Gensler is a global design and architecture firm headquartered in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, California. It is the largest architecture firm in the world by revenue and number of architects. In 2022, Gensler generated $1.785 billion in revenue, the most of any architecture firm in the U.S. As of late 2023, Gensler operated offices in 53 cities in 17 countries worldwide, working for clients in over 100 countries.

History

Art Gensler Millard Arthur Gensler Jr. (July 12, 1935 – May 10, 2021) was an American architect and entrepreneur. He was best known for founding Gensler, the world's largest architecture firm. The firm's most prominent works include the terminals at the S ...

founded the firm in 1965, along with his wife Drue Gensler and their associate James Follett. They originally focused on corporate interiors, for newly constructed office buildings including the Alcoa Building (1967) and the Bank of America Building (1969), both in San Francisco. 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. Gensler grew rapidly with offices opening around the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s and then overseas in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1972, the firm established an office in Houston to provide interior design services for Pennzoil Company's 600,000-sq-ft corporate headquarters. 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. 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. In 2005, Gensler's board of directors extended the firm's collaborative leadership structure by naming

Andy Cohen Andrew Joseph Cohen (born June 2, 1968) is an American radio and television talk show host, producer, and writer. He is the host and executive producer of ''The Real Housewives'' Multimedia franchise, franchise and Bravo (American TV network), B ...

, Diane Hoskins, and David Gensler as executive directors/Co-CEOs. Cohen and Hoskins continue their tenure as Co-CEOs. In 2015, the firm celebrated its 50th anniversary. After serving as Co-CEOs for nearly 20 years, Cohen and Hoskins became Gensler’s first Global Co-Chairs in 2024, and the firm named Jordan Goldstein and Elizabeth Brink as the new co-CEOs .

Influence and industry impact

As the firm's global footprint has grown, Gensler has launched megaprojects such as

CityCenter Aria Campus, commonly known by its former name CityCenter, is a mixed-use, urban complex on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. It is located on and contains a total of . The complex includes Aria Resort and Casino, the Vdara condo-hotel, ...

(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 The Shanghai Tower is a 128-story, megatall skyscraper located in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai.

(a 128-story mixed-use tower). In 2013, the 2,073-foot Shanghai Tower became China's tallest building, and the second-tallest in the world. In 2023 Gensler undertook the office-to-residential conversion of 160 Water Street in Manhattan's

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies, and other related finance corporations have their headquarters offices. In major cities, financial districts often host ...

. The project is expected to yield 588 residential rental units and has been applauded by politicians such as Mayor

Eric Adams Eric Leroy Adams (born September 1, 1960) is an American politician and former police officer who has served as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City P ...

as well as activists concerned with the city's lack of housing.

Research

In 2005, Gensler debuted its first U.K. Workplace Survey, 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, 2013, and 2016. 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. In 2010, Gensler's research program secured a registered trademark for its Workplace Performance Index (WPI), a trademarked pre- and post-occupancy tool. 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. In 2017, the firm launched the Gensler Experience Index, which quantifies the direct impact design has on experience, followed by industry reports in the Education, Healthcare, Residential, Retail, and Hospitality sectors. In 2020, the firm launched Gensler's City Pulse Survey, surveying residents in four cities during lockdown due to COVID-19, followed by another City Pulse Survey in 2021, surveying 10 cities to see how the pandemic has reshaped urban life.

Programs and initiatives

In 1990, Gensler established Gensler University, the firm's chief platform for leadership development. 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. In 2007, the firm established its gServe community impact program. 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. 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. At the U.N. Climate Action Summit in 2019, Co-CEO Diane Hoskins announced the Gensler Cities Climate Challenge (GC3), 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. 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, reinforcing this commitment to sustainability with the firm's subsequent “Impact by Design” reports in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. In 2023, Gensler announced the launch of the Gensler Product Sustainability (GPS) Standards. Starting in January 2024, the standards will be required for all Gensler projects in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. At COP28, Gensler partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to jointly expand low-carbon building certification and access to green finance.

Recognition

Gensler was awarded the

Architecture Firm Award The Architecture Firm Award is the highest honor that the American Institute of Architects can bestow on an architecture firm for consistently producing distinguished architecture. Prior recipients of the AIA Architecture Firm Award include: *2025 ...

in 2000 by the

American Institute of Architects 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 progr ...

. In 2009, Gensler became the first firm inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame. Gensler received the AIA Institute Honor Award for Architecture for the HyundaiCard Air Lounge in 2012 and the Jackson Hole Airport in 2014. For the third year in a row, Forbes included Gensler among “America’s Best Midsize Employers” in 2018. Gensler received the highest ranking on Interior Design magazine's “Top 100 Giants” list. Gensler was included among Glassdoor's Best Places to Work 2020. The

National Center for Employee Ownership The National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) is a nonprofit research organization that gathers and disseminates data on employee ownership of the business by which they are employed. The organization was established in 1981 by Corey Rosen, ...

named Gensler the 21st largest employee-owned company in the U.S. on the NCEO 2020 Employee Ownership 100. 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. Gensler received the #1 rank overall in Building Design's 2021 World Architecture 100 Rankings. For a decade, Gensler has topped Architectural Record's annual list of the Top 300 Architecture Firms in the U.S. 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. Fast Company ranked Gensler among the 100 Best Workplaces for Innovators in 2021, recognizing the firm's new proprietary NFORM Ecosystem. Engineering News-Record ranked Gensler as the #1 Top Green Design Firm for six consecutive years, from 2016-2021. The firm was second in the latest ranking in September 2022. The firm regained the #1 ranking in 2023. For the 42nd consecutive year, Gensler received the highest ranking on Interior Design magazine's “Top 100 Giants” list in 2023. In 2023, Gensler maintained the top position on Architectural Record’s Top 300 Architecture Firms for the 12th consecutive year. The AIA honoured Gensler’s repositioning of Willis Tower with the 2023 AIA National Interior Architecture Award and awarded adaptive reuse project 633 Folsom the 2023 AIA National Architecture Award. The Center for Active Design awarded Gensler with as the company with the “Most Ambassadors” (All Time), as the company with the most Fitwel Accredited staff, in the 2023 Best in Building Health Awards. For the ninth consecutive year, Gensler received the #1 rank overall in Building Design's 2024 World Architecture 100 rankings.

