NBBJ


NBBJ is an American global architecture, planning and design firm with offices in Boston, Columbus, Charlotte, London, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Pune, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Shanghai.
The firm provides services in architecture, interiors, planning and urban design, experience design, healthcare and workplace consulting, landscape architecture, and lighting design. It works across a wide range of markets, including civic and cultural institutions, workplace and commercial environments, healthcare, education, science and research, sports, and urban planning.  
NBBJ has been recognized as one of TIME's 100 Most Influential Companies, a five-time honoree on Fast Company''s Most Innovative Companies list, and named the fastest-growing architecture firm by Architectural Record. It has also been recognized as "Best in Business" by Modern Healthcare and as the "architecture firm of choice for tech companies" by Wired'.
The firm was an early signatory of the Architecture challenge, a global initiative to reduce fossil-fuel greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment. In 2025, NBBJ was ranked #1 among US architecture firms for collective Energy Use Intensity reduction—a key metric measuring building energy efficiency—achieving nearly a 75% reduction across its portfolio. The firm also ranked among the top two firms by gross square footage of projects meeting EUI targets.
NBBJ is also CarbonNeutral® certified by Natural Capital Partners and a signatory of the Amazon Climate Pledge.

History

NBBJ was founded in 1943 by Seattle architects Floyd Naramore, William J. Bain, Clifton Brady, and Perry Johanson, originally under the name Naramore, Bain, Brady & Johanson. Formed during World War II to undertake large-scale federal projects such as the Bremerton Naval Shipyard expansion, the partnership remained intact after the war and evolved into one of the Pacific Northwest’s largest architecture firms.
In 1976, the firm merged with Columbus, Ohio-based Nitschke–Godwin–Bohm, formally becoming NBBJ and expanding its national reach.
In 2010, NBBJ merged with Cambridge-based urban design firm Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, enhancing its presence in the Northeast and adding to its urban design capabilities.
In 2020, NBBJ expanded its expertise in immersive and experiential design through its acquisition of ESI Design, a New York-based studio known for integrating interactive media and technology into the built environment.

Selected completed projects

Workplace

Designers at NBBJ include: Steve McConnell, Jonathan Ward, Joan Saba, Robert Mankin, Ryan Mullenix, Jay Siebenmorgen, Mindy Levine-Archer and Tim Johnson.

Recognition

  • BusinessWeek/Architectural Record Good Design is Good Business Awards, Alley24/223 Yale, 2008
  • American Institute of Architects Institute Honor Awards, Interiors, R.C. Hedreen Company, 2009
  • Interior Design Magazine, Best of Year Award, Dubai Mall Medical Centre, 2010
  • Puget Sound Business Journal, Corporate Champion for the Environment, 2011
  • Royal Institute of British Architects, RIBA Award Winner, Life Sciences Building at the University of Southampton, 2011
  • American Institute of Architects Academy of Architecture for Health, Healthcare Award, Seattle Children's Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center, 2011
  • American Institute of Architects Academy of Architecture for Health, Healthcare Award, Massachusetts General Hospital Lunder Building, 2012
  • IIDA, Healthcare Interiors Award, Bayt Abdullah Children's Hospice, 2012
  • Interior Design Magazine, Best of Year Award, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Campus, 2013
  • Healthcare Design Magazine, Firm of the Year Award, 2013
  • AIA, National Interior Architecture Award, Two Union Square, 2022
  • Fast Company's Innovation by Design Awards Honors Three NBBJ Projects, 2021
  • Archinect, An Architect's Advice on Boosting Creativity in Hybrid Workplaces, 2022
  • Modern Healthcare, Uplifting Behavioral Health Projects Fuel a New Model of Care, 2022
  • Dezeen, A Net-Zero School for Neurodiverse Children in California, 2022
  • Metropolis Magazine, St. Michael Medical Center Embraces its Northwest Setting, 2022
  • New York Times, Say Goodbye to the Boring Conference Room, 2022