MARCH 2025
giants of design
CONTENTS MARCH 2025
VOLUME 96 NUMBER 2
ON THE COVER
03.25
For Watertown Exploratory Labs, a life-sciences research and manufacturing facility near Boston, Elkus Manfredi Architects transformed a 1931 structure into a state-of-the-art campus, beginning with the main lobby, where a three-story-high mural of subatomic particle decay patterns by Los Angeles artist Kysa Johnson backdrops the 21-foot-long custom reception desk and existing concrete flooring that’s been newly polished. Photography: Eric Laignel.
features 146 STEPPING UP by Joseph Giovannini
Via a sculptural staircase, Rapt Studio reimagines three floors in a landmarked 1960’s modernist building as a new Philadelphia office for Macquarie Group. 156 TRANSFORMATIVE POWER by Rebecca Dalzell
174 TREE OF LIFE by Dan Howarth
In Guelph, Canada, a foundational “acorn-tooak” metaphor informs the headquarters of insurance organization Co-operators by HOK. 184 COMMUNITY SERVICE by Peter Webster
From an established food depository and a paradigm-changing healthcare facility in the U.S. to a Saudi Arabian rehabilitation center, these projects by top firms support the public good.
Elkus Manfredi Architects turns an early 20th–century manufacturing facility near Boston into Watertown Exploratory Labs, a center for life-sciences innovation, community, and sustainability. 196 SOUTHERN BELLE 164 THE NEW MEXICO by Elizabeth Fazzare
In the hands of EDG and Meyer Davis, both champions of the authentic, Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas at Cabo Del Sol melds regional craftsmanship with seaside luxury.
by Rebecca Dalzell
At Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill breathes new life into the late 1800’s Kirkland Hall while preserving its historic charm.
ERIC LAIGNEL
146
CONTENTS MARCH 2025
VOLUME 96 NUMBER 2
03.25 special giants section Essays, rankings, charts, trends, products, and projects about, for, and by the industry’s top domestic and international firms.
35 100 GIANTS 44 INTERNATIONAL GIANTS 103 RISING GIANTS
departments 29 HEADLINERS 204 CONTACTS
GARRETT ROWLAND
215 INTERVENTION by Wilson Barlow
35
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e d i t o r ’s welcome
giants of design Brass tacks time…my fave time! Welcome to our first of two issues that, moving forward, we’ll annually dedicate to our core industries, exhaustively covering both the famous movers and shakers and the ones to watch: Interior Design’s Giants of Design. For the casual reader, we aptly ranked the top 200 leadership firms in our business into two groups, the 100 Giants and the Rising Giants. Together, they run up a check of nearly $7 billion in fees every year (ka-ching!), so you know what I mean when I say they are worth a look. Twice (in two parts)! Anyhoo, both this issue and the upcoming July edition, in which we will delve extensively into all industry segments, are supreme proof of strength in unity. The following pages are a Sandow Design Group (aka SDG) effort, with our hugely gifted kin at ThinkLab analyzing the immersive data. We recommend you use this proprietary research (dependably AI-free) to put in perspective all your planning and business strategies. For your creative arsenal, however, take a deep dive into all the project stories inside—there’s a ton!—that we meticulously show off as picture proof of our data and to demonstrate the Giants’ power to ignite positive change in the world. (Once again, rest assured all visuals are safely AI-free… perish the effing thought.) Giants are designing everything, everywhere…like restoring the old into something new. Check out how Rapt Studio reimagined a midcentury landmark in Philly, warming up the building’s original concrete with warm walnut—and a wowza sculptural staircase. Or how Skidmore, Owings & Merrill renovated a historic hall at Vanderbilt University with its magical modern touch, which will make you want to go back to school again. But that’s certainly only the tip of the iceberg. From education (HGA bringing joy and color to the Blake School in Minnesota) to healthcare (HDR infusing nature into a Saudi Arabian rehab center) to institutional (Partners By Design’s all-green expansion—as in the color and sustainability—of a Chicago food depository supporting hundreds of soup kitchens and shelters), the Giants are proving once again that the gigantic power of design can help a community, the public, and one another. So, join me as we cheer the big, better, best Giants of Design! xoxo
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PS: Remember to come back in July for Giants Part II!
MARCH.25
INTERIOR DESIGN
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