Design Firms Set for Big Growth in '15

ATLANTA—A robust commercial real estate market in 2014 fueled substantial growth for internationally recognized design firm Cooper Carry. The firm, which is active in public and private sectors ranging from hospitality to research laboratories, expanded its design portfolio by an additional 122 new projects.

The overall growth in the market is especially reflected in the hospitality sector. Cooper Carry's hospitality practice was awarded 14 new hotel projects in 2014.

Specifically, the firm designed 10 hotels that were delivered in 2014, including Hyatt Place hotels in Washington, DC and Baltimore, and the Villa Christina Hyatt in Atlanta. The 2.4 million square feet delivered represents over 3,000 keys. Of significance was the opening of the 4,000th Marriott hotel, the 1,175-key Marriott Marquis in Washington, DC designed in collaboration with tvsdesign.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Kevin Cantley, president and CEO of Cooper Carry, to drill into the issue of how construction starts are affecting design firms in part one of this exclusive interview. Be sure to come back to this afternoon's Southeast edition to get his take on the top trends affecting workplace design.

GlobeSt.com: Some recent reports have indicated that construction starts in the US are expected to rise about 10% in 2015, a rate almost double that estimated for 2014. How do you see this affecting your industry, and in what practice groups specifically? 

Cantley: 2014 is the first year since the collapse began in 2008 that Cooper Carry has seen growth in each of the practice areas that we serve, as well as in each of the geographic markets served by one of our three offices. Furthermore, the resurgence of the market also led to a 35% increase in the number of design professionals across our Atlanta, New York, and Washington, DC offices to accommodate new projects across all 13 of our specialty practice groups.

In addition to the expansion of the volume of our business, we have enjoyed the increase in demand for innovation, particularly in the design of the workplace for several corporations.  In line with the predicted growth in construction starts, we fully expect that 2015 will require continued recruitment of staff to support a very active year.

We anticipate growth in all sectors, specifically in office, hospitality, multifamily,  and mixed-use. We also expect these new developments to offer fresh design features that will cater to the growing population of Millennials in the market and workforce who look for technology, walkability, sustainability, and connections to the local culture.