate the human experience through design. A self-described advocate for sustainable design, the firm was an early adopter of the Architecture 2030 Challenge, and an initial signatory to the AIA 2030 Commitment and the China Accord.
Mark Cavagnero Associates is a San Francisco, California-based architecture firm, founded by Mark Cavagnero, FAIA in 1988. The Firm's portfolio is of various public-serving projects for public, non-profit and institutional clients.
JLG Architects is an architecture firm that specializes in urban design, master planning and architectural design for sports/recreation facilities, universities, K-12 schools, aviation facilities, medical centers, and mixed-use/multi-family housing. JLG has offices in Minneapolis, St. Cloud, and Alexandria, Minnesota, and Grand Forks, Bismarck, Minot, Williston, and Fargo, North Dakota, Rapid City and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Boston, Massachusetts.
Brooks + Scarpa is an American architectural firm based in Los Angeles, California, and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA. Angela Brooks and Lawrence Scarpa are the recipients of the 2022 American Institute of Architect Gold Medal, the institute's highest honor. The firm was also chosen as the 2014 Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Award Winner in Architecture. In 2010 they were the recipient of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Firm Award. Los Angeles projects completed by the firm include the Solar Umbrella home in Venice, California, the Orange Grove lofts in West Hollywood and the Colorado housing project in Santa Monica.
Slade Architecture is a New York City based architecture and design firm founded in 2002 by Hayes and James Slade. The firm has completed a diverse range of domestic and international projects. Its work has been exhibited and published widely. The Architectural League of New York selected Slade Architecture as a winner of its 2010 Emerging Voices, an annual invited competition for North American firms and individuals with distinct design voices and significant bodies of realized work. Slade Architecture was selected by the New York City Department of Design & Construction to participate in its Excellence in Design and Construction Program in 2004, 2006, 2009, and 2016.
Zaha Hadid Architects is a British architecture and design firm founded by Zaha Hadid (1950–2016), with its main office situated in Clerkenwell, London. After the death of "starchitect" Hadid, Patrik Schumacher became head of the firm, at the time with a staff of 400 with 36 projects across 21 countries.
Clive Wilkinson is an architect and interior designer. Acknowledged as a pioneer in workplace design by the IIDA, Wilkinson is perhaps best known for designing the interior of one of the buildings in the Googleplex, the headquarters of Google in Silicon Valley. He has also designed several top global advertising agencies, including JWT in New York City, and Mother Advertising in London. Wilkinson's introduction of urban planning concepts to organize and animate large office projects began with the design of TBWA\Chiat\Day's Los Angeles headquarters in 1998.
Bjarke Ingels Group, often referred to as BIG, is a Copenhagen, New York City, London, Barcelona, Shenzhen, Oslo and Los Angeles-based group of architects and designers operating within the fields of architecture, product and landscape design, engineering and planning. The office is currently involved in a large number of projects throughout Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. As of 2023, the company employs 700+ people.
Amale Andraos is a New York-based designer. She was dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (2014-2021) and serves as advisor to the Columbia Climate School. She is the co-founder of the New York City architecture firm WORKac with her husband, Dan Wood. Her impact on architectural practice around the world was recognized when she was named Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada in 2021.
Andy Cohen is an American architect and global co-chair of Gensler co-CEO of Gensler, the world's largest architecture and design firm by revenue. He served as co-CEO of the global company with Diane Hoskins from 2005 through the end of 2023. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a registered architect in 41 states, and member of the International Interior Design Association. He is also on the Gensler board of directors.
Diane Hoskins is an American businessperson and architect who currently serves as global co-chair of Gensler, the world's largest architecture and design firm by revenue. She served as co-CEO of the global company with Andy Cohen from 2005 through the end of 2023. She is also on the board of directors for Boston Properties. Hoskins has been covered by The Washington Post Magazine, Fortune, Business Insider and other news sources as one of the most influential and powerful women in business.
Corgan Associates, Inc., commonly known as Corgan, is an American multinational architecture and design firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. It is the fourth-largest architecture firm in the United States and one of the world's largest by revenue and number of architects. In 2022, Corgan generated a revenue of US$331.18 million and currently employs over 900 professionals across 16 offices worldwide.
{{cite web}}
: |first=
has generic name (help)