2019 Architect 50: Top 50 Firms in Business

Some years, the proverbial ship comes in, and projects that languished on the horizon finally land all at once. That was the case in 2018 for Los Angeles–based Marmol Radziner, which earned the top spot in business in this year’s Architect 50.

The 160-person firm enjoyed a 34% increase in net revenue over 2017, and boasted the highest net-revenue-per-employee figure of all the survey participants. “Some of it truly is timing,” says managing partner Leo Marmol, FAIA. “Various projects fell into place by chance at the same time last year.”

Like most firms, “we see fluctuation in annual revenues because of the normal ebb and flow of the profession,” Marmol adds, but the firm’s growth “speaks to the unique nature of our office. We have a whole variety of revenue streams from a business perspective.”

courtesy Marmol Radziner
945 West 8th St. in Los Angeles, a mixed-use tower

Founded in 1989 as a design-build firm with an emphasis as a “master builder,” Marmol Radziner touts itself as a single-source shop offering everything from architectural drawings and construction documents to prefab, custom cabinetry, fixtures, and furniture. Employees work across multidisciplinary teams of architects, landscape designers, interior designers, furniture designers, and construction crews. Projects in 2018 included a 64-story mixed-use tower in downtown Los Angeles (still in progress), a Four Seasons resort in Puerto Rico, and multiple private houses. “We had a number of residential construction projects where we were both architect and builder and some were very large scale,” says design partner Ron Radziner, FAIA, including a 13,000-square-foot wood-and-brick residence in Pacific Palisades, Calif., completed early this year. Tucked into a canyon along a creek with a landscape of native oaks, the house represents the firm’s signature Modernist-meets-landscape style.

Marmol Radziner
Four Seasons in Cayo Largo, Puerto Rico

As a sign of its expanding reach, Marmol Radziner opened a New York office in 2018 to service a growing number of East Coast residential and commercial clients, including restaurants for Sushi Nozawa Group, boutiques for Vince and Oliver Peoples, and the New York corporate headquarters for Italian eyewear company Luxottica. “We have always had a strong emphasis on office management,” Marmol says. “We have a COO that heads up the financial management structure and he has a talented and committed team that keeps all of the accounting managed very smoothly.”

courtesy Marmol Radziner
The Point Dume residence in Malibu, Calif.

courtesy Marmol Radziner
Cabo San Lucas residence

Top 50 Firms in Business

Rank	Organization	Score
1	Marmol Radziner	100.0
2	EHDD	99.7
3	Duda\|Paine Architects	98.5
4	WRNS Studio	97.3
5	Butler Armsden Architects	96.1
6	Works Progress Architecture	93.6
7	HDR Architecture	91.8
8	Clark Nexsen	91.7
9	ELS Architecture and Urban Design	91.4
10	Hastings	88.9
11	Mahlum	88.3
12	Blair + Mui Dowd Architects	87.7
13	RBB Architects	87.4
14	CO Architects	87.0
15	Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects	86.8
16	Steinberg Hart	86.7
16	Carrier Johnson + Culture	86.7
18	Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture	86.1
18	Bruner/Cott & Associates	86.1
18	PBK	86.1
21	Page	84.5
22	Gensler	84.4
22	Ayers Saint Gross	84.4
24	Mark Cavagnero Associates	84.2
25	David Baker Architects	84.1
26	Goettsch Partners	83.9
27	Touloukian Touloukian	83.6
28	Flansburgh Architects	83.2
29	The Miller Hull Partnership	82.7
29	ZGF Architects	82.7
31	Ann Beha	82.0
32	Olson Kundig	81.8
32	SmithGroup	81.8
32	HOK	81.8
35	Hord Coplan Macht	81.5
36	Leers Weinzapfel	80.5
36	Kobi Karp	80.5
38	Spector Group	80.0
39	Opsis Architecture	79.8
39	HMC Architects	79.8
41	EYP	79.7
42	BAR Architects	79.4
43	HKS	79.1
43	Kirksey	79.1
45	Mithun	78.3
46	HGA	77.9
47	Skidmore, Owings & Merrill	77.6
47	Payette	77.6
49	Studios Architecture	77.3
50	LPA	76.8