NELSON

What NELSON does

NELSON Worldwide is a privately held architecture, interior design, engineering, and strategy firm founded in 1977 and structured as an LLC, with its primary operating base in Atlanta and headquarters in Minneapolis. The firm delivers integrated design services across nine vertical practices—Healthcare, Hospitality, Civic & Justice, Industrial, Workplace, Mixed-Use & Master Planning, Retail, Education, and Multifamily—serving enterprise and institutional clients across the United States and internationally in South Korea, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Costa Rica, and Saudi Arabia. Its project portfolio spans boutique hospitality (LIVELY Hotel at OAK, Hilton's 2025 Tapestry Hotel of the Year), large-scale industrial and logistics facilities (Ford Assembly Campus at 1.6 million SF, BMW Inland Port, CJ Logistics' 1.1 million SF automated facility), and major mixed-use destinations (Shadowbox Studios' 182-acre film campus, The Battery Atlanta adjacent to Truist Park).

The core offering is professional services rather than a software platform. Capabilities span architecture, interior design, engineering, design visualization, brand identity, experiential graphic design, signage and wayfinding, and sustainable (LEED/Fitwel) design, with NELSON Asset Intelligence positioned as a distinct asset verification and portfolio optimization service. Revenue is generated through project-based fees, with pricing driven by project scope, square footage, complexity, and client requirements; no public pricing or standardized rate cards are published. The firm operates a vertical-segmentation go-to-market, acquiring enterprise clients through direct business development, RFP responses, an inbound inquiry pipeline, thought leadership content (insights, podcast "Building Communities Where People Want to Stay"), and a segmented email newsletter. Marquee customers include Hilton, BMW, Ford, Baptist Health South Florida, Jackson Health System, Miami Heat, The Home Depot, Shake Shack, Truist Park/Atlanta Braves, and Wake Forest University, indicating a diversified enterprise mix across healthcare, hospitality, industrial, retail, workplace, entertainment, and civic/government end markets.

Name

NELSON

Legal name

NELSON Worldwide, LLC

Website

https://nelsonworldwide.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

NELSON Worldwide is a private architecture, interior design, engineering, and strategy firm founded in 1977, serving enterprise clients across healthcare, hospitality, industrial, workplace, retail, mixed-use, and civic sectors in the US and internationally through integrated, multi-disciplinary design services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architecture & Design Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131), Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services (5413), Interior Design Services (54141), Specialized Design Services (5414)

SIC

General Bldg Contractors - Nonresidential Bldgs (1540)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Engagement & Participatory Planning (BPAHAKAO)

Keywords

• Architecture design services
• Interior design firm
• Workplace strategy consulting
• Sustainable building design
• Healthcare facility planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Design Services: Professional services revenue generated through architecture, interior design, engineering, and design visualization engagements with enterprise clients. Projects range from small-scale renovations to large-scale mixed-use developments, typically billed on a per-project basis with fees based on project scope, complexity, and square footage.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

NELSON Worldwide provides integrated architecture, interior design, engineering, and strategy services to enterprise and public-sector clients across the United States. Engagements span sector-specific practice areas — Healthcare, Hospitality, Industrial, Workplace, Retail, Mixed-Use & Master Planning, Civic & Justice, Education, and Multifamily — supported by enabling services in brand identity, design visualization, experiential graphics, signage & wayfinding, sustainable design, and the proprietary NELSON Asset Intelligence platform for building verification and portfolio optimization. Projects range from small-scale interior renovations to multi-million-square-foot mixed-use and industrial developments, billed on a project-fee basis.

Product overview

NELSON Worldwide is a professional architecture, design, and strategy firm operating as a single unified service offering rather than a modular software platform. Their portfolio consists of integrated design services organized around core practice areas including Architecture, Interior Design, and Workplace Design, complemented by specialized vertical practices (Healthcare, Hospitality, Industrial, Retail, Mixed-Use & Master Planning, Civic & Justice, Education, Multifamily) and enabling service lines (Brand Identity & Communications, Design Visualization, Experiential Graphic Design, Signage & Wayfinding, Strategy & Insights, Sustainable Design, Engineering). The firm also offers NELSON Asset Intelligence as a distinct analytical service focused on building verification and portfolio optimization. Projects range from small-scale interior renovations to large-scale master-planned developments spanning millions of square feet.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture Services
• Interior Design
• NELSON Asset Intelligence
• Healthcare Design
• Hospitality Design
• Workplace Design
• Industrial Design
• Retail Design
• Civic & Justice Design
• Mixed-Use & Master Planning
• Sustainable Design
• Engineering Services
• Asset Strategy & Repositioning

Quantifiable outcome

• LIVELY Hotel at OAK won Hilton's 2025 Tapestry Hotel of the Year
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Wake Forest UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 October 2025Wake Forest University is developing a 100-acre mixed-use project called 'The Grounds' in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with a projected investment of $250 million. Development partners including NELSON are buying additional land near the project (June 2026). The project includes retail, office space, student housing, and community green areas, expected to be completed by 2027.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Gensler: Global architecture, design, and strategy firm spanning workplace, hospitality, retail, healthcare, and mixed-use — the closest direct competitor to NELSON's multi-disciplinary, multi-vertical model and the de facto market leader in the same integrated-design category.
• HOK: Global architecture and engineering firm with comparable practice breadth across workplace, healthcare, hospitality, sports, and civic — directly comparable in scale, vertical mix, and integrated delivery model to NELSON.
• Perkins&Will: Architecture and design firm with strong healthcare, workplace, and education practices — directly comparable to NELSON in vertical mix and emphasis on integrated architecture + interiors, with deeper specialization in healthcare.
• HKS: Architecture firm with major healthcare, sports/entertainment, and workplace practices — directly comparable to NELSON's healthcare and entertainment verticals, particularly around complex institutional projects like NELSON's Jackson Health and Truist Park work.
• CallisonRTKL: Architecture and design firm with strong retail, mixed-use, and hospitality practices — directly comparable to NELSON's Bloomie's, mixed-use, and hotel work, especially in experiential retail design.
• NBBJ: Architecture and design firm focused on healthcare, workplace, and sports — comparable to NELSON in healthcare and workplace verticals, with similar emphasis on integrated strategy + design delivery.
• SmithGroup: Architecture and engineering firm with healthcare, workplace, and mixed-use practices — comparable to NELSON in integrated service delivery and vertical mix, particularly around healthcare and civic projects.

Broad incumbents

• HDR: Large-scale architecture, engineering, and consulting firm with healthcare, civic, and workplace practices — broader than NELSON but overlapping meaningfully in healthcare facility design and civic/justice work.
• Stantec: Global architecture and engineering firm with workplace, healthcare, and industrial practices — overlapping NELSON's multi-disciplinary offering but at materially larger scale and with deeper engineering capability.
• Jacobs (Buildings & Places): Global professional services firm whose architecture practice spans workplace, healthcare, and civic markets — broader and far larger than NELSON, with overlapping capability on large institutional and government projects.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NELSONworldwide
• Facebookfacebook.com/nelson-connections-425185627504225
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nelsonworldwide
• Instagraminstagram.com/nelsonworldwide

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NELSON