Notable projects

1888 Studios 1888 Studios is a proposed film and television studio planned to be built on a site at Bergen Point in Bayonne, New Jersey. Its name is a nod to the year the movie camera was invented. At 1.5M million gross square feet, reports say it will be th ...

Bayonne, New Jersey Bayonne ( ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the Gateway Region on Bergen Neck, a peninsula between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York ...

, 2022 *21st Century Fox,

1211 Avenue of the Americas 1211 Avenue of the Americas, also known as the News Corp. Building, is an International Style skyscraper on Sixth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Formerly called the Celanese Building, it was completed in 1973 as p ...

, New York, NY, 2018 *2000 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles, California, 2007 *

Banc of California Stadium BMO Stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC and the National Women's S ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, 2018 *BCG NY Headquarters, New York, NY, 2017 *Burj Alshaya Four Seasons, Kuwait City, Kuwait, 2017 *Cadillac House, New York, NY, 2017 *Costa Rica Convention Center, Heredia, Costa Rica, 2018 *Condé Nast Headquarters, New York, New York, 2015 *

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

, Nevada, 2009 *

DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Animation LLC (DWA, also known as DreamWorks Animation Studios or simply DreamWorks) is an American animation studio, owned by Comcast's NBCUniversal as part of Universal Pictures, a division of Universal Studios, Inc, Universal Stud ...

Glendale, California Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles. As of 2024, Glendale ha ...

, 1997 *

Mineta San Jose International Airport San José Mineta International Airport —officially Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport—is a city-owned public airport in San Jose, California. Located northwest of Downtown San Jose, the airport serves both the city and the Sa ...

Terminal B,

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, 2010 * Tŷ William Morgan,

Cardiff, United Kingdom Cardiff (; ) is the capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital let ...

, 2020 *

The Doughnut The Doughnut is the nickname given (due to its resemblance to a doughnut) to the headquarters of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a British cryptography and intelligence agency. It is located on a site in Benhall, Cheltenham ...

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

UK, 2003 * The Avenues, Phase IV, Kuwait City, Kuwait, 2018 *NVIDIA Corporate Campus,

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...

, 2018 * Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, New York, NY, 2018 *

Incheon International Airport Incheon International Airport is the main international airport serving Seoul, the capital of South Korea. It is also one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. This airport opened for business on 29 March 2001, to replace the old ...

, T2, Incheon, South Korea, 2018 *

Westfield Century City Westfield Century City is an outdoor shopping mall in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It has of gross leasable area and is anchored by Bloomingdale's, Macy's, and Nordstrom. The mall has been owned by Westfield-affi ...

, Los Angeles, CA, 2018 *

Fairmont Austin The Fairmont Austin is a 37-story hotel located on 101 Red River St, in Downtown Austin, Texas. Groundbreaking for the project began on November 3, 2014. The hotel, at , is the largest of the Fairmont hotel chain. The hotel tops out at tall, ...

, Austin, Texas, 2018 *Johnson Controls HQ Asia Pacific, Shanghai, China, 2017 *E. & J. Gallo Winery Dry Creek Building, Modesto, California, 2017 *Hyatt Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois, 2017 *The Coca-Cola Company Headquarters, Atlanta, Georgia, 2016 *The Washington Post, Washington, DC, 2016 *Westin DEN and Transit Center, Denver, Colorado, 2015 *

Jackson Hole Airport Jackson Hole Airport is a public airport located north of Jackson in Teton County, Wyoming, U.S. In 2019, it was the busiest airport in Wyoming by passenger traffic with 455,000 passengers. During peak summer and winter seasons, Jackson Hole ...

, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, 2015 *

Shanghai Tower The Shanghai Tower is a 128-story, megatall skyscraper located in Lujiazui, Pudong, Shanghai.

, Shanghai, China, 2015 *The

Tower at PNC Plaza The Tower at PNC Plaza is a 33-story skyscraper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is the corporate headquarters of the PNC Financial Services and has approximately , standing 33 stories (545 feet) tall. Nearby buildings totaling , were purchased ...

, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2014 *Gratz Center, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago, Illinois, 2012 *

San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is the primary international airport for the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. Owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco, the airport has a San Francisco mailing ...

Terminal 2, San Francisco, CA, 2011 * Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences and JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE, Los Angeles, California, 2010 * John F. Kennedy International Airport, JetBlue T5, New York City, New York, 2008 *

The New York Times Building The New York Times Building is a 52-story skyscraper at 620 Eighth Avenue, between 40th and 41st Streets near Times Square, on the west side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Its chief tenant is the New York Times Company, ...

, New York, NY, 2007 *

Letterman Digital Arts Center The Letterman Digital Arts Center (LDAC), is an institution located in the Presidio, San Francisco, that has served as the combined home of Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm Games, Lucasfilm Animation and Lucasfilm's marketing, online, a ...

Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, 2005 *The Gate, Dubai International Finance Centre, Dubai, UAE, 2004 *

Moscone Center The George R. Moscone Convention Center (), popularly known as the Moscone Center, is the largest convention and exhibition complex in San Francisco, California, United States. The complex consists of three main halls spread out across three bl ...

, California, 2003